Oda promises letter asking cable firms for CTF funding

Heritage Minister Bev Oda says she will write to Canada's two largest cable companies to ask them to resume their payments to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF).

Shaw Communications of Calgary and Quebec's Vidéotron have suspended their payments to the CTF, which funds production of Canadian TV.

"We are asking that market payments be resumed and that we stabilize the industry — that is our main concern," Oda said Tuesday morning.

Speaking before the parliamentary heritage committee, which is holding hearings into the CTF, Oda said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has the responsibility to enforce rules for the cable firms.

"The CRTC will be considering its course of action and I'm sure will be acting on this issue," she said.

Oda said she would ask the CRTC to do its job, but had no comment on a statement made by Vidéotron president Pierre Péladeau on Monday that he plans to put money for TV production solely into the private Quebecor Fund, which funds creation of French programming.

Big investment into Quebecor Fund

At a news conference Monday, Péladeau said he plans to invest $109 million over the next three years into the Quebecor Fund, and wants to appoint three of five board members for the fund.

He criticized the CTF, saying it won't support production for Vidéotron's video-on-demand programming.

"The Canadian Television Fund had been unable to figure out what the technology revolution is all about and it's making the situation very tough down the road to make sure that we will get some good Canadian content," Péladeau said, adding that Vidéotron wants to produce more Canadian content, not less.

He said he has sent his proposal to Oda's office.

Oda said she had not yet read Péladeau's brief, but would consider his suggestion along with others being put forward to the industry.

"Any proposal, any suggestion would be listened to, any proposal considered, once we have returned stability to the situation at hand," she said.

CRTC 'confident' cable firms will pay up

The CRTC issued a statement on Tuesday saying that it has "a role to play in assisting in the resolution of this issue."

"By the same token, all stakeholders must play by the rules and operate within the context of the regulatory system. The commission is confident that Shaw and Quebecor will heed the minister's call and resume monthly payments," the statement from the federal regulator said.

It said the Péladeau's proposal to increase funding to Canadian programming under a different format "deserves further study."

Meanwhile, Oda came under criticism from MPs for not moving more quickly to rein in the cable firms.

"We're looking at a power play by the industry," said NDP heritage critic Charlie Angus. "They made their move when there was no leadership at the CRTC and it's taken you three weeks to say you'll send a letter."

A new chair of the CRTC was appointedtwo weeks ago, after the cable firms had withdrawn their funding to the CTF and had publicly criticized the fund. Federal Court Judge Konrad von Finckenstein, former commissioner of the Competition Bureau,was named to head the CRTC in January.

Opposition MPs asked about the possibility of suspending licence privileges for the cable firms, but Oda said that decision would be up to the CRTC and could only be made after public hearings.

Canadian writers and producers, appearing before the committee later in the morning, urged the heritage committee to ensure the CTF moves forward.

People in the production industry are unsure whether projects can go ahead and say deals are being cancelled because of the uncertain future of the CTF.

"The CTF is vitally important to the CBC's ability to fulfill its mandate," CBC-TV executive vice-president Richard Stursberg said in a release to employees Tuesday.

Stursberg will speak before the committee on Thursday.

"The agreement that Shaw and Vidéotron now seek to ignore is in fact legally binding, and they cannot simply walk away from a legal obligation because they are no longer satisfied with it," he said.

"Allowing them to do so would have a disastrous effect on Canadian culture and on our television production industry."