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In order to meet some of the requirements under this Act, the Commission's transcripts will therefore be bilingual as to their covers, the listing of CRTC members and staff attending the hearings, and the table of contents.
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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS BEFORE
THE CANADIAN RADIO‑TELEVISION AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
TRANSCRIPTION DES AUDIENCES AVANT
CONSEIL DE LA RADIODIFFUSION
ET DES TÉLÉCOMMUNICATIONS CANADIENNES
SUBJECT:
VARIOUS BROADCAST APPLICATIONS /
PLUSIEURS DEMANDES EN RADIODIFFUSION
HELD AT: TENUE À:
Delta Regina Delta Regina
1919 Saskatchewan Drive 1919, promenade Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan Regina, Saskatchewan
November 3, 2006 le 3 novembre 2006
Transcripts
In order to meet the requirements of the Official Languages
Act, transcripts of proceedings before the Commission will be
bilingual as to their covers, the listing of the CRTC members
and staff attending the public hearings, and the Table of
Contents.
However, the aforementioned publication is the recorded
verbatim transcript and, as such, is taped and transcribed in
either of the official languages, depending on the language
spoken by the participant at the public hearing.
Transcription
Afin de rencontrer les exigences de la Loi sur les langues
officielles, les procès‑verbaux pour le Conseil seront
bilingues en ce qui a trait à la page couverture, la liste des
membres et du personnel du CRTC participant à l'audience
publique ainsi que la table des matières.
Toutefois, la publication susmentionnée est un compte rendu
textuel des délibérations et, en tant que tel, est enregistrée
et transcrite dans l'une ou l'autre des deux langues
officielles, compte tenu de la langue utilisée par le
participant à l'audience publique.
Canadian Radio‑television and
Telecommunications Commission
Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des
télécommunications canadiennes
Transcript / Transcription
VARIOUS BROADCAST APPLICATIONS /
PLUSIEURS DEMANDES EN RADIODIFFUSION
BEFORE / DEVANT:
Barbara Cram Chairperson / Présidente
Michel Arpin Vice-Chair, Broadcasting / Vice‑président, radiodiffusion
Rita Cugini Commissioner / Conseillère
Ronald Williams Commissioner / Conseiller
Joan Pennefather Commissioner / Conseillère
ALSO PRESENT / AUSSI PRÉSENTES:
Chantal Boulet Secretary / Secrétaire
Leanne Bennett Legal Counsel /
Conseillère juridique
Lyne Cape Hearing Manager /
Gérante de l'audience
HELD AT: TENUE À:
Delta Regina Delta Regina
1919 Saskatchewan Drive 1919, promenade Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan Regina, Saskatchewan
November 3, 2006 le 3 novembre 2006
- iv -
TABLE DES MATIÈRES / TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE / PARA
SASKATOON - PHASE III
PRESENTATION BY / PRÉSENTATION PAR:
629112 Saskatchewan Limited
Communications Management Inc.
Rawlco Radio Limited 1563 / 7722
The Secret Santa Foundation 1609 / 7930
Lisa Rendall 1616 / 7960
APTN, Jean LaRose
Amanda Nepper 1625 / 7998
Saskatoon Indian & Metis Friendship Centre 1646 / 8075
Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation 1651 / 8117
Robert A. Merasty 1671 / 8211
Joe Duquette High School 1677 / 8244
SASKATOON - PHASE IV
PRESENTATION BY / PRÉSENTATION PAR:
Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd. 1685 / 8276
Aboriginal Voices Radio (AVR) 1687 / 8287
Radio CJVR Ltd. 1692 / 8308
Touch Canada Broadcasting Inc. 1697 / 8331
Standard Radio Inc. 1698 / 8336
Harvard Broadcasting Inc. 1700 / 8350
Newcap Inc. 1703 / 8363
- v -
TABLE DES MATIÈRES / TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE / PARA
AVR RENEWALS
PRESENTATION BY / PRÉSENTATION PAR:
Aboriginal Voices Radio (AVR) 1710 / 8394
Regina, Saskatchewan / Regina (Saskatchewan)
‑‑‑ Upon commencing on Friday, November 3, 2006
at 0830 / L'audience reprend le vendredi
3 novembre 2006 à 0830
LISTNUM 95 \l 1 \s 77147714 THE CHAIRPERSON: Order please.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17715 Well, here it is, Gainer is not going just to sit in a seat. He wants to be on the side ‑‑ he wants to be, you know, down on the floor, down there. Now, it didn't help that one of our own players said he shouldn't go because he doesn't wear pants.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17716 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17717 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17718 We are now ready to proceed to Phase III of the process in which other parties appear in the order set out in the agenda to present their intervention.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17719 I would now call on the first three appearing interveners to appear as a panel. Mr. Elmer Hildebrand as President of company 629112 Saskatchewan Limited ‑‑ and this is a correction from the agenda on which we indicated Golden West Broadcasting, Communications Management Inc., and Rawlco Radio Limited.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17720 You will have 20 minutes for the presentation. I understand Ms Pamela Leyland for Rawlco Radio will be starting.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17721 Please go ahead.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 17722 MS LEYLAND: Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the Commission.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17723 We're before you once again, this time to talk to you about Saskatoon. My name is Pam Leyland, President of Rawlco Radio. With me today are Gordon Rawlinson, CEO of Rawlco, Doug Pringle, Rawlco's Director of Programming, and some new members of our panel from Saskatoon. Marianne Vibert is our Director of Promotions and Community Relations. Marianne has been with us for 22 years and does an amazing job of connecting our stations to the community. She's sitting behind me and to my right.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17724 To Marianne's left is Jamie Wall who manages our Saskatoon stations. Jamie started with us as an announcer then became Music Director, then Program Director, and now Manager. Jamie has been with us for 17 years.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17725 Next to Jamie is Sandee Reed, the Sales Manager of News Talk 650 CKOM. Sandee knows the business community in Saskatoon extremely well. She's been with Rawlco for 19 years.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17726 Finally we have Kate Peardon, News Director of News Talk 650 CKON. Kate is one of the stars of our news operation in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17727 Ken.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17728 MR. GOLDSTEIN: I'm Ken Goldstein, President of Communications Management Inc.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17729 MR. HILDEBRAND: My name is Elmer Hildebrand, I'm the President of 629112 Saskatchewan Limited, operators of three radio stations in Saskatoon. With me are to my right Vic Dubois, General Manager, long time resident of Saskatoon. And to my left, Ken McFarlane, General Sales Manager for our radio stations.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17730 Pam.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17731 MS LEYLAND: We're here to talk to you about Saskatoon, but before we begin it's Friday morning, you've had a really long week, and we have a little something to play for you. It's a song about Saskatchewan, written and produced by a couple of our very creative staff in Saskatoon. Please listen closely, I think you will get a kick out of the lyrics.
‑‑‑ Audio clip / Clip audio
LISTNUM 95 \l 17732 MS LEYLAND: Again, welcome to Saskatchewan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17733 Despite that low blow in the song about Gordon's handwriting, I do want to say a bit about the letters that were submitted as part of our intervention. We asked our staff to go out into the community and talk to people they knew who were with community organizations and to local businesses who advertised on the stations. There was no pressure, there was no arm twisting. We just wanted to know what they thought of another station possibly coming to Saskatoon. We said if they had an opinion and they wanted to express it to the Commission to write a letter and say what they thought of the idea. The bottom line is they said how they feel.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17734 Community organizations and businesses have real concerns about another station coming to Saskatoon. We told them we would help convey their message to the Commission so that their voices could play a part in the decision‑making process.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17735 We also wanted the people who listen to radio in Saskatoon to have a voice. We had an independent research survey done to try and find out what they thought of radio in Saskatoon and whether they felt there was a need for an additional musical choice. What they told us was that they liked the radio they have and they had no problem listening to the music they like.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17736 So we feel that as well as looking at economic indicators as criteria for determining if the city will benefit from another radio station, the feelings of the people, the listeners, should be considered. It's the public, the listeners, who are the ones that will be affected by your decision. What we have tried to do through our interventions in Regina and Saskatoon is to give them a chance to have a voice.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17737 MR. RAWLINSON: You know, this is very different. We'd never intervened against other applicants. In my 35 years in radio I think this is the first time that we have done it. Radio in Saskatchewan is still very good. It's not big business. My father used to say, put so much local information on the radio that people will be afraid to tune out because they might miss something. You know, I'm as big a booster of Saskatoon and Saskatchewan as anyone. I care about Regina and Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17738 Pam and her team really do run excellent full service radio stations, so why are expenses so high, because our service is very good and News Talk done very well, with a very high level of local, is very expensive. In fact, right now there is a high level of service from both companies. I just have a couple more comments. In Saskatoon we think every potential advertiser is known and called on. There are no hidden pockets of potential new money. We really do cover all the bases and do an excellent job of sales. My estimate would be that at least 80 percent of the advertisers for a new station will come from the existing six stations. On this note, none of the applicants are proposing music that is really different and all of the listeners will come from the existing stations. I can virtually guarantee there will be no increase in total tuning in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17739 We know how to do lean and mean radio, but I don't like it at all. It takes away everything I like about radio. It starts us down a slippery slope to juke box radio.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17740 So, Madam Chair, and members of the Commission, this is the most important thing that I want to leave you with. No matter what you decide, Rawlco will continue to do its utmost to serve Saskatoon, and Regina for that matter, to the very best of our ability.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17741 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17742 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Madam Chair, and Commissioners, I have taken to heart your admonitions and fore‑brevity. As we stated earlier in this hearing, there is one fundamental question that needs to be addressed. Do the economic indicators tell us that the market is capable of supporting a new commercial radio station?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17743 Based on the information summarized in our report, we believe that the economic indicators for the Saskatoon Radio market are not favourable to the licensing of any new commercial radio stations at this time.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17744 I'm going to very briefly touch on the key indicators. Population, the Conference Board is projecting that Saskatoon's population will grow by just two and a half percent over the five years from 2005 to 2010. That is better than Regina, but still significantly lower than the comparable growth rate for Canada.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17745 Second, GDP. The Conference Board is predicting that the real GDP growth for Saskatoon in 2009 and 2010 will be half of what it was in 2005. For Canada the real GDP growth rate is projected to be slightly higher in 2010 than it was in 2005. By 2010 the real GDP growth rate for Saskatoon is projected to be about 20 percent lower than the growth rate for Canada.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17746 Retail sales. Using data for Saskatoon, again from the Conference Board we see that the growth rate for retail sales spiked in 2005 and is projected to be lower from 2008 to 2010. And as I noted previously, the recent reduction of the provincial sales tax from 7 percent to 5 percent may have a modest, but short‑term effect.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17747 Fourth, radio revenues. From 1996 to 2003 private radio revenues in Saskatoon grew more slowly than was the case for radio in Canada. From 2003 to 2005, there was a brief growth spurt, however, based on the data for 2006 that we have seen, the growth spurt is over and private radio in Saskatoon, again, has a lower growth rate than radio across Canada.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17748 And fifth and final, radio profitability. And as noted in our report, pBIT levels in Saskatoon Radio are substantially lower than the Canadian average.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17749 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17750 MR. HILDEBRAND: Madam Chair, Commissioners. First of all, maybe some history on radio in Saskatoon would be in order. Generally we all have relatively short memories, and the Commission changes, Commission staff changes, so the following may not be well‑known to today's Commission.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17751 Only a few years ago the radio picture in Saskatoon was in a shambles. One station was in bankruptcy and another station was floundering like a fish out of water creating havoc in the market by trying to sell ads for rates du jour. Program changes done poorly were frequent and generally radio did not have a very good reputation in the city. At that time you could not have ‑‑ you could not have garnered the great many letters of support that you have seen filed with the Commission for this hearing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17752 And I wonder, where were all the applicants you have heard from for the Saskatoon market at that time? They could have purchased existing stations at the stress prices any time. Part of the problem then was that the Commission of the day had issued a licence to someone who never ever worked at a radio station, but because he said, "It has always been my dream to have a radio station," he was granted licence. His dream came true and a nightmare followed.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17753 I ended up buying both of these two stations in Saskatoon and we have been able to bring to the city a degree of professionalism that has elevated the stature of radio dramatically. As the Commission knows, all of this comes at tremendous cost and a lot of patience, and those of you that know me, I have a lot of patience. However, any new station in Saskatoon will dramatically impact our financial wellbeing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17754 As the Commission knows, my group of stations in Saskatoon are currently incurring losses each year, so even though the stations are losing money, I don't like it, but I can sustain it for now, but larger losses would not be sustainable. The majority of commercial radio stations in Saskatoon, both AM and FM, have suffered financial difficulties over the years, several times have had change of ownership, and all the stand‑alone radio stations have been bought and sold, they couldn't sustain themselves. So Saskatoon is not and has not been a booming radio market.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17755 We have maintained our service to the community at very high levels as is clearly demonstrated by all the letters that you have already seen. To do full service radio requires a lot of creative writers, sales reps, producers, news people, announcers, promotion people, and on and on it goes. You can do high cost full service radio or low marginal radio service. And again, as the Commission knows, my choice is always to do full service radio.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17756 We have contributed one million dollars in Canadian talent development in our first licensed term at Magic, our newest FM station. We have also maintained a full service at CJWW, our heritage AM station, and have maintained the only country music format on FM at Hot 93. And we are playing 40 percent Cancon on all three stations. And we're playing a lot of Saskatchewan produced music.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17757 All three stations as a group complement very well the other radio stations in the market. The existing Saskatoon Radio stations cover all the major formats and all age groups. And, you know, no wonder every applicant is applying for a different format. If there was an obvious hole in the market, several applicants would surely have applied for the same format.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17758 The Commission also knows in Saskatoon that Rawlco is a fierce competitor, but we have managed to carve out an audience and an advertiser loyalty that enabled us to show annual modest sales growth until 2005, however, this growth stopped in 2006. Our total sales in 2006 were lower than in 2005. Much of the national business is disappearing. The reason for this is described by Patrick Risson(ph), the President of CBS, in a letter to the Commission that national revenue in Saskatoon is down, and we would like to quote. "The reason for this decline is due to the inelastic advertising budgets funding significant increase in demand and price in major markets, specifically Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto." We have heard that Toronto radio billings are up 25 percent since 2003. Much of that money comes from Saskatchewan. As prices increase in Toronto, overall national budgets don't necessarily increase, so in order to satisfy those markets, Saskatoon, Regina budgets are decreased, not to mention other markets in Saskatchewan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17759 We don't see this trend changing anytime soon. Patrick Risson goes on to say, "Our most relevant and important comment on these proceedings is that the addition of new radio stations in Saskatoon will not result in any new national advertising becoming available. The money already there will just be split between more stations."
