OTTAWA, Sept. 16 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Alex Levasseur, the (FNC-CSN) Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada's outgoing president presented the Tous amis de Radio-Canada organization's memorandum to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) during the Let's Talk TV public hearings on proposals to introduce a new regulatory framework for the television industry.
"Talking about television without addressing the CBC/Radio-Canada issues baffles me, because this national institution has played and continues to play a leadership role. And yet this is exactly what the CRTC has done with these public hearings. The Commission hasn't uttered a single word about our public broadcaster; only the CBC did, but simply to file two counterproductive proposals by its CEO Hubert T. Lacroix which fail to address its core issues. The first aimed at creating a fund to finance news programmes and the second at making the CBC/Radio-Canada mandatory channels for satellite and cable subscribers," noted Alex Levasseur.
"The UNESCO, the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to which Canada adheres, believes that public radio-television broadcasting is an essential tool to promote plurality and social inclusion and strengthen civil society. The Commission's stance on our current review completely shuns this concept. On the contrary, the CRTC puts forward and opposes a consumer-based position and seems to abandon its role as a guard dog of Canadian television values in favour of acting as a consumer-protection agency. We cannot support a view of the Canadian radio-television system that puts our public broadcaster alongside for-profit companies; not because the public broadcaster is superior to private organizations, but simply because it is distinct in nature due to its duties," added Levasseur.
Last spring, Tous amis de Radio-Canada launched a White Paper asking 13 crucial questions on the future of the public utility whose mandate is to inform, enlighten and entertain Canadians.
"Mr. President, last week, during your opening remarks, you said that we should put Canadians first in this debate, and I agree with you, because our public broadcaster belongs to them. As a matter of fact, the Tous amis de Radio-Canada organization and our union are calling for a real public debate on the future of our broadcaster as well as stable and increased funding on a multi-annual basis, " told Levasseur to Jean-Pierre Blais, President of the CRTC.
The Tous amis de Radio-Canada campaign aims to defend our entire single national public broadcaster. It is organised by the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, together with the Fédération nationale des communications–CSN and the Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada (FNC–CSN). The Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada represents 1,600 members in the province of Québec and in Moncton and is affiliated with the Fédération nationale des communications-CSN, which is composed of 7,000 members working in culture and communications.
Founded in 1921, the CSN is a trade union federation that works towards a cohesive, democratic, just, fair and sustainable society. To this end, the CSN takes part in many debates that concern Quebeckers. The CSN federates almost 2,000 unions and represents more than 325,000 workers on a sectoral or professional basis within eight federations, as well as regionally via 13 central councils, primarily in the province of Quebec.
SOURCE: Tous amis de Radio-Canada
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Martin Petit, Communications Department of the CSN, Phone: 514-894-1326, [email protected]
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