Source : Canadian Television Fund

Montreal/Toronto, January 24, 2007 – Following the recent actions of Shaw Communications and Quebecor, the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) Board of Directors met today and retained legal counsel.

"The CTF Board is seriously concerned about the devastating impact on Canadian television production resulting from the withdrawal of funds. The obligation to support the CTF is not discretionary and the CTF has the fiduciary responsibility to act," explains Mr. Douglas Barrett, CTF Board Chair.

Production Financing: Under Immediate Review by CTF

The CTF is conducting an immediate financial review to evaluate the full impact of Shaw and Quebecor's withdrawal of financial support on the production applications for 2006-2007. It anticipates adjustments to its funding support for the 2006-07 fiscal year. In addition, such fiscal withdrawals will also make it impossible to plan for the upcoming year. The CTF will report to our stakeholders and industry as soon as possible.

"The CTF is extremely troubled about the damaging effect on Canadian productions and the television production community: producers; directors; actors; writers; trades; in addition to the public's ability to see Canadian storytelling on television," says Valerie Creighton, CTF President.

Maintaining Strong Fund Stewardship

The CTF Board of directors is accountable for the stewardship of private and public funds and must operate independently of any commercial or stakeholder interest.

Sound Governance of the CTF was recently noted by both the Auditor General of Canada (October 2005) and more recently confirmed by an independent review by Renaud Foster of Ottawa. (June 2006).

The CTF allocates production funding to qualifying Canadian productions through its Broadcaster Performance Envelopes (BPEs) and its Special Initiatives Streams. No broadcaster directly receives funding from the CTF. Only individual qualifying Canadian producers with appropriate broadcaster licencing agreements receive CTF financing.

Over the past 10 years, the CTF has contributed 2.22 billion dollars to support 4470 productions. This has resulted in more than 23,141 hours of great television for Canadians, and has triggered more than 7.4 billion dollars in production volume across the country.

© Canadian Television Fund