LISTNUM 95 \l 17760 The other thing that we have heard a number of times at the hearing is that, you know, there are a lot of new businesses coming to Saskatoon. Well, to some extent that may be true, some of the big box stores are arriving. The Home Depots, Wal‑Marts and Costcos, however, interestingly they don't spend any money on national advertising, and generally don't even spend local advertising money. What they do do, they drive out of business altogether some of the smaller businesses that we normally would do business with. So that means that our local revenues will also not go up because of big box stores.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17761 So to recap, we project continuing small losses for the next few years under current conditions. I can sustain these losses and can commit to the Commission that no reduction in service is going to take place under the current landscape, and we will continue to make Canadian Talent Development contributions. This, however, would change dramatically if the Commission were to license any new stations.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17762 Upon the appearance of a new applicant, the following would likely develop. Rates would be cut and this would reduce our overall revenue going forward. We would be forced to spend considerably more on promotion. Our operating cost would increase due to the poaching of staff. Available national money would be split further resulting in even greater reductions in revenue. All of this will add up to dramatic increase in losses in my stations in Saskatoon, and if this happens we will have to reduce overall community service, delay planned upgrading of equipment and facilities. The unintended consequences would see the City of Saskatoon getting a much more watered down radio service. Right now the city is one of the best served in Canada. This will be in jeopardy if the Commission renews any ‑‑ or issues any new licences prematurely.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17763 And we all have to remember Saskatchewan is not a growing province. It is a province with a declining population. Much as we would like to see it otherwise, we don't see it changing anytime soon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17764 Right now we have 13 radio stations in the city, six commercial stations, two CBC English, two CBC French, a community station, a religious station, and one Aboriginal repeater station. With all that choice and all the choice on the Internet, iPod, CD, satellite, and so on, the public is not demanding more radio, and yet in a province of less than one million people, there are 33 commercial stations in Saskatchewan. At that rate Calgary alone should have about 33 commercial stations, so I can see already that many of the applicants will want to reapply in Calgary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17765 I find it amazing that in 1940 Saskatchewan was larger than Alberta and B.C. We were the third most populated province in the country, and yet studies have stated that by 2030 there will actually be fewer people than there are now in Saskatchewan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17766 So adding an additional station comes at a cost. It will increase the costs of my stations, reduce our audiences and reduce our revenue. Over time this has to impact the level of service we can provide.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17767 The question that needs to be asked, I guess, does the benefit of a little increased musical diversity outweigh the cost of reduced service in a smaller city like Saskatoon. When I envision Saskatoon with a new seventh commercial radio station, I can't think of one thing that the city would be better for. Overlicensing is therefore a real concern as it relates to Saskatoon, and overlicensing is something that I've talked to the Commission about before. And that really concludes my intervention, and we'll be happy to answer any questions.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17768 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17769 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17770 Commissioner Pennefather.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17771 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17772 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17773 Mr. Hildebrand, I was following your notes, actually you've amplified, considerably, your written intervention, and I thank you for that. So I don't have too many questions, but let me just be sure I heard you correctly. In going through the lists of ‑‑ your list of what might happen if we were to license in Saskatoon, you used the word prematurely, and that would seem to mean to me that there might be a point where it would not be a case of overlicensing, but appropriate. As you know, we've been discussing what issues the Commission should look at in making that assessment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17774 I think you went through quite a few in your comments this morning, but could you just take us back to perhaps what you consider to be the most important areas we should look at when it wouldn't be premature?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17775 MR. HILDEBRAND: Well, I think we've heard a fair bit in the last week, a variety of very rosy projections and rosy futures. And for those of us who have been working in Saskatchewan for a long time, we've heard those often. Every few years there is projections and predictions that you will take Saskatchewan through ‑‑ up to the moon, but, you know, that hasn't happened. And so my premise would be that if all of those rosy productions that we've heard over the last week, you know, actually come about, then there would be no reason in four or five years that we could look at this again, and, you know, if, in fact, the City of Saskatoon becomes a city of 250,000 in the next few years, well, then dynamics would change. But, you know, our history in the province has always been sort of slow and steady, slow and steady, but at the end of the day always a little lower. And every year we seem to lose a few people, and especially in our younger demos, they move to Alberta or other places, and so we have, you know, a province that is very proud, we have a lot of people that are true blue Saskatchewanites and will support the province to their dying breath, but that doesn't give us the number of people, and as Ken Goldstein talked about the other day, even though there may be a few more people in Saskatoon this year than last year, mostly they moved from their farms in the surrounding areas. It doesn't provide any more ears in the entire greater region. And so that's what our biggest concern is.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17776 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: I take that point, and I think you have itemized for us some of your concerns. I heard also you used the term, it's not wise when the only gain would be a little more music diversity. But surely we're looking at other, as you know, in our looking at our criteria for licensing other kinds of diversity. What's your sense of the balance, though, in different voices, different editorial voices, different ownership, and is it not ‑‑ isn't it more than just a question of a little bit of music diversity? Aren't there other more as important diversity points to be raised when we're looking at licensing or not?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17777 MR. HILDEBRAND: Well, surely they could be looked at, but we have Global television here, we have CTV television, very strong newspaper. We have four ‑‑ or two CBC radio stations, plus a community channel. So there is a lot of diversity. We also have some newspaper publications that are free delivery, so there is additional publications in the area that provide diversity as far as news and information.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17778 My premise is that the City of Saskatoon is very, very adequately served from all of those aspects.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17779 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Would your opinion be the same in terms of the Commission licensing a service or services such as the MBC or AVR or Touch or the other kinds of services that are before us?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17780 MR. HILDEBRAND: Well ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 17781 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Difficult perhaps.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17782 MR. HILDEBRAND: You know, I think it's difficult ‑‑ from what I was hearing on the Touch application, for example, and I appreciate the kind of music that they would be providing to a minority audience, but I found it interesting that when you're asking them about news, they were proposing to maybe hire news people once they had some more money.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17783 My premise is that in radio you have to have the news people before you get the audience. So if you're not hiring news people right on the hop, I mean, you will never get the audience. So news and information is an important part of the radio cycle, and from my perspective in the business, we spend a lot of money on those things up front with the knowledge that if we do it really well, we won't get the audience down the road. And so we're investing money now to get some money back later. And I found it odd that applicants would be saying, well, we'll add some news people later when we, you know, get our feet on the ground, and I think that's sort of not quite the way the radio works.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17784 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17785 Those are my questions, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17786 MR. RAWLINSON: Excuse me, can I just jump in? I know you were asking Mr. Hildebrand, but I just want to clarify our company's position. We have no objection to licensing AVR or Missinipi in Regina, even though you're not talking about Regina, they're already here in Saskatoon and we're okay with Touch Broadcasting too, we don't object to those. Our intervention is not against those applicants.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17787 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Thank you, Madam chair. Thank you, Mr. Rawlinson.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17788 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17789 Vice‑chair Arpin.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17790 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17791 Mr. Goldstein, you have been doing marketing ‑‑ not marketing, but market studies for other applicants over the years, and obviously one of the formula that has been looked at is one based on the retail sales. Numerous applicants that we have heard yesterday were using a retail sales base formula to arrive at a given figure of market capacity.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17792 Based on your own experience, what is the market capacity ‑‑ advertising capacity of Saskatoon? We have heard a lot of numbers yesterday, starting from 16 million up to 23 million available dollars for radio.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17793 MR. GOLDSTEIN: I need some guidance from the Commission on this because I know the real number.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17794 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: But you know also the retail sales for Saskatoon and you know the formula.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17795 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, I wouldn't reduce it exactly to a formula. There will be, obviously over time, linkages between retail sales and the advertising revenues, but they will change. Mr. Hildebrand pointed out quite correctly why they might change as a big box store might take the place of a smaller merchant who would have bought locally, and now the big box store either doesn't use radio or uses it in a different way, and then you're into the whole national business.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17796 I get nervous about saying there's an automatic percentage of this or there's an automatic percentage of that, but the figure that I have for advertising revenue in Saskatoon is the same figure you have, and it would be up to the people sitting to my left whether they want that on the public record or not.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17797 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I'm not looking to have actual numbers, because as you said I have numbers and we also learned yesterday that CJVR is also selling in Saskatoon and they have provided us with their sales that comes out of Saskatoon, which increases a bit the availability of money for radio in that market. What I'm trying to see, and based on your own expertise, is that we have been presented with a fork, as I said, that goes from 16 million dollars towards 23 million dollars, and they all came and said that they were using a formula. Now, since you ‑‑ it's your feel of expertise to do market study, so that's why I'm asking you, based on your own expertise, have you done the math to see where normally Saskatoon shall be ‑‑ advertising capacity shall be?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17798 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, I think you're correct, there were estimates ranging from 16 to 23 million, and none of the estimates were correct, which says something about formulas. I think that you have to try to find the real numbers if you can, and some were too low, some were too high from that estimating routine that they did. When you talk about the capacity in the market, I think in some cases I heard people saying, here is a number and that's the capacity and there is some money left over. The fact is is that the sales in the market are the sales in the market. And so if you have a sales figure, I'm not sure how you can say there is money left over from the sales figure. I didn't understand that logic by some of the applicants who were saying we think that the stations are getting this much and we'll take this much of that and then simultaneously say, but we won't take it from them.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17799 Well, I'm not sure how they can take what's actually in the market without it coming from the people who are in the market, so it's not as if there is a capacity in the market of X and the current stations are only getting 82 percent of X, and somehow there is something left over. The market is what the market is.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17800 MR. HILDEBRAND: Could I jump in also with a comment?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17801 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Sure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17802 MR. HILDEBRAND: You know, too often we hear that there are formulas for this, and it has been my experience over the years that there are no formulas. Radio is built by one listener at a time, and the advertising business is developed one advertiser at a time. This is a huge painstakingly slow job, and, for example, we have heard that the retail sales growth in Saskatoon has been growing to whatever numbers you have heard this last week, yet the correlation is that national revenue in Saskatoon has gone down.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17803 Obviously just saying that these things work on formulas isn't a fact, and so I have often heard applicants say, you know, there is so much retail sales and automatically there is so much advertising revenue. In my experience, advertising revenue is never automatic.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17804 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: We've also heard yesterday some applicants saying that, well, that they have visited retailers in the market, some will say, that are probably currently advertisers, and will be delighted to pay this and go with a third ‑‑ a third party, but some others, and that's what we heard, claim that they were not using radio at all, but will use the radio because the format they were proposing was more catering towards their clientele ‑‑ leading ‑‑ what it's telling us, even if you have ‑‑ come up, both of you, with support letters from your client that they are still ‑‑ there is still a certain number of retailer that either have money not spent or ‑‑ or have not yet been sought by ‑‑ by your reps.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17805 MR. HILDEBRAND: I think that will always be the case. You can always find somebody that, you know, says, well, sure, I can do this or I can do that. To some extent that may be a little like consultants. You can hire consultants and they will tell you exactly what you want to hear, and then you can hire them again and they will tell you something else. I mean, they don't mind because they're just happy to get the fee.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17806 You know, so at the end of the day in our business, you know, it's just like when people come with an application saying from a business, you know, I will buy advertising on this station if they go on the air. Well, I've seen many of those over the years, and when the station is on the air these folks aren't buying advertising because the advertising has to do something for the client. The client has to be convinced that this is a good deal and that he will get some results, otherwise they're not buying.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17807 MR. RAWLINSON: Madam Chair, can I just comment?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17808 I heard a number of applicants say they'd talked to people and then they're telling you the stories of what they'd heard, but there was actually very few letters written by clients saying, yes, they would like to buy additional advertising, whereas between the letters filed by our company and by Mr. Hildebrand's company there was over a couple hundred of letters talking about ‑‑ of clients talking about that they're happy, they don't want more radio stations, it makes it more difficult to buy, their advertising might become less effective, et cetera, et cetera.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17809 If you want to look at the hard evidence, the stuff that has been provided to you in writing, there is some conflicting evidence, but the ‑‑ I would say that the evidence supporting what we're saying is overwhelming compared to what's been filed with you on the other position as far as, you know, people actually ‑‑ where you have got ‑‑ you have heard directly from them as opposed to somebody saying, I talked to somebody.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17810 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you very much for your concern.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17811 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17812 Commissioner Cugina.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17813 COMMISSIONER CUGINA: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17814 Ms Leyland, I have a question for you. Earlier this week when I asked you what were some of the factors you looked at when deciding to enter a new market? One of the things you said, in fact, the first thing you said was musical diversity. Again, earlier this week CJVR said that 22 percent of the Saskatoon population tunes in to out‑of‑market stations.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17815 My question is, how much weight should we give to the fact that more than one in five people in Saskatoon can't find, seeming, what they are looking for from Saskatoon Radio stations?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17816 MS LEYLAND: First of all, that was the first time that I'd heard that piece of information, and I found it hard to believe, frankly, just from my experience working in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17817 MR. RAWLINSON: Can I jump in, because ‑‑ can I give you the actual statistics? I don't know where they got that figure, but 94.4 percent of the tuning in Saskatoon is to local radio stations, and that's just counting the six private stations and CBC and the community station. It's probably higher than that if you add up, you know, the ‑‑ there is a couple of other stations that could be considered in there, but that's what it is.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17818 If they say there is 20 some percent, maybe they're talking about weekly reach that occasionally somebody tunes in to an out‑of‑market radio station, but the fact is the share of hours tuned is approximately 95 percent to local stations. So they were giving you incorrect information.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17819 COMMISSIONER CUGINA: Just so we have an apples to apples comparison, then, Mr. Rawlinson, what is the source of your information?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17820 MR. RAWLINSON: This is BBM, the spring ‑‑ Spring 2006 BBM.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17821 COMMISSIONER CUGINA: Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17822 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Excuse me, if I might add something, I think I can clarify what was done there, I read their research. They asked people to say what stations do you ever listen to, just for a minute or two minutes or whatever, and they got a figure of 20.6 percent in Regina and 21.6 percent in Saskatoon for people who might have tried a station on the Internet or tried a station somewhere, but that was out of a total of over 200 percent because people could answer more than one and they did not ask the people how long they spent with those stations, you know. We have all had the experience of occasionally flicking around and saying, oh, what can I get here, what can I get there? That doesn't mean you actually spent a lot of time with it, so they've essentially confused, I guess you might say, a reach figure and a tuning figure, and that isn't representative of tuning at all.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17823 COMMISSIONER CUGINA: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17824 I'm sure our able staff will be able to ‑‑ now that we have, like I say, an apples to apples comparison.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17825 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17826 MR. RAWLINSON: And the figure I quoted was 12 plus. That was all people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17827 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17828 Commissioner Williams.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17829 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I think for the benefit of everybody, and I think that will confirm what Mr. Rawlinson just said, the out‑of‑market tuning is seven percent altogether, and I'm using your BBM Fall, 2005.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17830 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17831 Commissioner Williams.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17832 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, panelists.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17833 Mr. Rawlinson and Mr. Hildebrand, how do you reconcile your comments of this morning that you think the Saskatoon market could absorb AVR and Touch Canada Broadcasting given that you state all Saskatoon advertisers have been served? Where do you expect Touch Canada Broadcasting will find its estimated 11 million in sales over its licence term, and even in year one, almost 700,000 of local advertising? If everyone has been served, where is this money coming from?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17834 MR. RAWLINSON: Well, I should perhaps answer that because I'm not sure if Mr. Hildebrand said that he was okay with Touch coming in.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17835 They're just so ‑‑ it's a specialty format, number one. They're ‑‑ I believe that their promise is something like 90 percent to be religious programming, if I'm not ‑‑ which is category 3.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17836 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Gospel music.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17837 MR. RAWLINSON: Yes. And that's just ‑‑ quite frankly we just ‑‑ we think of them in the commercial world as something that is very different.