MP Cheryl Gallant Defends Local Broadcasting

May 03, 2010

OTTAWA, ONTARIO …Cheryl Gallant, MP Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, recently appeared before the Canadian Radio/Television Commission (CRTC) to present the case for local community broadcasting.

“As the only Member of Parliament who was recognized to come before the CRTC and give testimony on the review of community television, It was important to speak for all rural and remote communities in Canada,” remarked Cheryl Gallant, MP. “Television viewers in the upper Ottawa Valley have seen a steady decline in local news and programming. There was a time when our local TV station was a significant employer. Today we have a Pembroke TV station in name only.”

“In some markets where the local TV station has closed down, the gap is being filled by the local cable company. An example of this is North Bay,” said MP Gallant. “The purpose of my going before the CRTC was to argue in favour of community broadcasting. If private broadcasters, and CBC the public broadcaster, are not prepared to service rural, small town Canada, then let someone else into the market who will, in this case the cable companies, and give them the resources to succeed.” 
Excerpts From The CRTC Hearing:
My name is Cheryl Gallant.  I am the Member of Parliament for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke.

As the MP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, I have a deep and abiding interest in the future of local, community television. I wish to make it absolutely clear that I appear before the Commission today as the spokesperson for the people of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke.

I respect the impartiality granted to the CRTC as I know you respect my objectivity in appearing before you today. Please be assured that my comments today in no way should be construed other than an acknowledgement of the complexity of the issues the commission is tasked to oversee as we work on behalf of all Canadians. What we have before us today is just one piece of a large complex puzzle and a process that must seek a middle ground, which is the Canadian way.

My observations to you today reflect the views of the people who elected me to serve their interest. It is a privilege to fight for their interests, at any level, and I can assure any constituent from Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke watching these proceedings that I will use every means at my disposal to give them a loud, effective voice in government in any forum that gives me that opportunity.

It is almost one year to the day that I appeared before the CRTC to argue the case in favour of community broadcasting. That appearance was linked to the licence of our local, private broadcaster, CHRO in the Ottawa valley, and the continual deterioration of news and information content from the original viewing area covered by that licence.

You may recall that while I made my presentation last year a Community-based camera crew from our local cable station was there to record the proceedings for the folks back home. They were filming the day’s proceedings for broadcast on the future of local television in the Ottawa Valley.

Community television. Brought to you by people who live and work in our community.

The decision to be at the commission hearing was made locally.

No-one had to call Toronto of Montreal or some other distant urban centre in this or any other country to make the decision.  That is local television, 100 per-cent Canadian owned and operated.  By Canadians for Canadians. That, is your Canadian content.

I support local community television.

The residents of the Upper Ottawa Valley support local, community-based television.

When I appeared before you during the licence renewal application for the Pembroke, Ontario, private conventional television station CHRO, the upper Ottawa Valley had experienced a gradual and continual decline in the amount of local community programming available for viewers from conventional television in Renfrew County.

The amount of so-called local content provided by CHRO has diminished to the point of that station being unrecognizable as a local channel. The cancellation of the 6 PM evening as well as the 11 O’clock news has left a huge void in our community.

This is in sharp contrast to the service provided by our local cable community channel. Even with scarce resources, our community cable has sought to fill the gap in local programming.

I have watched local, community cable volunteers move on to successful careers in other media. I have participated in telethons manned by our local service clubs to support the important work they do in our community; and I have been a direct participant in community programming.

Renfrew County, in addition to being the largest County, geographically, in the Province of Ontario, is primarily rural in nature, with a diverse population distributed very widely. This results in a number of challenges when it comes to the delivery of services.

It is clearly evident that circumstances and or other factors have changed to warrant new considerations in the Commission’s existing policy regarding community broadcasting.

While private broadcaster the A-Channel, promoted itself to the CRTC as a Pembroke station, in reality, continual staff reductions, and the transfer of production and operations out of the Ottawa Valley give the impression that CTV/GlobeMedia was never committed to operating the Pembroke licence in the way the residents of our community expected. The effort and resources were never allocated to make our station financially viable and a source of good, local Canadian programming.

I do not wish to be seen as being only critical of one of Canada’s private broadcasters. Commissioners may be aware that the television station in Pembroke started as a CBC, public broadcasting affiliate before being acquired by a private broadcaster. Where the public broadcaster failed, at least the marketplace continued to provide some level of service to the people of the upper Ottawa valley.

Let’s look at some of that history;

In the CRTC decision 96-542, August 28, 1996, was stated the following;

“Upon disaffiliation from CTV, CHRO-TV will operate as an independent station authorized to provide a local service to Pembroke and Ottawa and the surrounding Ottawa Valley. While some local productions will originate from and reflect Ottawa and environs, the Commission is satisfied that the applicant’s  programming plans and commitments will be effective in ensuring that much of CHRO-TV’s focus and orientation will remain on Renfrew County and the upper Ottawa Valley.”

What has happened since?

We have lost the 6 o’clock and 11 o’clock newscasts on our corporate owned private television station. The Pembroke location, which had gradually been losing local employees each time the station was sold, was reduced as of March 4th, 2009 to just two employees; a Pembroke based salesperson and a ‘roving’ videographer.

I can tell you today that the people of the upper Ottawa valley are not satisfied with what has happening to local community broadcasting.

There is support for a market-based approach for local community broadcasting. The government broadcaster, CBC, has abandoned small town, rural Canada and communities like Pembroke, Arnprior, Eganville and Barry’s Bay.

Now, particularly in the case of the upper Ottawa valley, residents have witnessed a gradual abandonment from the private broadcasters as well.

This has created an opportunity for someone, either community television in some format, or additional private licence holders, to fill a void that is consistent with the policy framework set out by the CRTC when it formulated its community-based media policies.

There is adequate funding in the system. It is not necessary to ask taxpayers to pour more dollars in a model that, by the admission of the current players, is broken.  The solution to providing greater Canadian content to Canadian viewers is a marketplace solution. I have every confidence in my fellow Canadians to rise to this challenge, if given the opportunity.

This is an opportunity for the CRTC to consider a bold, new approach, to community broadcasting, one that is not restricted to past models that have become out-dated. The upper Ottawa valley is rich in culture, with a diverse history and many stories waiting to be told. Now is the opportunity to provide new direction and leadership to give expression to those stories. 

The time has come to put the boots “back on the ground” when it comes to local television.

The residents of the Upper Ottawa Valley believe that local, community television should be supported. TV viewers have a wide variety of national news and programming to choose from, but are very limited in what they see and hear about their own community.                                                                                   

On behalf of the people of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, Thank-you for the opportunity to participate in this process.