Aboriginal radio licence decision ‘major disappointment’: Wawatay

The CRTC has approved five urban radio licences in markets across the country to serve Aboriginal peoples, a decision one Ontario Aboriginal radio station said will result in fewer hours, and less diversity, of Aboriginal-language content in Ottawa and Toronto than its application would have provided. The decision, handed down Wednesday, came after a three-day hearing in March and after the regulator revoked licences for Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc. in 2015 to serve those communities. It was seeking applications to fill the Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver markets. “The decision comes at a crucial time, not only because it comes in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, but also because of the many major issues that affect these communities,” CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a press release, noting the disappearance and murder of indigenous women, water quality on some reserves and youth suicides. The regulator granted licences for Type B stations to Northern Native Broadcasting (NNB) in Vancouver, Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA) in Edmonton and Calgary, and First Peoples Radio Inc. (FPR), an arm of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), in Ottawa and Toronto. The latter’s applications for licences in the other markets were rejected, with the CRTC saying it wasn’t confident APTN would be able to maintain services in all markets. Other rejections were given to VMS Media Group Ltd. in Calgary and Edmonton and to Wawatay Native Communications Society in Ottawa and Toronto. The successful stations must be operational by June 2019. In a phone interview, Wawatay CEO John Gagnon said the decision is “a major disappointment and a severe loss to reconciliation.” “All those languages … Mohawk, Iroquois, Odawa…Ojibway, Cree, Oji-Cree — these are the languages of our province, we are the ones that carry those languages,” Gagnon said. “They put somebody in place that’s not even from Ontario the board is not from Ontario.” Gagnon said Wawatay has 40 years of experience in the province and was proposing no less than 42 hours a week of indigenous-language programming as part of its application. In its application, it said that it would serve “all the linguistic groups,” and suggested “teaming the Cree, Oji-Cree, Iroquois, Mohawk, Odawa, Ojibway, Potawatomi language speakers.” The FPR stations that were approved in Ottawa and Toronto are required to provide at least a weekly nine hours in the first year of indigenous-language programming in Cree and Inuktitut for both stations and Ojibwe in Ottawa and Mohawk in Toronto. Jean La Rose, CEO of FPR and APTN, said in a phone interview that they are currently working to acquire staff necessary to serve more language communities. “Eventually we hope to serve most languages, if not all,” he said. “Will we have everybody at first? No, but I suspect that maybe even Wawatay would have had a challenge finding talent in those markets. But we will be looking for it, we started looking for it and we will be able to serve as many as we can from the get-go and expand that over time.” The CRTC also weighed on the issue of a national and unified versus regional approach to providing those services. Regional players said during the hearing that a national approach would harm them. Although a “national radio service may be able to benefit from synergies based on a national business plan and on the availability of national coverage to promote employment and training goals, regional and local radio services can benefit from local radio experience and relationships, and from expanding their activities across a region or province,” the regulator said in its decision. FPR stations must offer a mix of spoken word and musical programming targeting the community. It committed to “operate under a music-based ‘Indigenous Variety’ format for the 25 to 49 years of age group,” with a condition of licence being that at least 60 per cent of its committed 126 hours of broadcasting be dedicated to local programming. NNB must dedicate two hours and 30 minutes of spoken word programming to Aboriginal-language programming and 25 per cent of musical selections to Aboriginal-Canadian music selections a week. AMMSA must provide seven hours of spoken word programming to Aboriginal-language programming on both stations and 20 per cent of music to Aboriginal selections in Calgary and five per cent in Edmonton weekly. Both NNB and the AMMSA station in Edmonton must devote a minimum of 120 hours to local programming, including local news, weather, sports coverage and the promotion of local events and activities. Meanwhile, the AMMSA station in Calgary must devote 117 hours and 30 minutes to local programming per week. The regulator said it determined that Wawatay’s total expenses were higher than other applicants and advertising revenues were insufficient, while it found its business plan reliant on subsidies and grants, despite strong support in the community for its application. Gagnon suggested in the interview that stations like his need the backing of players like Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly. “This was a huge opportunity to make a difference for our people in Ontario and our youth for many, many years to come,” he said, adding Wawatay will continue to operate and will jump on the next opportunity to represent those markets. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Aboriginal radio licence decision ‘major disappointment’: Wawatay

News | 06/14/2017 6:06 pm EDT

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