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17838 And so other than that, I don't know how to reconcile it, there just doesn't seem to be ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 17839 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: There is only a certain amount of money in the marketplace.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17840 MR. HILDEBRAND: I think ‑‑ I think also a good percentage of their revenue was projected to be brokered programming, which would be coming from out of the market.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17841 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17842 Another question, and this one for sure will be for both Mr. Rawlinson and Mr. Hildebrand. Please clarify if we should consider your Saskatoon broadcasting application seriously given your evidence this morning on the state of the Saskatoon Radio marketplace. I heard you say various ones that you could support, perhaps AVR perhaps coming, perhaps Touch Broadcasting, and you talked a bit about the Regina market. But I'm going to stay in the Saskatoon market, but I didn't hear mention of the Saskatoon broadcasting application, which is the reason for my question.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17843 MR. RAWLINSON: I'll jump in and start. As we said yesterday, our first preference is no commercial licence, but we came up with the idea for Saskatoon Radio broadcasting and have presented it to you because we feel if the Commission feels there is a need for a radio station that that's clearly the radio station that we think the community needs.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17844 And while that would impact on us from the amount of money that we would have to contribute and the amount of time we would have to contribute and the impact on the advertising revenues, we look at it as an ‑‑ or I look at it as a ‑‑ just the right thing to do for the community.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17845 It would have a financial impact, but I guess I wouldn't mind that as much as I would anybody else because in this ‑‑ in Saskatoon Radio broadcasting I think there would be a lot of good done for the community, so I wouldn't mind the financial hit there as much as I would just if some other commercial operator comes in, then there is just ‑‑ to me there's more lost than there is gained.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17846 MR. HILDEBRAND: I think my comments are along the lines of what I made yesterday and early this morning. I view all of the stuff that I do in this industry on a long‑term basis, and I think that given the increase in the Aboriginal community in Saskatoon, in the long term this would be a good thing for the community. And as such, we can support it. So I don't know if there is anything else that I can add.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17847 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I just needed little clarification based upon this morning's presentation. That's my question, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17848 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17849 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17850 I have a few questions. Mr. Hildebrand, you were saying that national revenue has gone down. Our highly confidential statistics show otherwise up to 2005. Are you saying that in '06 they have gone down?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17851 MR. HILDEBRAND: That's right. There was a market decrease in 2006, which was outlined by Patrick Gurison(ph) as well. And so the ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 17852 THE CHAIRPERSON: Can you give us a percentage reduction?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17853 MR. HILDEBRAND: The percentage is in the range of 15 percent.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17854 MR. RAWLINSON: And we experienced the same percentage decline this year that just finished, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17855 THE CHAIRPERSON: '06, August '06. Okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17856 MR. HILDEBRAND: And I might add that already we're in the new year going forward and we see this erosion continuing, and to some extent it is a little alarming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17857 MR. RAWLINSON: For the first two months of this year, September and October, again, that's the same thing we're having a 15 percent decline in our national advertising.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17858 THE CHAIRPERSON: So it's 15 percent of the already 15 percent reduced amount?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17859 MR. RAWLINSON: Well, no it's comparing September, October of '05 with September, October '06. That's down 15 percent, so the trend that happened last year is continuing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17860 THE CHAIRPERSON: Is continuing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17861 MR. RAWLINSON: Actually if my memory serves me right, the decline in national advertising started happening during the year and it just kind of fell off the map. It was weird, but it wasn't ‑‑ it was not a particularly bad fall a year ago, it was kind of ‑‑ it wasn't growing, but it was kind of in that range and then all of a sudden, boom, it just fell apart.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17862 MR. HILDEBRAND: Yeah, it just flies in the face of overall national advertising in Canada seems to be going the other direction. So these are some of the anomalies as it relates to Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan, many times, you know, isn't on anybody's radar screen in Toronto, and we have to work really hard to get agencies to even realize that there is a Saskatchewan. And so once we've got them to realize that, then we have to try and actually get some of the budget.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17863 So many times Saskatchewan nationally will only get attention if there is something really bad happening in Saskatchewan. Gainer is getting more promotion across Canada than any of the good stories that have happened in Saskatchewan in the last year.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17864 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes. Government advertising, Crown Corporation advertising, how much of ‑‑ maybe if you could file it confidentially, how much of that comprises as the total percentage of your total advertising?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17865 MR. HILDEBRAND: Yeah, we'd be happy to do that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17866 MR. RAWLINSON: Yes, okay. I can tell you ‑‑ actually last year was a reasonably good year for Government advertising, Provincial Government advertising, but for some reason again this fall it has fallen off. And yet, as we seem to be getting closer and closer to an election you would think ‑‑ you know, it normally picks up and it had picked up, and we thought, oh, boy, you know, the '07 year should be a great year for Government advertising and it's been quite poor this fall. So I don't know, it's hard to predict, but ‑‑ so you want percentage of the ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 17867 THE CHAIRPERSON: Of your gross revenues.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17868 MR. RAWLINSON: Of our gross revenues comes from Government advertising?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17869 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes, and Crown Corps.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17870 MR. RAWLINSON: And Crown Corps.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17871 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Have you considered that being local advertising or national advertising?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17872 MR. RAWLINSON: We consider that to be local. At least that's how we treat it. I don't know how ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 17873 MR. HILDEBRAND: Yes, we do. We treat it as local as well, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17874 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: So you treat it as local?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17875 MR. HILDEBRAND: Yes, we do.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17876 THE CHAIRPERSON: So I wanted to go, Mr. Goldstein, predictions are wonderful, but when we were talking last time we were talking about the difference in population in Regina since the last licensing. And in Saskatoon the last licensing was 2000. Did you ever check into what the population was then? He has to change glasses to find that out.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17877 MR. GOLDSTEIN: I didn't check it, but I think the difference would be probably about 4,000.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17878 THE CHAIRPERSON: In population?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17879 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17880 THE CHAIRPERSON: Do you think if I could get you to do a little homework and provide us with the population since I think the licensing ‑‑ the hearing was in '99, so since 2000. The increase in population, the increase in GDP, the increase in retail sales since that time, just so we can have ‑‑ like, it's just history is ‑‑ I always consider it a better predicator than gazing into a crystal ball.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17881 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Sure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17882 THE CHAIRPERSON: If you can do that? Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17883 Now, I'm intrigued by ‑‑ and I don't know if you've seen it, Mr. Goldstein, the Newcap document called some market comparisons. And I must say it looks to me like the stars are coalescing. In general it looks like somewhere between well, I'm going to say around 20,000 is the number of persons per station in the six other markets. The average household income looks ‑‑ well, it's an average of 57,000. And the retail sales per station is 278. And based on all of that, Regina and Saskatoon are, I know we're special, but, I mean, it doesn't seem to me to make logical sense.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17884 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, we discussed a little bit the other day this business about the average number of people per station. And in our report I dismissed that as a simplistic exercise because, of course, if you take different markets you can prove something else. But, in fact, I think the most important thing to say about that, and I can, by the way, give you a very long and involved statistical exercise, but I'm not going to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17885 THE CHAIRPERSON: Please, please, keep it in normal language for us laymen.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17886 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes. It's not going to be a statistical argument, it's going to be a bit of a philosophical argument. Madam Chair, you yourself, over the last couple of days, have been questioning applicants on the degree to which they understood the difference between Regina and Saskatoon. And I ‑‑ and there were a variety of responses. Some were, in fact, saying, oh, they're very much the same and we can do the same thing in one, we can do the same thing in the other. And I think you challenged that, and I agree with you, I think they are different. But if there are differences between Regina and Saskatoon and unique characteristics about Regina and unique characteristics about Saskatoon, how can you then use Moncton or St. John as a proxy? How can you use Muncton and St. John, New Brunswick as a proxy for Regina and Saskatoon? It just doesn't make any sense.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17887 The markets are what they are. We should be looking at the fact that the markets have achieved not at high profit levels, but a certain equilibrium here, and other markets are there, and we should be looking at what one might to that equilibrium if one licensed a new station.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17888 So if the average number of people per station in another market is a certain number, does that mean we're importing the model from that market into Regina and Saskatoon? Does that mean we're going to put the number of employees per station, which is lower? Does that mean we're going to bring in the spending on programming, which is lower? Does that mean we're going to bring in the revenues which might also be lower?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17889 So, I mean, I found it interesting to hear some applicants say that the per capita levels per station or the per capita levels of radio advertising in Saskatchewan were higher given the number of stations, therefore let's now go bring in the number of stations from another market where the per capita levels are lower. I mean, you can't just cherry pick these statistics and say, well, we can mimic Muncton for numbers of stations and population, but somehow that will have no effect on the program spending, that will have no effect on the revenues, I would rather deal with Regina and Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17890 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Goldstein, though, the differences between the markets that I was referring to was social differences, and surely radio can be responsive to that and, in fact, I think, you know, radio has huge power to change feelings and thoughts about social issues. That doesn't impact ‑‑ it appears to me that we should be looking, if we're going to use something like this, we should be looking at a place that has a similar economic ‑‑ well, similar in economics, and if I do that, one would use, I guess, the conference for diversity factors also in that. And Saskatoon has, what is it, 93 diversity? Probably the second highest in Canada. Is it the second highest?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17891 MR. GOLDSTEIN: I'm not sure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17892 THE CHAIRPERSON: I think Winnipeg is 95, so it's right up there. If we tried to do a matrix including diversity factors and the, what am I going to say, economic output, the GDP, and put some of these other issues in, would that give us another way of comparing a proxy?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17893 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, I think the two most important things to use are going to be population and retail sales. I mean, if you're looking for the two most important indicators, the number of indicators are, of course, sub‑indexes of other indicators. GDP is connected to personal income, is connected to retail sales, I mean, you have to have the GDP to have the income. You have to have the income to have the sales. At some point you max out your credit card, so you do have to have the income to have the sales.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17894 So I think I would start with population and retail sales. I think that I would avoid the headline of the day approach. You know, 50 new housing starts today, let's licence a new radio station. 450 jobs lost, let's take one away. I mean, you know, you can't quite do that, and I think, though, that within the use of indicators of this nature, we should be looking at three important things. And I made some notes for myself and I think maybe it's important to put this on the record, about how one should use these indicators.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17895 First of all, the data has to come from a reliable source, and that means we should be using Statistics Canada wherever possible for historical data. And if we can't find Statistics Canada data because we're looking at projections or we're looking at markets where Stats Canada doesn't produce data on a regular basis, we should be using sources that do regular updates. We should be using sources that revise past data. One of the places some of the people in this process got into a little trouble is they used the source that doesn't revise past data.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17896 THE CHAIRPERSON: Is that FP?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17897 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes. So they come out once a year with a long lead time, and so if they're two percent low in one year and don't revise it, and two percent high in the next year, all of a sudden you're looking like a big increase, which really isn't there.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17898 So first, reliable data. Secondly, consider the data over a long period of time. Go back at least ten years and go forward at least five years. And projections aren't perfect, but they do at least reflect the consensus of demographics and economics. And don't be driven by short‑term blips. And the third point is, don't just consider absolute growth rates. Look at relative growth rates.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17899 Yes, Regina is growing a little, and yes, Saskatoon is growing slightly more than Regina, but both are still growing a lot more slowly than a lot of other places and that is one of the roots of the things we have just been discussing about national advertising and the shift. And indeed, as you get the big box stores, perhaps elbowing out some local merchants, that might get exacerbated. So those would be the indicators with those three caveats attached.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17900 THE CHAIRPERSON: And what if I put into the matrix of, you know, another indicators where the incumbents were privately held or publicly held. Would that be relevant?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17901 MR. GOLDSTEIN: I think it might be. I think the privately held incumbent might be less driven by the next quarterly results, and might have a longer view. And you have two very good privately held companies sitting right here who could probably answer that as well, but I think that would be a consideration, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17902 MR. RAWLINSON: Madam Chair, I'd like to throw one other thing into your matrix, and that is the quality of the radio stations that are in the market, and what are they doing? I would wonder whether some of these markets they're using have a News Talk station?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17903 And the, you know, we filed many letters, we've got, you know, a lot of evidence on the file about the tremendous benefits that having News Talk stations brings to a community. It's not just the extra news, it's the, you know, when, you know, the RCMP officer was killed, the ‑‑ carrying the funeral live to the province, I mean, there was just a bunch of things. And there was an election the other night and I think we had 16 people covering the civic election in Saskatoon, as an example. I mean, you just don't get that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17904 And the other thing is, is the full service AM stations that are CKRM or CJWW. Those stations also have big news departments and also carry a lot of local information. It isn't just the News Talk stations. And, you know, they haven't been ‑‑ become a shadow of their former selves the way many AM stations have. Those are still vibrant full service radio stations, and that costs money. And so I just think those are, you know, the ‑‑ so I think all of those things should be taken into your matrix too.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17905 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Hildebrand, you were talking about, we get a new entrant and the rates will go down, we have to promote more, our staff would be poached. That would happen except for maybe the last ‑‑ well, no, that may not be true, if Saskatoon broadcasting were licensed also.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17906 MR. HILDEBRAND: Not in the same way because we would actually be mentoring and training the employees for the new operators. It would be quite different than if, you know, a public company comes into the market and decides to just ‑‑ you buy the talent no matter what, and so I think it is a big difference from that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17907 THE CHAIRPERSON: You don't think the trust wouldn't try to poach Mr. Brass?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17908 MR. HILDEBRAND: Well, maybe Mr. Brass would ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 17909 THE CHAIRPERSON: I mean, you've got good some trustees there, and I can't see them, you know, well, I mean ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 17910 MR. HILDEBRAND: But in real terms, we will be developing more Aboriginal employees there and it will be a totally different picture than, as I say, if a public company comes into the market and decides to sort of just, you know, swoop through and see whatever they can pick off.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17911 THE CHAIRPERSON: But, like, once they're up and running, you and I would expect them to compete as best they could.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17912 MR. HILDEBRAND: Truly.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17913 THE CHAIRPERSON: And my thoughts would be, they would be out there with the advertisers and they might be cutting rates for a while.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17914 MR. HILDEBRAND: And in all likelihood then we all have to do that to match it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17915 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah, and then would you have to promote too because they would be there?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17916 MR. HILDEBRAND: And so then you're sort of on a downhill spiral that at the end of the day doesn't provide good radio. I mean, we just have to go back six or seven years to what we had in Saskatoon. I mean, we didn't have six good radio stations. We had two or three good ones and some real dogs, and so the whole process, you know, has been fixed up and I keep coming back to the fact that Saskatoon may have the best radio service of communities anywhere in the Prairies because it has six distinct formats, it has a full service radio, it has community involvement, you know, second to none and we have a commitment to do that for our audience. And my personal commitment is that's what I do in broadcasting, I do it for the long run, not for the short run.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17917 THE CHAIRPERSON: And the trustees of Saskatoon Radio who presented it were proposing a format that appeals to youth. Is that the format that would hurt your companies the least?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17918 MR. HILDEBRAND: Probably would hurt our company the least, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17919 MR. RAWLINSON: And I think as I said yesterday, it will hurt us more than it will hurt Mr. Hildebrand's operation. But if I could just reiterate what I said just a few minutes ago, it seems to me that that's ‑‑ if that operation gets a licence and we do take a hit, that's a hit that, quite frankly, from a financial point of view we can afford and I wouldn't feel ‑‑ I mean, at least it's going ‑‑ it would be for a tremendous benefit to the community. I don't see their ‑‑ it could be argued is the benefit to the community greater than the impact it will have on us as an operator, and that could be debated which way it goes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17920 THE CHAIRPERSON: So Mr. Rawlinson, though, does this format impact you the least compared to all the other formats proposed?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17921 MR. RAWLINSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17922 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17923 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17924 THE SECRETARY: We would now call on the next appearing intervener for the record. I would like to indicate the following interveners will not be appearing. Those are CIRPA, Paul Martin Communications, Neil Meckelborg, and Jason Moffat.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17925 Therefore, I would call on the next appearing intervener, The Secret Santa Foundation to come forward for their presentation.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 17926 THE CHAIRPERSON: Madam Secretary, this is the Santa Foundation?
