Source : Ottawa Citizen

It's not very often that people employed in the broadcast sector are able to remain silent for more than a few minutes, especially when they're in the company of one another.

But Heritage Minister Josée Verner -- in her first major speech on policy since she took on the portfolio in August -- managed to accomplish that at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention yesterday. And much more.

In about 30 minutes, she said more than her predecessor, Bev Oda, said in 18 months.

The new minister's remarks had all the more impact because as it stands, the heritage committee has yet to be fully re-formed. After this week, there are only four more left before the lengthy Christmas break, which means the government is in the position to push through significant amounts of legislation without too much delay or zealous backbench opposition at the committee or any other level.

Ms. Verner was remarkably direct -- by ministerial standards -- about the CRTC. Although she thanked the federal regulator for its efforts to re-kindle a debate about the Canadian Television Fund, she also noted that "concerns have been expressed that in pursuit of a more streamlined and efficient regulatory framework, the CRTC may be putting our cultural and social objectives at risk."

She also made it clear that whatever the objections may be in some camps -- and Shaw Communications has been among the most vocal -- the fund is here to stay.

Ms. Verner also noted that "funding for Canadian content is a priority" and that "Television services that are granted the exceptional right to mandatory distribution should have conditions of licence that reflect that privilege."

Her comment that "The government takes the need for change at the CTF seriously" should be interpreted as a clear signal that the push is on for a long-term, stable solution to the long-simmering disputes over the fund, its governance and its mandate.

It also sends the message that the cable companies who now support the fund had better start viewing it as one of the costs of doing business.

Neither did the new heritage minister shy away from the topic of fees-for-carriage, which the CRTC chairman, Konrad von Finckenstein, returned to the public agenda -- and the regulatory hearing schedule -- yesterday.

For the conventional broadcasters who are asking that consumers be charged a monthly fee in their cable bill for access to local channels -- a move driven by the desire to recoup escalating operating costs and to offset the impact of market and advertiser fragmentation -- it would be hard to take much encouragement from Ms. Verner's observations on that issue.

In speaking about the need to "achieve the best balance of benefits and obligations among all the players in the system," she pointedly observed that "the interests of consumers will need to remain paramount."

The consumer card, of course, is precisely the one that's been played by fee-for-carriage opponents like Rogers Communications. Company chairman Ted Rogers and vice-chairman Phil Lind, have repeatedly said it's not tenable to ask consumers to start paying for "free" television.

Broadcast industry ears also collectively moved when Ms. Verner identified "better co-ordination between Industry Canada, Canadian Heritage and the CRTC" as a key priority in nurturing high-quality Canadian content.

To an outsider, it may seem like the most banal and obvious observation. Nevertheless, it cuts to the heart of an entrenched -- but unacknowledged -- bureaucratic standoff between the three entities that intersect on such critical files as copyright.

According to industry veterans, the CRTC has always touted its independence and attempted to remain above the fray. The heritage staffers have exalted their cultural imperative and the industry folks have come under suspicion for being excessively business-oriented. But that government stalemate is about to come under intense political pressure now that new federal copyright legislation is said to be about six weeks away.

Those who are tracking the legislation suggest that the powerful U.S. entertainment lobby has gained considerable traction with its demands.

Certainly, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters has already come out swinging, denouncing the recording industry's "intention to use the Copyright Act to have the private radio industry make up for its losses due to file sharing."

According to the CAB, private radio broadcasters currently pay royalties under nine different tariffs to four different collectives. And that comes to an annual payment of about $70 million for the music they play on air. Under the terms of the newly-proposed reproduction right tariff, record labels are asking for another $50 million a year.

That said, the CAB still has to balance its aggression on the copyright file with another consideration: ongoing negotiations with the federal government over the return of hundreds of millions of dollars in "licensing fees" collected by the CRTC over several years. Following a court challenge last December, the fees were deemed by the Supreme Court to be an illegal tax on the broadcast industry.

The association's preference is to negotiate a relatively amicable settlement with the federal government -- and to avoid the possibility that the "fee" be officially transformed into a tax.

Silence is seldom golden for broadcasters. Especially when the gold heads straight to the federal revenue account.

© Ottawa Citizen