Friends, PIAC and Option Consommateurs join forces as new broadcast industry watchdog

The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting has joined hands with two well-known consumer advocacy groups to fight for more transparency in television broadcasting, distribution and regulation. The alliance with the Canadian Public Interest Centre (PIAC) and Quebec-based consumer group Option Consommateurs could result in increased pressure on broadcasters and the CRTC. Friends spokesman Ian Morrison says the public’s interest is too important to be left for the CRTC and broadcasters to determine. He says the need to create “a level playing field” necessitated the alliance’s formation last week. “We want to make sure that decisions are not made in the back rooms,” he says. Anu Bose from Option Consommateurs says the new TV Alliance will ensure that television viewers are not treated as “milk cows” by broadcasters. “We want some kind of fairness for consumers who are being ripped off,” she says. Yet as Friends broadens its lobby activities, the alliance is a mesh of organizations pursuing incompatible causes. Option Consummateurs focuses on agri-business, energy, financial services and privacy, while PIAC’s attention is on finance, telecom, transport, and energy. Despite the differences, Morrison says common values brought the three organizations together. “We haven’t always seen eye to eye but there’s been respect,” says Morrison of PIAC. “Michael Janigan and I have known each other for quite some time. So when we identified that we had common values on this issue, it made sense to join hands.” Morrison says the alliance is marshalling resources and expects to reach out to more organizations with similar interests. Among the three organizations, Friends has the most experience lobbying on broadcast issues, having been established in 1985. Morrison, for instance, has testified before numerous CRTC hearings and is widely quoted in the media on broadcast issues. PIAC has stated in the past that it would appear before the CRTC on broadcast-related issues if its costs were reimbursed (Note: Under the Telecommunications Act.), consumer groups who participate in telecom proceedings can apply to the CRTC to have their costs paid for by companies who participated in, and have an interest in the outcome of the proceeding. No such provisions exist under the Broadcasting Act Morrison downplayed any suggestion that this experience makes Friends the obvious leader in the new group, saying the alliance is non-hierarchical. “This is the beginning of something, you know. You crawl before you walk, you walk before you run. We are just getting started,” he says. However, having PIAC and Option Consummateurs’ on board undoubtedly adds more clout – and a larger audience – to broadcast issues Friends deems important. PIAC’s reports are widely cited in Canada and reach a significant portion of the population. In Quebec, Option Consummateur is a well-established advocacy group. Asked what the alliance expects to achieve, Morrison remained modest, saying it’s early to predict and that action speaks louder than words. “My short answer would be ‘stay tuned.’ I have found, in my watchdog and advocacy work, that strategy is something that you do, it’s not something you say.”

Friends, PIAC and Option Consommateurs join forces as new broadcast industry watchdog

Broadcast | September 24, 2009

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