LISTNUM 95 \l 17927 THE SECRETARY: Yes.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 17928 THE SECRETARY: Before you proceed with your presentation, if you could identify yourself. You could turn on the microphone, introduce yourself, and then you will have ten minutes for your presentation.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17929 Please go ahead.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 17930 MS WEYMAN: Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17931 Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about the CJWW, Denny Carr, Secret Santa Foundation and what it means to needy families in Saskatoon at Christmas.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17932 My name is Mercedes Weyman and I am the Executive Director of the Secret Santa Foundation. Seated beside me on the left is Jim McRory, one of our volunteer board members, and to my right is the Chairman of the Secret Santa Board and General Manager of CJWW radio, Vic Dubois.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17933 Please bear with me as I tell you about the history of Secret Santa. Secret Santa was initially formed 20 years ago in the mid 1980s. Long time CFQC 600 AM radio morning man, Denny Carr, approached the Salvation Army staff in Saskatoon to ask how the radio station could assist the needy during the Christmas season. Their request was for toys and Secret Santa was born with a mandate to see to it that no child in Saskatoon would go without a new unwrapped toy on Christmas day. Denny Carr continued to be the driving force behind Secret Santa each year directing a team of volunteer elves led by myself. As to how I first became involved, my late husband was another long time radio news man with CFQC.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17934 MR. McRORY: In 1994 the radio station was purchased by the company that owned CJWW radio in Saskatoon. CFQC then became an FM station and Denny Carr continued his career as a co‑host on the morning show on CJWW, which now occupied the 600 dial position. CJWW General Manager, Vic Dubois, wholeheartedly took on the task of supporting Denny's Secret Santa with whatever air time, money, and staff resources that were required. Of course it goes without saying that CJWW already had an excellent track record of involvement with many charitable organizations and events before Secret Santa came along.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17935 MS WEYMAN: In 1998, Denny Carr was diagnosed with cancer and sadly passed away in 1999 after being a fixture on the morning airwaves in Saskatoon for more than 30 years. As a side note, my husband, Easton Weyman, had also contracted cancer and passed away two years earlier in 1997. Both his and Denny's pictures, with the caption, "In memory of our friends," are on the wall to this day in CJWW's reception area. This is a radio company that cares.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17936 The challenge in 1999 was what was going to happen to Secret Santa now that its founder and guiding leader was gone. I was asked to attend a meeting with Vic Dubois, along with both CJWW's promotions and community relations directors. The purpose of the meeting; to discuss the future of Secret Santa. Would we carry on somehow without Denny at the helm or simply dissolve the organization. And to compound events, the Salvation Army in Toronto decided to not continue releasing income tax receipts, which made things more difficult for donors.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17937 MR. McRORY: The decision came easily that Secret Santa was far too important to just let it fade away into oblivion. CJWW would take on the task of seeing to it that Denny Carr's legacy lived on and with the help of CJWW's outside legal and accounting firms, the result was the formation of the CJWW Denny Carr Secret Santa Foundation, a Federally registered charity with the ability to issue tax receipts.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17938 There is a six person volunteer Board of Directors from the community chaired by CJWW General Manager, Vic Dubois, and our Executive Director, Mercedes, along with a number of volunteers who come on board in November and December each year as this wraps up at the end of the year, and that number is somewhere between 75 and 100 people from the community, including huge support by our firefighters in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17939 I'm very pleased to say that ongoing fundraising efforts after 1999 became so successful, thanks to wonderful community support from Saskatoon businesses and organizations, that last year, in 2005, the foundation made a decision to expand its mandate. Now, we had noticed that the Salvation Army had reduced staff and operations in the City of Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17940 Accordingly, after consulting with the Salvation Army, the Secret Santa Foundation stepped up to the plate and took on the task of providing not just toys, but Christmas food hampers as well. And we searched until we found a building that we could use as a storage and a pick‑up depot, and the week before Christmas, CJWW staff and their families, along with other outside volunteers, put together hampers full of food and toys; then on December 22nd, handed them out to a total of 600 needy Saskatoon families, the majority of which, as it turned out, had four or more children by the way.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17941 So that number was anywhere from between 15 and 100 and 2,500 people total that were looked after at Christmas time.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17942 We had our most recent Board meeting a short time ago in October and I'm happy to report that the 2006 Secret Santa campaign is set to get under way.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17943 We expect to once again provide ‑‑ officially start that campaign with a symbolic placing of a present under the big Christmas tree in the lobby of our City Hall in Saskatoon. The Mayor is always a part of that. The firefighters come out and sing carols for us, and there is always a good turnout of the media; and from print, to radio and television, always support us very, very nicely. CJWW management and staff are ready to go and are as passionate as ever about this very worthwhile cause.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17944 MS WEYMAN: There are two reasons that I felt it was important for you to hear this story.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17945 The first reason is to show how this radio station, CJWW, goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to being caring and compassionate about the community. This station, along with the other two in the same company, CFQC FM and CJMK FM, are deeply committed to helping nonprofit groups and organizations in Saskatoon achieve their goals of providing a better quality of life for those who require their help.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17946 The station employs a Community Relation's Director whose mandate goes far beyond simply allocating public service announcements on the air.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17947 The CJWW Denny Carr Secret Santa Foundation is just an excellent example of how far these broadcasters are prepared to go to give something back to the community in order to assist those in need.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17948 The second reason that I am here is because I have a fear that should new FM radio licences be granted to Saskatoon, CJWW AM could find itself in a position whereby it cannot continue to spend enough time and money, as well as allocating of staff to ensure that the Secret Santa Foundation fulfils the mandate it has been given by the Board. That would mean a sad Christmas day for many needy families in Saskatoon. I believe that it is vitally important to our community that Secret Santa lives on and is able to do its wonderful charitable work in the future.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17949 I am therefore asking the Commission to please take this consideration when deliberating on the number of radio licences that should be operating in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17950 Thank you very much for allowing us to make this presentation today and we would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17951 THE CHAIRPERSON: Commissioner Pennefather.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17952 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17953 Thank you for being with us this morning and for presenting the story behind the foundation and I really have no questions; just to congratulate you on your important work for the community and reminding us that Christmas is around the corner.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17954 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mrs. Weyman and gentlemen.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17955 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17956 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17957 I will now call on the next appearing intervener, Lisa Rendall, to come forward for her presentation.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17958 Ms Rendall, you can go ahead. You would have ten minutes for your presentation.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17959 Thank you.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 17960 MS RENDALL: Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the Commission, and Commission staff.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17961 My name is Lisa Rendall. Joining me is Glenda Little, the communications consultant for the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17962 I would first like to tell you just a bit about me. I was diagnosed with stage 4, incurable metastatic breast cancer in July of 2000. At the time, I was a morning show co‑host on C95 and I have been on long‑term disability for the last six years. I had pain throughout my body and doctors could not figure out what was going on, until I had severe neck pain, and x‑rays showed that a vertebrae in my neck had totally collapsed.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17963 Cancer had eaten away at the bone and destroyed it, collapsing my neck and causing me unbearable pain. I went to the hospital with a sore neck and found out that I had breast cancer that had spread to the rest of my body; areas including of course my neck, my first right rib is totally broken apart by a tumour. There are numerous cancerous legions in my chest wall, many of my ribs and throughout my spine from the neck right down to the sacral area. I have a partially collapsed vertebra in my back and the cancer is also in my liver, but do I look like I have cancer? No.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17964 I was put in a halo for three months. I had a bone graft put into my neck from my hip, along with a titanium plate put into my neck. I also had the lump in my breast removed, a lump that was only detectable by a CT scan. I had chemotherapy once a week for six months, which was able to shrink the tumours, and my cancer has remained the same for six years. It's still there, it just hasn't grown or shrunk. So I have what they call stable disease.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17965 I still have three different treatments a month. I take two different kinds of Morphine to help me cope with the pain of the cancer in my bones, but I'm not here to talk about me. I'm here to talk about the outstanding support of C95 in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17966 Since my diagnosis I have been overwhelmed with the support of all of the Saskatoon radio stations, but particularly with C95. They have been having radio marathon fundraisers for paediatric causes until my diagnosis and it was then that C95 changed the radio marathon to be a fundraiser for breast cancer research.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17967 I have to tell you, I'm a control freak and mixing a control freak with cancer is not an easy thing to do, to say the least, because there was nothing I could do to control my situation. There is nothing I could do to change it, but I could try and raise enough money to find new treatments and ultimately a cure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17968 The staff at C95 threw themselves into the radio marathon. It was personal for the staff because of what had happened to me. I was actually not expected to live for very long. And someone close to them had been diagnosed with cancer.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17969 We not only have the C95 radio marathon for breast cancer at the end of October, which of course is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but there are many events that C95 publicizes throughout the year. If an event comes up, they're always trying to think of a way that we can turn it into a fundraiser for breast cancer research.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17970 When the Exhibition is in town, for the entire week the announcers and other staff are there raising money for breast cancer with contests. They're selling some kind of C95 breast cancer fundraising item. For a local City Hall chili cook‑off, the money raised goes to the C95 radio marathon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17971 I'm involved with a dragon boat team of breast cancer survivors. We have fundraising pasta nights, barbecues, and much more throughout the year and C95 is always extremely supportive in letting the community know about these little events as well. In the summer I hold my own golf tournament, even though I don't golf. It's called the Lisa Rendall Golf Classic. It raises money for the C95 radio marathon for breast cancer research, another way that I can try and make a difference in what's happened to me.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17972 C95 puts the entry form and poster on their website. They run promos to let everyone know of the event. And the morning show even comes out to broadcast live the day of the tournament. The support of the golf tournament goes basically from May through to the end of August with promos and the announcers talking about it, along with information on the C95 website.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17973 I personally hold many fundraising and awareness events about breast cancer throughout the year, and I'm always overwhelmed with the support I receive from the current local radio stations, C95 in particular. I have been contacted numerous times to do interviews about my golf tournament, fundraising steak nights, our Busting With Energy Dragon Boat Team, even speaking engagements that I do to talk about my breast cancer experience and my ongoing battle with the disease. I have been featured in many newspapers, magazines and TV interviews, and C95 is even notifying the public about these kinds of things. Look for Lisa in the paper today, Lisa is here.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17974 The single biggest event, though, that shows the commitment of our location radio stations is the C95 radio marathon for breast cancer research. We just had our 7th annual radio marathon last week ‑‑ I'm sorry, it was just last Thursday and Friday. We raised a record‑breaking $305,000. There are no big corporate donations. This is all money raised by local people who are moved to donate because of what they hear on C95.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17975 In the seven years that C95 has turned over the airwaves for an entire two days, we have now made over one million dollars for the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency for research. It's an incredible two days where the radio station focuses entirely on breast cancer and raising money to find a cure and new treatments.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17976 C95 started out doing the marathon for 30 hours, then they extended it to 35 hours, now we're at 36 hours. That's 36 hours of live radio devoted to breast cancer awareness and research. They talk to a local breast cancer survivor every hour, talk to family members, friends, and staff at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17977 Before the radio marathon, no one even knew about the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency. You see, they can't go out and tell people about themselves like the Canadian Cancer Society can. Glenda could speak more to that issue better than I can.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17978 C95 has not only been able to raise over one million dollars for the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, they have made the province aware of the fact that the agency exists. Glenda Little, communications consultant with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency will now speak about the impact that C95 has had on the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17979 MS LITTLE: Thanks, Lisa.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17980 I'm pleased to be here today to talk about Saskatchewan Cancer Agency's relationship with C95 and Rawlco Radio. As chairperson of the agency, C95 radio marathon committee, I would like to express to you how important our relationship with C95 and Rawlco Radio has become. This relationship is not only important to our cancer research unit, but to our staff and volunteers, as well as to our patients and their family members and the public at large.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17981 The agency operates cancer centers in Regina and Saskatoon, cancer patient lodges, screening programs for breast and cervical cancer, many other programs and services. We also have an active cancer research unit located within the Saskatoon Cancer Centre. Funding for administration of the unit comes from the agency in the form of core support, however, all research carried out within the unit is funded by competitive grants from agencies such as the National Cancer Institute of Canada and others like it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17982 Over the past seven years, the C95 radio marathon has brought in actually one point one million dollars for breast cancer research. This is an incredible amount and has had an amazing impact on our research program. Specifically we have been able to significantly expand our program in the area of breast cancer. Lisa is correct in saying that up to this point, the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency has been a passive fundraiser, meaning that we accept donations, but we haven't been actively involved in fundraising promotion. Consequently it is sometimes difficult getting the word out that we're right here in the province delivering cancer services and conducting world class research, and C95 and the radio marathon seven years ago, and the positive result has been increased awareness. We regret that Lisa Rendall's diagnosis is the reason the C95 radio marathon for breast cancer research was given to us, but we're truly grateful and thankful for our relationship with Lisa, C95, and Rawlco Radio.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17983 C95 and Rawlco Radio are making a big difference in the lives of people affected by breast cancer and, in turn, people with all types of cancer.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17984 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17985 MS RENDALL: Thank you, Glenda.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17986 In closing, I would like to personally express that I feel the number of radio stations we have in Saskatoon is more than enough for the size of our community. I worry that should other competing radio stations come into our community that events such at as my golf tournament would not be able to get the community coverage that we currently receive and that getting 36 hours of live radio for a fundraiser may not be possible any more.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17987 The radio stations we have currently serve our community extremely well. C95 is incredibly generous and goes over and above what radio stations normally do. They donate air time and manpower to a massive fundraising and awareness endeavour that I could not possibly do on my own no matter how hard I try.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17988 Thank you so much for your time and we'd be pleased to answer any questions.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17989 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Ms Rendall.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17990 It's amazing, just this morning, the five of us were sitting around the table in our room talking about how cancer has touched us all.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17991 Thank you very much, we have no questions.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17992 MS RENDALL: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17993 THE CHAIRPERSON: Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17994 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17995 I would now call on the next two appearing interveners. They are APTN, Mr. Jean LaRose, and Amanda Nepper, if you would come forward for your presentation. We will start with Mr. LaRose from APTN, you will have 10 minutes for your presentation.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17996 THE CHAIRPERSON: Welcome to God's country, Mr. LaRose.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17997 I said, welcome to God's country.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 17998 MR. LAROSE: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 17999 There is still no snow here.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18000 Good morning, Madam Chair, monsieur le vice-président, Commissioners and Commission staff.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18001 Mon nom est Jean LaRose. Je suis le directeur général du reseau de télévision des peuples autochtones. Je suis un citoyen Abanaki de la première nation Odanak.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18002 I appear before you today in support of an application by Harvard Broadcasting to provide an FM service to Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18003 The service they propose would be directed to the least well served population in the market, 12 to 34 years old. Harvard has found in their research, both in this and other markets, that it is these younger listeners who are least satisfied by traditional broadcast radio. I commend any broadcaster who is recognizing and addressing this critical problem, one of the reasons being that our population is over 50 percent in that age group.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18004 Because it is not just the immediate or even midterm future of radio that is being jeopardized by ignoring these audiences, it has a larger social implication. As the next generation disconnects from mass media in favour of more highly personalized information and entertainment sources, we lose the opportunity to engage in dialogue; dialogue that is critical to advancing their understanding of the world and dialogue that is needed to expand the horizons of their thought.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18005 The challenges within the Aboriginal communities in this area are not undocumented. At APTN, we take our role as a community leader and a potential mentor for our youth quite seriously. One of the primary driving forces behind the creation of the Aboriginal Media Education Fund, AMEF, was the shocking realization that young Aboriginal persons were either not aware of the opportunities in broadcasting or considered it beyond their reach. In one case, we had developed an Aboriginal‑specific initiative with a CEGEP in Quebec in conjunction with a well‑known producer that offered a number of openings for Aboriginal youth. Even with a substantial information campaign in high schools located within our communities in that region, not one youth applied. This demonstrated to us that we need to work harder and more diligently at reaching our youth and clearly demonstrating to them that this is one field where they do have opportunities and a range of choices.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18006 The AMEF, as you heard earlier this week, has one of its mandates, a plan to address this disenfranchisement. It will begin with education, expand to training both academic and workplace based, develop into mentorship programs, and hopefully will be able to assist with job placements. One of the most important aspects of the AMEF is that the scope of training covers all aspects of media. Our intent is to provide training where needed and in areas that are of the most interest to the recipients of the funding. This is what makes AMEF, in my mind, the most comprehensive and important initiative of its kind in Canada, one that is deserving of support by the entire broadcasting community, be it radio or television. I sincerely believe that the pool of talent that industry will require in the coming years will in great part be composed of Aboriginal Peoples and we must start today to establish and develop that talent pool.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18007 While the AMEF did not consider Canadian Talent Development Funds as part of the original funding base, it is our assessment that given the criteria, it is exactly the type of organization that the CTD initiatives were envisioned to support. We thank Harvard Broadcasting for recognizing this opportunity and drawing our attention to this potential funding.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18008 The heart of our support for the Harvest Broadcasting proposal, however, is premised on the ongoing commitment of Harvard Broadcasting in assisting APTN in developing a pool of trained news reporters. Similar to the commitments of Harvard in Calgary and Fort McMurray, Harvard is prepared to provide at their expense mentorship programs for one candidate each year of a licence. APTN will recruit and select the candidates and Harvard commits to hiring at least one of the persons completing the program. These candidates will receive full training in all aspecting of news production and will be given the opportunity to develop their own on‑air segments.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18009 Candidates for the mentorship program with Harvard will leave after a year with critical firsthand experience of producing and reporting news. They will have a portfolio of material that they have worked on to show prospective employers and through their on‑air segments, they will have production credits. The importance of this type of on‑the‑job training support should not be underestimated.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18010 As the Commission well knows, APTN has just recently been renewed for its second term, and you would know since you renewed it. We are very proud of what we have accomplished thus far and the increased pass through fee will help take us to the next level. But all of these new monies have been earmarked to meet our targets of increased production and will be directed toward what appears on screen. The Commission has given us very specific direction as to how and where to direct that revenue and I intend to ensure that APTN meets the conditions of licence that the CRTC presented with the subscriber increase. As you know, APTN competes for audience with all other broadcasters and it is imperative that we never lose site of the need to create on‑air programming that is entertaining and engaging. This leaves APTN and frankly the system with the same exact under‑ representation skilled Aboriginal media people as five years ago. As well, the Commission is well aware of the costs of producing certain categories and genres of programming. Even with the increase, APTN needs to establish partnerships with other broadcasters to develop the types of programming that will meet audience needs and expectations and successfully demonstrate that Canadian productions can be as good, if not better, than off‑the‑shelf productions made in other countries. APTN is working hard to establish, maintain and expand those partnerships. But these are outside of the scope of AMEF, which is a totally independent entity from APTN. AMEF will develop a talent pool from which not only APTN, but other Aboriginal radio broadcasters like AMMSA, MBC, NCI, Wawatay, and others, will be able to get talent. It is also AMEF's goal to help mainstream broadcasters to have access to this incredible talent pool that will provide them with qualified dynamic and young individuals who will provide them with a whole new generation of skilled workers. After all, isn't it our social responsibility to ensure that we pave the way for our young people to replace us? Many of us in this room are 10, 15 years from moving on into our sunset years. That is a very small window, indeed, to train young people to assume the tasks and responsibilities that we hold and ensure that the industry remains strong and vibrant.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18011 That is why we believe it is important that broadcasters be encouraged to contribute support to the system through initiatives like the AMEF and directly to APTN through programs like the proposed news mentoring program. It is only through a more broadly organized and more widely supported effort that APTN will be able to realize its goal of producing information and entertainment that are "by" and not just "for and about" Aboriginal Peoples. It is only through these larger efforts that the imbalance in the system in terms of the participation of Aboriginal Peoples will be addressed. The entire system will benefit since many of these individuals will one day be filling these types of positions not only in the Aboriginal community, but the entire broadcasting community in Canada. That is the goal of AMEF and I believe the goal of the Commission and the industry and it seeks to work collectively to address the systemic imbalance through the work of the industry in SABAR, for example, and through other initiatives set out by the Commission to address the under‑representation of certain groups including Aboriginal Peoples.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18012 At APTN we are proud to say we are the first national Aboriginal broadcast in the world. Our role and our place in the Canadian broadcast system is something we both value and appreciate. We are encouraged by the fact that broadcasters like Harvard recognize the role they can play in ensuring representation of Aboriginal Peoples "in front and behind the cameras and microphones" and we hope the Commission will reward such valuable contributions by expanding the communities they serve.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18013 In closing I would like to sum up why I think the Harvard Broadcasting proposal should be licensed.
‑ 1) The Zone seeks to provide a service for an underserved population and a group of people increasingly disenfranchised with traditional media.
‑ 2) Harvard proposes a news mentoring program that will provide Saskatoon Aboriginal Peoples an opportunity to train in the market where they live and create skilled people in an area of critical need.
‑ 3) Harvard's mentoring proposal will not only provide training, but it comes with an offer and a guarantee of employment.
‑ 4) Harvard Broadcasting's ongoing support of APTN and the AMEF recognizes the role that broadcasters and the system have to play in developing Aboriginal talent. APTN is certainly making strides, but should not carry the obligation alone.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18014 I thank you very much for your time and attention and would be most happy to answer any questions you may have at this time. Merci.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18015 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Mr. LaRose.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18016 We'll continue with Ms Amanda Nepper and then questions may follow from the panel.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18017 MS NEPPER: Good morning, Madam Chair, and Commissioners and Commission staff. My name is Amanda Nepper. I'm 24 years old and I have been a resident of Saskatoon for seven years now.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18018 I used to listen to the radio all the time. For a while, I have been finding myself relying more on my CDs to hear the music that I want to hear. There is nothing on the radio that I listen to, mainly because it's been the same music and programming over and over and over for years now.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18019 Our city desperately needs some diversity for the listeners. Our current stations play the same music all the time. There are times I tune into the radio and the song on Rock 102 will also be playing on C95 or the song on Magic 98.3 will also be playing on Rock 102. And I have personally experienced the same song playing on three stations at once and it's not much of a selection.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18020 So needless to say I was excited to hear about a possible new radio station in Saskatoon. The ideas presented in the application put forth by Harvard Broadcasting have captured my attention and have my full support. I want a station that's going to play my music, my friends' music and The Zone would definitely be a station that I could call my own.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18021 Currently no station in Saskatoon is speaking to my generation. We spend time downloading music and listening to our MP3 players, iPods, rather than using the radio and it's because there is nothing to listen to. A station that would be playing Alternative and Modern Rock, Urban, Hip Hop and Pop music is exactly the radio station I want and one that I would listen to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18022 The Zone would not only be playing my generations' music, but the news and information programming would be relevant to those in my age group. This would also be an interactive station, having listener DJ's mix and introduce their own music and listener polls, which I feel are programs that are designed to create a connection between the station and its audience.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18023 Harvard also wants to be helping towards the discovery and development of local talent in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan. Funding is planned for the U of S music department, which in return helps keep music alive and growing in our city. The talent discovery contest is something I think will help artists within the area and will also be a program for listeners. We can hear new music and vote for who we like. It would be like having our own little version of Canadian Idol right there in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18024 A new sound for Saskatoon is long overdue. I would love having my music collection combined into one radio station rather than having to haul around numerous burnt CDs. The Zone 92.3 is not only what I'm looking for, I know it's what Saskatoon is looking for.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18025 Thank you for having me today and I will answer any questions you have for me.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18026 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18027 Vice‑Chair Arpin.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18028 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18029 Mr. LaRose, I note in your oral presentation today that you're mentioning that AMEF is there to develop the talent pool for APTN and other radio broadcasters, and you name a few by their acronyms. There is a national radio network whose name doesn't appear on your list. Is it for any given reason or ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18030 MR. LAROSE: No, actually this list isn't exhaustive. If I had made an exhaustive list, it would included AVR, as well as an NEB Terrace, NBY Yukon, NCS in Yellowknife. I mean, there is a whole range of others. I just selected a few from this region because I suspect that a lot of the training that would happen in this region would be for youth in this area who would work in radio stations in this area that are currently established and the ones that come to mind as established were those mentioned here.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18031 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Now, I don't know if you're aware, yesterday and over the last couple of days, we heard a few applications for new Aboriginal services in the area. ADR surely was here with the two proposals; one for Regina and one for Saskatoon. A group from Saskatoon also under the name of Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting made a proposal regarding the implementation of a radio service for Saskatoon, and which will be staffed exclusively by Aboriginal.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18032 Now, you just referred in your presentation to a situation that you lived in Quebec through CEGEP. Do you think that for the time being there is sufficient staffing for ‑‑ to meet the needs of setting up radio stations that will be staffed exclusively by Aboriginal and starts from the ground, say, in the next year or so?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18033 MR. LAROSE: I don't pretend to know everything about radio, so I will qualify my statements, but it has been my experience with APTN that in many fields we do not have ‑‑ we are hard pressed even as a network to fill all of our positions with Aboriginal people. That's why we created the mentorship program within the network where non‑aboriginal individuals, who have years of experience in mainstream, are hired for some of the key positions, some director positions and others, some engineer positions, and mentor over the course of sunset contracts, which is three to five years, mentor the Aboriginal staff to reach that level.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18034 I would be hesitant to say that a fully staffed Aboriginal radio station would actually find all of its staff to start. I suspect there would be gaps. We certainly have gaps ‑‑ we have gaps right now in filling some of the positions of the bureaus that we have now opened in accordance to our licence. We're having difficulty filling the positions in Iqaluit with qualified Inuit reporters. We're having difficulties in filling ‑‑ even in filling one of the prairie bureaus right now.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18035 So obviously there is a shortage of talent and this is why the approach that we are using with AMEF and Harvard here strikes APTN as the proper approach because it is developing talent in areas that are needed and it is looking at all areas, and some of our production areas, whether it's from a technical perspective, whether it's from an off‑air strictly management and operational perspective. There is not a lot of talent that has had the opportunity in mainstream to possibly be able to fulfil all the duties of a network. That's my experience with APTN.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18036 I know it's the experience of some of the societies who operate Aboriginal radio networks across the country, so I would have to say that, at this point, I am not convinced that a fully staffed station established for the purpose of that, and also under the auspices of a mainstream network, might actually develop the way that it is expected to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18037 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And personally, you, John LaRose, how did you come to broadcasting to the position that you are now holding at APTN? Where were you trained?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18038 MR. LAROSE: Where did I ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18039 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18040 MR. LAROSE: Actually I came into APTN from our communications PR and media relations field. What gave me the background to fulfil this position was the fact that I had the opportunity over a few years to operate a business on my own, but also from my political perspective to work with some of the Aboriginal organizations and gather a lot of knowledge and experience of what were some of the challenges faced by the communities, and what were some of the challenges faced by some of our organizations.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18041 And this knowledge is what allowed me to be able to step in this position, and while not being fully knowledgeable about the field, have enough experience to know what the pitfalls usually were for organizations such as ours, how to avoid them. And the big knowledge I learned over the ten years in business also gave me a good background on what to look for, how to build a network, how to expand it, and how to ensure that it is on the proper footing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18042 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you, Mr. LaRose, thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18043 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18044 Ms Nepper, you are a part‑time student?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18045 MS NEPPER: I just wrote my last midterm for this semester. I'm not going back next semester.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18046 THE CHAIRPERSON: You're not going back?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18047 MS NEPPER: Well, I plan to go back, but I just ‑‑ there is a glitch in the plan right now, so ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18048 THE CHAIRPERSON: What about your friends at University or ‑‑ not necessarily in University, your other friends, what do they listen to?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18049 MS NEPPER: Not the radio, and it's not even that; they listen to ‑‑ they download music because we don't hear it ‑‑ like, I have one girlfriend that, you know, she said, I'll listen to the radio for maybe an hour, I'll hear two songs that I like and maybe ‑‑ and none of them will be songs that they haven't already heard. And I have ‑‑ like, I use my boyfriend's younger siblings, because I don't have any younger siblings. Chantelle is 16 and Chet is 19 and they never listen to the radio. Like, they probably ‑‑ I don't think ‑‑ I don't think Chantelle has listened to the radio at all. Like, Chet stopped listening, but there is nothing there for them.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18050 Like, there is going to be no future in radio. That's what I mean, we're going to lose, like, a whole generation. Music is so important and they're not hearing anything they want to hear. And an '80s request lunch doesn't mean anything to them and that's prime time listening hour, as far as I'm concerned. That's when kids aren't in school, that's when, you know, people are on their lunch breaks, that's when people are driving around. Everyone is listening to the radio and I'm sure the '80s does hit a certain group, but ‑‑ I was even born in 1982, but I don't want to hear that all lunch hour, you know.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18051 THE CHAIRPERSON: You probably don't remember when you were one year old and had favourite tunes at that time?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18052 MS NEPPER: I even made a comment to my mom about ‑‑ because of my hair. I said, I wish I was born in the '80s, but that's ‑‑ I was, but I didn't live the '80s, you know. We lived the '90s and, like, the future now. Like, there is nothing on the radio for us to listen to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18053 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18054 Mr. LaRose, I hear you about trying to find qualified people. I think it is the experience of broadcasters in Saskatoon that even finding anybody to recruit to train is difficult. And you will be choosing the person who will be going in with Harvard should they be licensed. How do you plan to find somebody and your CEGEP experience is the same thing, isn't it?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18055 MR. LAROSE: Well, it is. And I mean, what we have ‑‑ in fact, one thing that's been very useful to us recently, as you know, we opened the Edmonton bureau, we've opened the Whitehorse and Iqaluit bureaus.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18056 We also had to staff our Saskatoon bureau because we had one of our key reporters, who is also a playwright, make the choice that play writing was more interesting than news reporting and also who plans to pitch show ideas to us, so he left, but in the course of the job search and the interviews we conducted, we identified about eight Aboriginal individuals who have some writing experience, but no radio or television experience. So we right now have possible candidates for up to eight positions that would require training and mentoring.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18057 The same happened in Edmonton. I think we've got five people on that list, five Aboriginal individuals, so I think that the opportunities are there. I think that the people are there.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18058 In Quebec it's a different story. We've started an outreach program in high schools where our regional manager of programming for Quebec and eastern region will be going to some of the community colleges, will be going to high schools and even earlier, you know, mid schools, late grade 7, grade 8, some of the job fairs, and we will be basically bringing sort of a little travelling road show to those schools to show the various opportunities, not only within television, but whether it be a reporter, whether it be a sound person; it could be radio, it could be television, to show the entire broadcasting sector because we're also trying to build an Aboriginal television broadcasting sector.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18059 We're trying to build a production community that will provide us with programming, but also work with the partnerships that we have, say, with Omni and with other broadcasters to develop new programming that's of interest to both our audience and Canadians in general.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18060 As you know, the partnership with Omni right now is allowing us to develop two ‑‑ we're test marketing two talk shows that are oriented to Native spirituality, but spirituality in general as well, so it's of interest to both audiences, but that we'll also look at the broader scope of spirituality within the Aboriginal consciences, which involves healthy living, which involves a whole array of, you know, an entire lifestyle.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18061 And from these two that we are developing this year, and will be airing, we will choose one that under the special benefits and the partnership we have with them, will be pursued for the next three years.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18062 So as we develop these opportunities we are also tightening our rules for non‑ aboriginal producers. We are tightening the rules for the mentoring of the people they hire. We are tightening the guidelines as to what they need to deliver to those individuals because too often we have seen ‑‑ I hate to use the term, but I have to use it, because I can't think of another one, what I call is the store‑front Indian, which is the token Indian in front of a project where the individual in fact has no real responsibility. And we have seen that with the production this year. And that discourages me because it goes totally against what APTN is trying to do.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18063 If someone is hired to be an associate producer, I expect that they will be given the training to that level, not asked to sort of sit and watch, because you don't learn too much in sitting and watching. You learn by doing. You learn by being mentored. So I think we have the people that we can bring into these markets, the prairie markets. This is where we have the highest concentration of Aboriginal people. This is where right now we have the highest potential and we do have people that could go in right now these mentoring positions. We just need to ensure that they're there.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18064 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. LaRose. Thank you, Ms Nepper.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18065 And I have been asked by two individuals if we could take a break. So it's 10:30 my time. We will be back in 15 minutes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18066 Thank you.
‑‑‑ Recess at 1030 / Suspension à 1030
‑‑‑ Upon resuming at 1050 / Reprise à 1050
LISTNUM 95 \l 18067 THE CHAIRPERSON: Order please.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18068 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18069 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18070 We will now proceed with the next two appearing interveners. I would ask that the Saskatoon Indian & Metis Friendship Centre as well as Mils Productions, if they would come forward to present their intervention?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18071 THE SECRETARY: I would ask if you could please identify yourself? Are you with the Saskatoon Indian & Metis Friendship Centre?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18072 MS HENDERSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18073 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18074 Please introduce yourself and you'll have ten minutes for your presentation.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18075 MS HENDERSON: Good morning, Madam Chair, Members of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18076 I'm honoured to be here today before you to lend my support for the radio licence application put forward by the Aboriginal Voices Radio network to broadcast in Saskatoon. My name is May Henderson and I represent the Saskatoon Friendship Centre. Saskatoon Friendship Centre was incorporated in 1968 and has served as the central hub of the Saskatoon Aboriginal community for 38 years.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18077 Our Friendship Centre continued to build and develop partnerships that assist Aboriginal people in closing the gap in life's chances between Aboriginal and non‑Aboriginal peoples. We have been committed for many years to developing a strong and productive community.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18078 SIMFC objectives are to provide a reception centre for Aboriginal people coming to the city, to provide an information referral centre for Aboriginal people to ‑‑ residing in the city, to provide a place where cultural activities and identification can be carried on and maintained, to provide a meeting place where the Aboriginal and non‑Aboriginal community can come together to mutually support each other and exchange ideas and values.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18079 Simply put, I believe that having Aboriginal Voices Radio broadcast in Saskatoon will contribute to the achievement of our priorities and our goals. AVR has demonstrated the same values and concerns toward Aboriginal wellbeing as we do. AVR recognizes that our future is in our youth, therefore we must create opportunities for the young ones to hear their language, hear their stories, and hear their own voices.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18080 One of the great gifts that we can give to the future is strong and grounded children with a clear sense of who they are. This sense of identity is the foundation upon which we can rebuild our communities and fully participate in opportunities and employment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18081 Having AVR provide an outlet of creative expression allows our community to share the beauty and strength of our culture with others. In this way, we hope to affect how other people in our city hear and understand us.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18082 We see AVR as a way to bridge the cultural divides. As well, AVR allows our artists a place their expression of today's Aboriginal reality and culture. It establishes a venue that our people will aspire to to share their art and voice. We are a vibrant and dynamic community.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18083 Furthermore, AVR is committed to supporting the efforts of our communities and organizations by creating the opportunity for us to get the word about ‑‑ out about our events, gatherings and community endeavours. This is a very important contribution. It allows us the chance to support each other and coordinate a common front on our issues and our priorities. I'm nervous.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18084 THE CHAIRPERSON: Don't be.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18085 MS HENDERSON: Once again and in conclusion, I believe that having AVR here in Saskatoon will contribute to the achievements of our collective priorities. Here is an opportunity to fill a void that would mean great things to so many people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18086 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18087 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18088 Do you have an estimate? Like, I know Stats Can has their estimates, but it's always been that Indian and Metis people ‑‑ well, particularly Indian people under‑report. Do you have an estimation of the population of Aboriginal, First Nations, Metis people in Saskatoon?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18089 MS HENDERSON: I would say it's at least 25, 30 percent. It's quite high.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18090 THE CHAIRPERSON: Of the population?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18091 MS HENDERSON: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18092 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah. Especially the Metis because we don't ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18093 MS HENDERSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18094 THE CHAIRPERSON: And how many people would be coming through your doors these days?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18095 MS HENDERSON: Through our doors monthly, we'd probably have about 1500 people that comes through our doors on a regular basis.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18096 THE CHAIRPERSON: And any estimate about how many people ‑‑ I don't know ‑‑ I guess maybe on a monthly basis or a yearly basis are coming into the city?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18097 MS HENDERSON: Lots. It's ‑‑ you know, we're surrounded by several reserves.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18098 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah, mmhmm.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18099 MS HENDERSON: And there's a lot of people coming in from ‑‑ into the urban centres because, you know, there's more opportunities, but it ‑‑ the numbers are high, and it's growing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18100 THE CHAIRPERSON: Education and jobs ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18101 MS HENDERSON: Education, jobs and just for places to live, like ‑‑ you know, they need homes, and we try and assist them in locating accommodations and ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18102 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18103 MS HENDERSON: Okay, thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18104 THE CHAIRPERSON: Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18105 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18106 I would now call on the last three appearing interveners, Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation, Joe Duquette High School and Robert A. Merasty, if you would come forward for your presentation please?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18107 THE CHAIRPERSON: I wonder, Madam Secretary, are these conflicting interveners?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18108 THE SECRETARY: I'm just told that, so perhaps we will start with Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation and we'll continue ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18109 THE CHAIRPERSON: And are you with the school? Are you Mr. Merasty?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18110 MR. MERASTY: I'm Mr. Merasty.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18111 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Merasty, if I could ask you to sit back in the ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18112 MR. MERASTY: Yes, I will.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18113 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18114 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18115 My apologies for this. Mr. Prokopie, you can go ahead with your presentation for the Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18116 Thank you.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18117 MR. PROKOPIE: Good morning, Madam Chair, Members of the Commission, Commission staff. Unfortunately Deborah Charles, MBC's CEO, is unable to be here today. She needed to depart Regina quickly yesterday afternoon. Her hope was to be back here for this morning. Unfortunately that hasn't happened, so I will do my best to present her case.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18118 I filed, this morning, some papers with the Commission secretary with regards to some notes that I will be working from at this point in time. I may not read them exactly verbatim, but I'll touch on the points that I think are certainly important towards our intervention.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18119 Number 1, MBC's objection to Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd.'s application is based on a number of salient points. From the lack of community involvement in the selection of trustees, to the inclusion of only one Aboriginal person in the trustees' list, to the generic survey provided, to the complete absence of cultural programming, it is clear that Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd.'s application lacks substantial meaningful participation by Aboriginal people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18120 Number 2, Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd.'s application has no mechanism of accountability to Aboriginal people. The trust structure it proposes offers one seat of four to an appointed Aboriginal with no mandated responsibility to serve the Aboriginal community.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18121 Number 3, Aboriginal people cannot accept that the trust structure is sufficiently accountable to the Aboriginal community especially given the fact that only one of the trustees, again, is of First Nations descent.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18122 Number 4, a major flaw in the Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd. application is the claim that Rawlco Radio and 629112 Saskatchewan Limited are the only companies likely even to consider creating such a station. In our view, this statement by the applicants demonstrates their total disregard for the capacity of the Aboriginal community to create a radio station by, about and for the Aboriginal people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18123 This premise is weakened all the more by the applicant's failure to acknowledge the fact that MBC, a dedicated Aboriginal broadcast organization already exists and serves the vast majority of Saskatchewan's Aboriginal population, including those in Saskatoon in 104.1 FM. With the ‑‑ and MBC does it with the most culturally attuned and relevant radio programming in the market done in the Cree, Dene, Michif and English languages.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18124 Number 5, the absence of a plan to deliver substantial and meaningful cultural programming further underscores the application's shortcomings and why it is inappropriate for these applicants to launch an Aboriginal radio station.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18125 Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd. does not offer the quality and quantity of specific cultural and linguistic, not to mention social content in their application that would speak to the real needs of Aboriginal people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18126 To overlook primary programming elements such as broadcasts in Aboriginal languages is a clear sign of the applicant's inability to recognize and therefore address the true range of needs and interests of the Aboriginal population.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18127 Number 6, we find it somewhat ludicrous to suggest that a top 40 station that with programming that appeals to Aboriginal and non‑Aboriginal young people alike could be a seminal point in the history of Saskatoon. Such a statement, at its best, is exceedingly disgenerous and fulsome in its artful pretense. Any radio station that purports to serve Aboriginal people and fails to offer content that reflects the distinct needs and interests of this audience will fail to serve them in the degree they deserve.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18128 Number 7, MBC feels certain that our prospects for Aboriginal people living in urban centres, and in particular our youth, will not be impacted in any significant positive way by the applicants proposed undertaking. Their proposal is essentially a conventional commercial radio station with a modicum of current events, information of interest to the target demographic. We agree that a radio station can contribute to and reflect a healthy Aboriginal community. However, we find nothing in the applicant's documentation to support the claim that the one they wish to build will do just that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18129 Number 8, the applicants ‑‑ MBC feels the applicants are unsuited to the task of building an Aboriginal radio station because it fails to recognize the intrinsic value and existing capacity of Aboriginal people and, thus, continues a feeling or an approach that is regressive, outdated and ineffective.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18130 We cite the following statement as evidence: "Central to this application is our belief that if this radio station is to truly make a difference in bringing together the Aboriginal and non‑Aboriginal communities, it must provide irrevocable evidence that Aboriginals are fully capable of staffing and programming a highly popular radio station in Saskatoon."
LISTNUM 95 \l 18131 Elsewhere in the application, this perspective is further illustrated as in this passage: "This day will truly be a historic day in the history of Canadian radio. Saskatoon, a city where the successful integration of its rapidly growing young Aboriginal population will have a tremendous bearing on its future development. It will also have" ‑‑ pardon me ‑‑ "will have an Aboriginal owned and staffed commercial radio station. It will compete on an equal playing field with the existing stations. It's stature in the city will be equal in every respect to its competitors."
LISTNUM 95 \l 18132 It is clear from these statements that the applicant believes firstly, that number 1, the capacity to staff and program a highly popular radio station in Saskatoon is not currently present in the Aboriginal population. Number 2, that only the applicants have the ability to build this capacity. And number 3, an Aboriginal radio station's value will be determined only in relation to that of conventional mainstream standards. Again, the very existence of MBC and its track record of measured steady development of its mandate to serve all Aboriginal people of Saskatoon is not only proof that these statements are false, it clearly demonstrate the applicant's regrettable failure to recognize the level of quality, service and dedication to the Aboriginal people of Saskatchewan as exemplified by MBC.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18133 Number 9, there is further evidence of the applicant's mentality, and these are perhaps most damaging to their claim of capability to serve Aboriginal people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18134 Here is another excerpt from their application. "For young Aboriginals, this will truly be an exciting day when they hear announcers and newscasters who are every bit as good as their counterparts on the competing stations, a real sense of pride will flow through this community. For possibly the first time they will have high ‑‑ highly visible role models that they not only think are great, but that their non‑Aboriginal friends also think are great."
LISTNUM 95 \l 18135 Here is another: "Role models can have a real influence on a person's life. Aboriginals have had few role models to look up to." These statements illustrate a clear lack of understanding or respect for and connection to the Aboriginal community. Not only do we have a ‑‑ not only do we have role models, but they are plentiful. Both ‑‑ or all nationally, regionally, locally in all fields of excellence, worthy of recognition by any measure and in many cases admired by the general public.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18136 We respectfully submit that judging by the statements cited above, the applicant is part of the problem they purport to be addressing by their efforts, not the solution and, as such, are not suited to the task of creating an Aboriginal station.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18137 Number 10, Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd. claims that it will serve the Aboriginal population. However, the details of the application are so intertwined with the interests of the applicant's broadcast companies that currently own and operate as many stations as they can in the market under present regulations, that it must leave the CRTC with some very grave doubts as to their true intentions. We believe that the primary motive for the applicant's efforts is to exploit the distinct nature of Aboriginal culture for the purpose of market control that would be of benefit to the applicants.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18138 Number 11, MBC can only conclude that the applicant's efforts to establish an Aboriginal radio station in Saskatoon is a form of cultural exploitation that would undermine what MBC seeks to provide our people in Saskatoon. We feel that the Commission must reject outright any such effort to usurp the mantle of Aboriginal broadcasting especially in which is the rightful inheritance of our own people in Saskatchewan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18139 For Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd. to claim that its application is the first to serve the Aboriginal people of the city is very unfortunate and disrespectful of the audience it claims to want to serve. Given the fundamental issues raised, the MBC does wholeheartedly urge the Commission to reject the Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Ltd. application. That brings a close to my oral report.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18140 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Prokopie ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18141 MR. PROKOPIE: Prokopie.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18142 THE CHAIRPERSON: Prokopie. If there had been an application by P.A. Grand Council, SIGA with the same structure, the trust and that they would mentor out for a year and come back, would you have a problem with that?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18143 MR. PROKOPIE: I don't believe that we would have nearly the problem that we do have. We believe that the process would have been very different if that was the case. There would have been some initial dialogue. There would have been some consultations with MBC. There perhaps, you know, would have been an opportunity for MBC to come on board and help mentor as ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18144 THE CHAIRPERSON: Or maybe mentor, yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18145 MR. PROKOPIE: ‑‑ as a word that's been used here today. So I believe the entire process, if those were the applicants, would have been very different than what is before us today.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18146 THE CHAIRPERSON: Recognizing that this isn't really a station meant to be only for Aboriginal use, it's meant to attack that group of young people, 12 to ‑‑ I'm going to say 20, who don't now listen to radio, who, you know, are on their iPods that I don't even ‑‑ can't even figure out how to program. And part of the reason was to attack that, but also then to provide positive role models but ‑‑ okay, thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18147 I think Commissioner Williams has a question.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18148 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, good morning, Mr. Prokopie.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18149 I'm going to spend a bit of time on your intervention and try and understand it better and ‑‑ so as to figure out why you'd be so against this application. It's my understanding a bit from, of course, reading all the material that's presented and all the interventions and questioning the application by our panel yesterday is this is ‑‑ it's not an Aboriginal station.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18150 It's a new commercial FM radio station with, I guess, the unique characteristic about it is that the goal of the two organizations that are trying to set it up is they're going to create an opportunity for a hundred percent Aboriginal owned and staffed radio station for the princely sum of one dollar.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18151 So while I respect all your comments here, if you were speaking against an Aboriginal radio station applicant, I would probably have a better understanding than against a new commercial FM for the Saskatoon market that, in their words and what we found from them, was to appeal to all youth in the Saskatoon marketplace.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18152 I don't think they were intending to ‑‑ and I'd be willing to hear more. I don't think they were intending to compete with MBC or to try and suggest that they would do a better job than MBC in serving the Aboriginal community because what we've also learned through the process of this hearing is the Aboriginal community is very well served by MBC. They're an excellent operator in this panel member's opinion for sure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18153 So can I have your comments on those opening statements?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18154 MR. PROKOPIE: Certainly, and I hope I, you know, have an adequate answer for you. Our intervention that was submitted to the Commission back in October and the notes that I'm working from now are based on the announcement of this proposed station. The press release that was sent out, the information that was out there definitely stated that it was, you know, an Aboriginal station.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18155 I don't have a copy of the Star Phoenix in front of me, or that newspaper, but that is what we are addressing is the information that initially came out as to what the project would be. And I'm quite confident in saying it was stated that it would be an Aboriginal radio station.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18156 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah. In the documentation that's been filed with the application, were there ‑‑ it's indicated there will be future Aboriginal ownership and employees. They're ‑‑ I guess if I could use a wilder example, there could be, as my colleague ‑‑ there could be ‑‑ it could be ‑‑ could it be called an Italian station if the ownership was Italian and the employees were Italian, but it was for a commercial radio station serving Edmonton? Like, what I'm trying to get across is I don't understand where you feel that it's an Aboriginal station other than the ownership and employee makeup?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18157 MR. PROKOPIE: I go back to, you know, what I said earlier. And the pretense or the information that was out there, we truly felt and read that it was an Aboriginal radio station that, you know, what was going to be run by a trust company. It was going to be for Aboriginal people, filling a niche that is not being serviced towards Aboriginal people, and it's the first of its kind to serve Aboriginal people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18158 So again, I go back to my initial answer is a lot of this information is based on the announcement that was made as to what the plans were for the application.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18159 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And this announcement was you came into possession of it by reading a newspaper or listening ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18160 MR. PROKOPIE: Right.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18161 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ to the news?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18162 MR. PROKOPIE: It was a press release that I'm sure, you know, the applicants had sent out to other forms of media, and that's where we first heard about it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18163 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: In other parts of your intervention, there's several quotations that I guess could be termed either insensitive to the Aboriginal community, as you suggest, or an unfortunate choice of words. I guess the jury could be out on that or maybe subject to different interpretations. How would you view that comment if people had slightly different views than what you're bringing forward?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18164 MR. PROKOPIE: I'm sorry, I must confess I really don't understand the question that you're asking me.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18165 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh, okay. Now, on page 3 of your intervention you quote various statements that the applicant has made and say that, based upon those statements, the applicants are not suited to the task of creating an Aboriginal radio station.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18166 I guess what I'm trying to see is if your mind is open to the idea that perhaps these comments were not meant in the way that you interpreted them. They may have been an unfortunate choice of words or something to that effect, and I'm wondering if your mind is open to that idea?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18167 MR. PROKOPIE: My mind is certainly open and, you know, I think things can and sometimes do maybe be taken out of context. I am not necessarily certain if, you know, this is the case here. Again, these quotes come from the press release that was issued.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18168 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18169 MR. PROKOPIE: And we just feel to state that there's no Aboriginal role models out there is not a true statement.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18170 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. That's a ‑‑ so you've had no opportunity to meet with the proponents of this application?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18171 MR. PROKOPIE: I know there was some meetings that were being worked towards. For some reason or other they did not happen, and from MBC's perspective, not by anything that we caused ourselves. Now, we ‑‑ you know, again there could be some miscommunication there as, you know, quite often can happen. But we certainly went into this with an open mind, and that's why we didn't respond initially when the information came out. When the press release came out, we were asked many times "Is MBC going to respond? You should respond." And we said, "No, we just ‑‑ we're going to sit back and see how things play out."
LISTNUM 95 \l 18172 We certainly were willing to dialogue with anybody, and I think we said that the other day in our Regina application. Unfortunately it didn't come to be and, again, we feel that, you know, we did what we could to ensure a meeting took place.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18173 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: On a going‑forward basis ‑‑ I'm not trying to prejudge anything out of this hearing; that may in fact go nowhere ‑‑ but would MBC be open to meeting with these proponents at some time in the future to see if they're ‑‑ it seems that MBC would be such a powerful resource to ‑‑ for these proponents to have in their ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18174 MR. PROKOPIE: That's one question that at this point ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18175 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ in their circle of acquaintances.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18176 MR. PROKOPIE: ‑‑ you know, I don't believe that I could answer and have go on record as the official word. I have a CEO that I get my direction from, and she gets her direction from our board of directors, and I believe that's a decision that's ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18177 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I don't mind accepting just your opinion, recognizing that it's not the official position.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18178 MR. PROKOPIE: I believe MBC has always been willing to work with anybody, and we have worked with Mr. Rawlinson's radio group in the past through some combined ad campaigns ‑‑ and I wouldn't say necessarily "work". We've sold them air time to help some of the campaigns that they've gone out and sold and to expose those messages into the north.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18179 We are not against working with absolutely anybody. We don't want enemies, so I think anything is certainly possible. But ultimately, like I said, that decision wouldn't be mine to make.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18180 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah. Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18181 I think I have a better understanding of your intervention. In the written material provided you also have your AVR response, but is that to come later?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18182 MR. PROKOPIE: I ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18183 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Prokopie was invited to intervene on the Saskatoon Radio and not on the issue of AVR.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18184 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay, thank you. That's ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18185 THE CHAIRPERSON: And in fact they didn't say they would be wanting to attend on the issue either.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18186 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay, that's why I was inquiring.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18187 Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Mr. Prokopie.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18188 THE CHAIRPERSON: Vice‑Chair Arpin.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18189 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Earlier this morning and surely yesterday we surely hear interveners and applicants talking about mentoring Aboriginals. We even hear earlier today, Mr. LaRose from APTN saying that even within APTN they have difficulty to find out Aboriginal for ‑‑ to work for them. They had to supplement with other people. Are you having the same type of difficulties or what's the experience of MBC?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18190 MR. PROKOPIE: That's a very good point and, yes, we certainly do deal with those difficulties on a daily basis through all positions of our operations. To find the talent that we need is quite the challenge, and sometimes that leaves us, you know, without all the bodies in place that we quite often need, but it's a fact of life. And that's why we've entered into things like our scholarship program. That's why we've run programs in conjunction with Northlands College in La Ronge to offer a Norcom program which was a communications type program.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18191 We look at all those avenues to help us find the talent we need because, yes, there very much is a shortage of specifically First Nations talent that have the experience within the broadcast industry. And it's a daily struggle, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18192 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And you remember WAAB and do you know, to your knowledge, is it the same situation in Manitoba and Alberta and BC or is it different for various reasons to your knowledge?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18193 MR. PROKOPIE: To the best of my knowledge, I believe we all struggle with the same challenges. You look at, you know, NCI and AMMSA in Edmonton, perhaps they have a little larger talent pool to draw from, which might make their lives a little easier. But in the discussions that we have, it certainly is a concern of theirs as well. Like I say, maybe not to the extent that we feel it here, but certainly a concern.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18194 And I actually heard Mr. LaRose from APTN talking about that very issue earlier.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18195 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18196 MR. PROKOPIE: So obviously, you know, it is quite a standardized problem across the board.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18197 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Now, Mr. LaRose says APTN has put up a program of its own that they call MF(ph), and are you knowledgeable about that program?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18198 MR. PROKOPIE: I actually just learned a little bit about it within the last 48 hours or so.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18199 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I see. So you haven't seen the result yet going to where ‑‑ back toward your organization?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18200 MR. PROKOPIE: No, no, but it's something that we certainly look forward to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18201 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18202 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr. Prokopie ‑‑ Prokopie. I'm sorry, for some reason I just ‑‑ my mouth can't get around it.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18203 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18204 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18205 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18206 I would now call on Mr. Robert Merasty. If you would come forward for your presentation?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18207 THE SECRETARY: You may start, Mr. Merasty, when you're ready and you will have ten minutes for your presentation.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18208 MR. MERASTY: Good morning, Madam Chair ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18209 THE SECRETARY: Would you please turn on your microphone, please?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18210 Thank you.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18211 MR. MERASTY: Is that better?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18212 Good morning, Madam Chair, Commission Members. I'm very honoured and excited to appear here today in support of the application from Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Corporation Ltd.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18213 A bit about myself initially, I'm an Aboriginal man, member of the Flying Dust Cree Nation near Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. I'm married, a family man with four sons. I resided in Saskatoon for most of our life, which is more than 20 years. I won't say my age. I have an education in law at Osgoode Hall University Law School and education at University of Saskatchewan. I am currently self‑employed as the principle consultant of R.A. Merasty and Associates, an Aboriginal consulting firm in Saskatoon working in Aboriginal business and human resources development and building bridges to promote opportunities for our people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18214 I have focused my work efforts at developmental work that makes a difference in this province and my home community of Saskatoon. I was executive director of the FSIN, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, corporate circle initiative with 75 First Nations of Saskatchewan and 45 corporate organizations working together to build a stronger economic foundation for Saskatchewan by engaging our rapidly growing Aboriginal population in mainstream business activity and in the workforces.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18215 I was also a senior Aboriginal policy advisor and director of Aboriginal business with the province's Crown Investments Corporation. I have served on numerous provincial and community boards, once again to promote and enhance opportunities and build essential bridges.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18216 What I currently do, my current work involves the urban Aboriginal strategy for Saskatoon, a pilot project in response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal people report entitled, "Gathering Strength, Canada's Action Plan For Aboriginal People". The strategy involves engaging discussions with community stakeholders and organizations to come up with a collaborative community approach and model to address Aboriginal priorities in the community, helping ‑‑ in building a stronger community.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18217 As I said, why I'm here, I'm here to support the application for Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Corporation Ltd. for a number of very solid and important reasons inclusive to the applicant.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18218 Number 1, commitment's importance ‑‑ commitment, support and sincerity for Aboriginal people. The people in the organization making the application have consistently demonstrated their commitment, support and sincerity in promoting Aboriginal cultural understanding and enhancing opportunities for Aboriginal people. It is this commitment and support that builds united strong communities.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18219 An example, in my work when I was executive director of the FSIN corporate circle, I called upon Rawlco to come in and provide their support. They did so as an organization, entire organization, and they also provided a co‑Chair. Their influence was able to leverage other corporate members and build momentum for initiative to achieve great results. This application, I believe, is a testament to their proactive attitude in accommodating the young and growing Aboriginal population in Saskatchewan and Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18220 I believe that Rawlco and the applicants have an established trust and relationship ‑‑ respect relationship with the Aboriginal community of Saskatoon. Their commitments to Aboriginal people are extensive. This is a partnership that will get better and more effective in meeting the needs of Aboriginal people in the community with a new radio station for Aboriginal people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18221 Thirdly, there's a market and a need for a new radio station in Saskatoon to meet the needs of the migrating Aboriginal population, which is currently around 25,000, I believe, and it's rapidly accelerating. It will cater to a rapidly growing segment of young Aboriginal people migrating in Saskatoon. This complements the work that I'm doing currently with the urban Aboriginal strategy in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18222 I've heard from the community of Saskatoon that the number one priority in their communities is youth, gang related strategies, crystal meth, drug use, a lot of problems with youth. And I think that this radio station would totally support the work that I do in the community of Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18223 Essential to this process is being able to communicate with young people through up‑to‑date music and promotion of wellness activities and information. Just as a side note, I did some of my own independent research with some conference people just down the hall. There's a couple young Aboriginal people there, and I ‑‑ and they said, "Why are you here?" And I said, "Well, I'm here to support the application for this new radio station." They said, "Well, that's tremendous. We totally support that. We believe that that will really help us in our community."
LISTNUM 95 \l 18224 So that's ‑‑ I think that's a need of providing a voice for the young Aboriginal people in the community and reaching them.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18225 Lastly, I think Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting is continuing to send the message to other corporations, its corporate social responsibility to support Aboriginal development. Once again, they're taking a proactive role in supporting Aboriginal people by, one, establishing a radio station for Aboriginal people, initiating a whole new career experience in training for 32 people was well, and opening the door for potential career direction for other youth in broadcasting ‑‑ other Aboriginal youth in broadcasting.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18226 I think the process they have planned makes sense. It's well thought out. Develop the radio station as a viable interest ‑‑ viable business, form a share structure in terms of the trust. Develop, mentor and educate the staff for the business where ‑‑ to the point where it's viable. Lastly, hand over total control of the business, the radio station for a dollar. And I've got a dollar in my pocket, so I'm prepared to buy the radio station if that's ‑‑
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18227 MR. MERASTY: Lastly, I think that there's been some talk about the process the applicants use in this ‑‑ in applying for the radio station. I think that they've always been open minded in this process and are willing to work with others and I think that that's always been their attitude. They're in this process to serve a market and to foster development of our people, our Aboriginal people in Saskatoon and, as well, the Province of Saskatchewan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18228 That's it for me. Thank you very much, and I hope that you will take my recommendations with ‑‑ sincerely.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18229 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr. Merasty.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18230 Where is Flying Dust?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18231 MR. MERASTY: I also call it God's country. It's near Meadow Lake, which is about three hours north of Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18232 THE CHAIRPERSON: All right, okay. You're not related to Gary?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18233 MR. MERASTY: Same family tree, different branches.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18234 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18235 MR. MERASTY: We all have the same focus, yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18236 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18237 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18238 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18239 I understand that Joe Duquette High School, the representative is present. My apologies. I should have not skipped over. If they would come forward for their presentation?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18240 MR. MERASTY: Are you finished with me then?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18241 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18242 MR. MERASTY: Thank you very much.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18243 THE SECRETARY: If you could please identify yourself for the record? And then you will have ten minutes for your presentation. Please go ahead.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18244 MR. HOWE: My name is Evan Howe, and I'm a Metis teacher at Joe Duquette High School.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18245 The first thing I want to say is that I'm not here representing Joe Duquette High School. I'm only here representing myself and my experience as a media studies teacher at the school and my relationship, I guess, as a teacher at that school with Rawlco Radio.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18246 I've been teaching at Joe Duquette for six years, and Joe Duquette is a school that is of total Aboriginal student population. And they emphasize Plains Cree spirituality and culture, and that's what makes it unique. My first three weeks there, I was teaching grade 11 media studies and, in that capacity, I was ‑‑ I approached Rawlco Radio in my first year and I asked, "Could you send someone over to speak to my media studies class". And they sent Ramblin' Dave Scharf, and he did a history of rock and roll, and that became an ongoing thing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18247 We also got some other senior staff members from Rawlco to come and do presentations about the radio industry because I was trying to get my students ‑‑ and that's the problem with media studies class is it's about analyzing things in kind of a cerebral way, but I wanted them to get more of a hands‑on kind of feel for different media institutions, and Rawlco was the only one that really stepped up to the plate and said, "Yes, we'll help you with this."
LISTNUM 95 \l 18248 So they sent people over to really outline what the radio industry is all about and they took students on tours on a regular basis, and that's one of the questions I remember my students always asking these presenters from Rawlco, "Why doesn't radio stations like C95 or Rock 102 ‑‑ how come we don't hear the music we want to hear?" That was a repetitive question.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18249 So when we went on one of these tours, there was this ‑‑ this is a grade 11 class, and we're all waiting in front of the school to take a bus to Rawlco. And there's this one student named Penny, who is actually a grade 12 student and wasn't even a student of mine. And she ditched her class and said, "Evan, can I come with you guys?" And I said, "Penny, you're not even in my class. What are you doing? You know, does your teacher know about this?" "Well, no, but I really, really want to go to the radio station. This is something I've always wanted to do." I said, "Well, I'll ask your teacher's permission and, if she says it's all right, yes." So I did, and she was allowed to go.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18250 So she was the most excited person on the tour, and some of the students were into it and some weren't, and it's like whatever. But she was there. She was asking questions. We saw all the different departments. I was just grateful she came along. The following ‑‑ or it was that same year. This was my second year teaching, I thought, you know, I would like to give a grade 12 student the opportunity to do something like mentorship. I called it an internship.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18251 So I approached Rawlco about this, and they said, "Okay. Well, you know, we've done, like, job shadowing with other schools in the past. We could do something like that." And I said, "You know, that's not going to cut it for me. I want it to be more than that. I want these students to see that there's a real job, a real career opportunity in this industry that they maybe haven't looked at before. I want it to be more substantial than job shadowing. I want it to be like on‑the‑job training. I want them to get their hands into it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18252 So they said, "Okay. Well, you know, let us think about it because we haven't done that before." And this was years ago. And they did. They came to me within a couple of months' time. They said, "We've been talking about it. We've come up with a package and a plan and a way to do this. We'll try it out." So they said, "We'll take one grade 12 student. You make the selection, and we'll take them on as an intern, and it won't be job shadowing. It will actually be the way you described it; hands‑on, working in each of the different departments."
LISTNUM 95 \l 18253 So of course, you know, I told the grade 12s, and Penny was the first one with her hand up, saying, "Give me this opportunity." So we got her connected with Rawlco, and she started going on a regular basis. I think it was every Wednesday afternoon. Our school liaison worker would drive her over to Rawlco, their building, and she would spend a couple of hours there and she loved it, and they enjoyed having her there. Her positive energy, her commitment, it was just a really good fit.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18254 Eventually ‑‑ and the thing is they stepped up to the plate. They kept their word, what they said they would do. They started a mentorship. Not only did they introduce her to the different departments, they got her to do voice‑overs. They got her to do little jobs in the different areas. They actually started booking her hours as an operator, I believe, payable hours. They got her working part time for them, and I was thinking, awesome. That's exactly what I wanted. That was my dream, and they stepped up to the plate and they did that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18255 So now they've come with this package of a radio station staffed by Aboriginal people and, especially, they told me a substantial chunk of that staff will be youth, and this is exactly what I had dreamt. You know, this is like taking that to that next level. This is what I want to see.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18256 And that's why I'm here supporting what they're doing because it's talking about not just jobs for Aboriginal youth. It's talking about careers, something portable they take with them. Even if they don't stay with this new station, they could go somewhere else. And with that training, that expertise, they have employment. They have a career that goes with them wherever they live.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18257 Yeah, I don't know what else to say, just I see only good here. I see good opportunities so I'm looking at the positives. I'm thinking of my students, and this is what I'd always hoped for them, something in this vein.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18258 So here it is. They're presenting it here and now. The opportunity is here, and I hope with all my heart that you'll give them this licence. So I thank you for listening to me, Madam Chair, Members of the Board. And if you have any questions for me, I'll be glad to answer them.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18259 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Howe, it seems to me that there are many applicants for radio stations in Saskatoon and they're all talking about offering scholarships for kids, particularly Aboriginal kids. And it sounds to me like you're the kind of guy they should come to and say "Look, we've got seven scholarships. You know, is there somebody you want to choose". But what you're saying is you need more than that. You need broadcasters to be interested in interning, I guess, and then mentoring?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18260 MR. HOWE: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18261 THE CHAIRPERSON: Are there ‑‑ do you still teach media studies?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18262 MR. HOWE: No, the school, at this time, has discontinued the program just out of lack of student interest.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18263 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh. Okay, what a shame.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18264 MR. HOWE: Yeah, I agree.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18265 THE CHAIRPERSON: Did you have any kids who went on other than Penny or ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18266 MR. HOWE: No, because after that year, the media studies class was discontinued, and it didn't make a good fit. Like, my other classes, English or whatever, and convincing the principal "Can I take my news class to Rawlco for a tour" didn't make sense so, no, it didn't continue.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18267 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah. Okay, thank you. Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18268 MR. HOWE: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18269 THE CHAIRPERSON: Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18270 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18271 And that ‑‑ this completes the list of the appearing interveners, therefore Phase II. We're now ready to proceed to Phase IV. And perhaps before we start, I'd just like to enter on the record a couple of documents that were filed with the panel.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18272 One of them is AVR's schedule of commitments to be received by the applicant, AVR, from third parties, from 2006 to 2012. This will be added to their application. The other one is the response to ‑‑ by Rawlco during their intervention, questions that were asked of the panel with respect to their Edmonton and Calgary application costs, as well as the staffing costs with respect to their Edmonton radio station. This document has been filed with the panel in confidence. Therefore it is not available to the public.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18273 We are now ready to proceed to Phase IV, Madam Chair, and we have been advised last night by Jim Pattison Broadcast, they will not appear. Therefore the next applicant, their reply to interventions, would be Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Inc., if they are wishing to appear.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18274 THE SECRETARY: Gentlemen, if you could just, again, please introduce yourself for the record and then you'll have ten minutes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18275 Thank you.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18276 MR. RAWLINSON: Gordon Rawlinson with Rawlco Radio.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18277 MR. HILDEBRAND: Elmer Hildebrand, 629122 Saskatchewan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18278 MR. RAWLINSON: So I'd just like to just clarify a couple of things. Number one, we did not send out a press release. Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting did not send out a press release. There was a newspaper story which was run shortly afterwards.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18279 Second thing is, is that shortly after we filed, we called both AVR and Missinipi Broadcasting and said what we were doing and said, "Would you like us to send a copy our application?" And they said, "Yes". And so we sent a copy of our application to them, and I spoke to Deborah Charles, the chairperson of Missinipi and said, "So what did you think?" And she said, "Well, there was mixed reaction amongst our board. Some people were okay and some people weren't ‑‑ were unhappy." And I said, "Really? Well, maybe we should get together and talk about it." I was actually quite surprised ‑‑ maybe naively so, but I was quite surprised that they would be ‑‑ I thought they'd be ‑‑ think this was terrific.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18280 So we arranged a meeting, set a time for a meeting, and then Mrs. Charles had one ‑‑ somebody who worked for her call me and say, "So what exactly are the points that you want to make in the meeting?" And I said, "Well, gee, I don't know what you mean. Would you like me to send a copy of the application to you to?" And he said, "No, I've got that. You know, what is it you want to say in this meeting?" And I said, "Well, actually I don't have anything to say. I thought that the purpose of the meeting was for you to tell us what your concerns were." And he said, "Okay."
LISTNUM 95 \l 18281 Somehow that got misinterpreted back to Ms Charles that we did not want to meet, and she cancelled the meeting. And that was very unfortunate and that's all we know, but that's exactly what happened. And I was ‑‑ it was me personally doing this, so I know exactly what was said and what wasn't said. And so I'm sorry that there's been ‑‑ that's there's some ‑‑ been some miscommunication. We'd be happy to meet with them at any time, and so I guess that's all I have to say about that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18282 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18283 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18284 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, gentlemen.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18285 We'll now proceed to the next applicant, the Aboriginal Voices Radio, if they wish to appear in this phase?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18286 THE SECRETARY: Again, if you could please introduce yourself for the record? And you have ten minutes for your presentation.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18287 MR. HILL: Chair, Members of the Commission, Commission staff, colleagues and broadcasters and ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jamie Hill. I'm the president of Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18288 I want to thank the many positive supporters who took the time to convey their support for the AVR application. I especially want to thank May Henderson of the Saskatchewan Indian & Metis Friendship Centre who travelled from Saskatoon to contribute to this process.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18289 I also gratefully acknowledge the support of Phil Fontaine, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations; George Erasmus, co‑Chair of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People; Beverley Jacobs, President of the Native Women's Association of Canada; Vera Pawis‑Tabobondung, President of the National Association of Friendship Centres; and other interveners who supported our national Aboriginal radio service.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18290 We would also like to dispel any suggestion that AVR does not have the Saskatchewan Native community. The FSIN has been supportive of AVR in the past, and the Commission will have already noted that AVR received the positive support of Perry Bellegarde, former Grand Chief of the FSIN and Regional Chief of Saskatchewan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18291 Not on your file, but contained in a letter I received today from Morley Watson, the current FSIN Vice Chief, is the following statement: "The FSIN would like to state that we fully support the application of Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc. to receive licences to broadcast in Saskatoon and Regina. The FSIN continues to support the AVR vision of a much needed national Aboriginal radio service, and warmly welcome you to our territories and wish you success." End of quote.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18292 He also indicated that he was sorry he could not participate in the Commission's hearings. You will appreciate that FSIN has been engaged in the ‑‑ in its election processes. We would be pleased to supply a copy of the letter to the hearing secretary should you wish.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18293 We are delighted to have received strong support from such stars of the Aboriginal Canadian music scene as John Arcand, Donny Parenteau, Eekwol, and Andrea Menard. They understand the value of a national Aboriginal radio service both to their own development as musicians, but also to the Aboriginal communities from which they come.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18294 Finally, we want to comment on two proposed conditions of licence, namely the spoken‑word condition of licence and the local programming condition of licence. Our goal is to have a common set of COLs for all of our stations. This would include both Regina and Saskatoon, should you approve our applications, and the four stations up for renewal in the next item today.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18295 We are happy to have that conversation in the context of our renewals, and we would understand that whatever you may decide would apply equally to Saskatoon and Regina. From a procedural point of view, we just want to keep the door open to the clarifications, modifications that might result from that discussion and which might, therefore, affect our Regina and Saskatoon applications.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18296 More specifically, there was some interpretation issues related ‑‑ relating to our spoken‑word condition as regards the staff monitor of a week of AVR programming. Please note that we propose no change to the current COL regarding spoken word, nor do we think any deviation from the framework set out in your Public Notice CRTC 2000‑4 is required ‑‑ 14 is required. We can have a more fulsome discussion of our thinking now or during your consideration of the next item, as you see fit.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18297 Secondly, we spoke to the Chair yesterday about AVR's proposed condition of licence relating to local programming in each of Regina and Saskatoon. During our preparations for the next item, we arrived at the conclusion that we should be looking to achieve symmetry in AVR's local programming commitments in each of its markets.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18298 AVR would like to use 25 percent of the broadcast week as that standard. That translates into 31.5 hours per broadcast week. That is the quantum we therefore also propose for each of Regina and Saskatoon. It is also the amount that we will be proposing for each of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa in our next appearance.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18299 Finally, both the local programming commitment and the spoken‑word commitment are very large and represent significant commitments.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18300 Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18301 THE CHAIRPERSON: Are you actually proposing that in a renewal, after seven years of a licence, that you would get another two years to start local programming in some of these areas?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18302 MR. BUCHANAN: Yes, we are. The two years was ‑‑ went back ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18303 THE CHAIRPERSON: I just wanted to know because I didn't realize that was an issue in the renewal. You're very lucky, Mr. Hill. At the first hearing you said yes to one COL. You came back at the second hearing about that very COL, and your lawyer said yes to that one. And now you're having a third hearing. This is the last hearing on AVR, so make sure that what you agree to, you know what you're agreeing to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18304 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18305 MR. HILL: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18306 THE SECRETARY: We'll now call on the next appearing applicant, Radio CJVR Ltd., if they wish to appear in this phase?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18307 THE SECRETARY: Again, if you can ‑‑ just for the record, if you could just introduce your panel, Mr. Singer? And you'll have ten minutes for your presentation.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18308 MR. SINGER: Good morning.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18309 I'm Ken Singer. I'm vice president of broadcast operations for Radio CJVR. With me I have, from Insightrix Research in Saskatoon, Corrin Harper and Jessica Schnell. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18310 Thanks for this opportunity to appear before you throughout the this week and for your fairness in these hearings. We'd like to thank the individuals and organizations who wrote letters of support on behalf of our applications heard this week.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18311 And just now I'd like to just address some comments made to some of the earlier presentations this morning. We commend Mr. Rawlinson and Mr. Hildebrand for their excellent level of service they provide to the Saskatoon community. As noted earlier, we feel that such support for community organizations will only increase with the addition of more broadcasters in the market.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18312 Community service is at the heart of CJVR's being. It's not dependent on the level of competition. It's more about the commitment we made in obtaining our licence.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18313 Regarding the letters, there are many letters solicited by the two Saskatoon broadcasters of ‑‑ letters of support. We wonder how many of these letters would have been written had the writers been aware of Mr. Rawlinson and Mr. Hildenbrand's plans for a seventh licence in the market, namely the Saskatoon Radio Broadcasting Trust. Many of these letters were written just prior to the August 31st publication of the applicants for new licences in Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18314 Finally, concerning the comments about the research used in our application, we stand by the findings that Insightrix Research provided. Regarding out‑of‑market tuning, the survey asked 500 respondents aged 18 to 55 which stations you remember listening to in the last seven days. The response was clear that 21.6 percent indicated tuning to out‑of‑market signals from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, as well as satellite and Internet tuning.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18315 I will ask our researchers from Insightrix to further comment on those findings.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18316 MS SCHELL: Thanks, Ken.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18317 Madam Chair, that's correct. The question was, "Please tell me all the stations you remember listening to in the past seven days", so there was a time limit. I think it was alluded to that it was sort of an open comment, but there was "within the past seven days".
LISTNUM 95 \l 18318 We did also ask another question said ‑‑ that said, "Which one station is your favourite, that is the radio station you listen to most often?" And so again, not looking at their ‑‑ what their second choice is and whether that's in market or out of market, but in terms of their favourite station, about 12.2 percent indicated that their favourite station was out of market. So with 22 percent saying they've listened in the past seven days to an out of market station and 12.2 percent saying their favourite station is out of market, I think that sort of is a little bit higher than what was alluded to earlier.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18319 So I also just want to remind the Commission, as well, that there was a number of other statistics that came out of our survey which 70 percent indicated that they would listen more often if programming was available ‑‑ other programming was available, if they liked it and it was available, 65 percent agreed or strongly agreed that there is currently similar programming being offered among the stations. And 50 percent on a scale of 1 to 5 rated 3 or less, indicating that they were not totally satisfied with the choice of stations. So 1 being totally not satisfied, 5 being totally satisfied, 50 percent rated it 3 or less.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18320 So it's ‑‑ I think I just want to remind the Commission there's other results in here as well, but in regards to that 22 percent, we wanted to clarify that too, so I think that's it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18321 THE CHAIRPERSON: Vice‑Chair Arpin.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18322 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Mr. Singer, Miss ‑‑ will you agree that different surveys will have different methodology and arrive at different results? And I'm here asking the question and looking at the results that BBM has released for fall of 2005. BBM obviously is a survey of ‑‑ I don't know how many persons or households are surveyed in the Saskatoon market, but it is a diary system and ‑‑ on which people record their listening habits, and so it is a different methodology and they could arrive at different results.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18323 MR. SINGER: Commissioner Arpin, I do certainly agree that different methodology there will produce variances for certain. My experience with BBM is that I always feel the sample sizes are fairly small, and I ‑‑ as I say these are two totally different methodologies. These are our findings. We based our comments and our applications based on the research as submitted.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18324 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Well, I appreciate that and I appreciate how ‑‑ that there was an issue made this morning that ‑‑ regarding your own results. I understand ‑‑ your own methodology, I have no problem. I understand them and how you did arrive as those numbers. The one thing is that the Commission has to weigh that ‑‑ those ‑‑ all those studies that have been made by the various applicants and ‑‑ in using its benchmark, and the benchmark is ‑‑ for the radio industry has been the BBM for the last 60 years. And so that's why I'm asking my question, and you gave me my answer.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18325 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18326 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18327 MR. SINGER: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18328 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18329 So we'll now proceed with Touch Broadcasting Canada Inc., if they'd like to make a presentation at this stage?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18330 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Hunsperger, you have ten minutes for your presentation.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18331 MR. HUNSPERGER: Thank you, Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18332 First of all, and we want to thank the interveners that sent in letters in support of our application. We also want to thank many of the broadcasters who also support our application in coming into Saskatoon. And I also want to thank Madam Chair and the Commissioners and the staff for the marathon that you've had this past week, and we pray that you have a safe trip and a restful week next week.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18333 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18334 THE SECRETARY: And we will continue with Standard Radio Inc., if they wish to come forward?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18335 THE SECRETARY: Ms Taylor, you can go ahead anytime.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18336 MS TAYLOR: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18337 Madam Chair, Commissioners, first of all, this has truly been a public process this past week and has required an extraordinary amount of attention and mental energy. I'd like to thank you for the obvious attention you paid our file, as well as those of our colleagues. It's been a complex hearing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18338 Since the Rawlco/Golden West intervention this morning was not restricted to just the Saskatoon portion of the hearings, I appreciate this time to just make a few general comments on the discussion that went on earlier this morning.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18339 As a former resident of Saskatchewan, I know first‑hand what a special place this province is to live in and I do believe that there may be no better place to raise a family. Acknowledging that Saskatoon and Regina are distinct and that Saskatchewan is different, and agreeing quite frankly that the local broadcasters in this city are very imbedded in their community, it puts us in the very uncomfortable position of pointing out that, while all that may be true, they certainly don't own the market on excellent and thorough public and community service.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18340 We, too, pride ourselves on these very principles and point to our many markets ‑‑ some smaller, some larger ‑‑ as proof, and we do spend considerable time, energy and finances.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18341 On the economics discussion, is there population growth? Yes, in both Regina and Saskatoon. Modest of course, but it's on the right side of the ledger, and we believe that speaks volumes, particularly since Alberta, with its now chronic worker shortage, is right next door.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18342 Are the GDP retail sales and income levels growing? Yes. I think we agree on that. How much and whether it will sustain is, I believe, where the largest disagreement comes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18343 Standard Radio is a private company that's anxious to start what we believe could be a very long history here. We aren't coming into this market or hoping to come into this market because it will make us rich ‑‑ quite the opposite. However, we do want to do business here. We want to contribute, to help, to strengthen, to grow, and we have gone to what we believe are considerable lengths to do so without an adverse effect on the incumbents.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18344 We do bring more than musical diversity. We do bring a fresh editorial voice and a new way for advertisers to speak with their prospective clients and a fresh willingness to assist those voices in the community whose voices still do remain unheard. Because of that, in addition to Standard Radio, we do believe that AVR is also a worthy applicant.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18345 So finally, thank you very much. And on behalf of Standard Radio and Gary Slaight who was unable to attend these hearings this week, we do appreciate your efforts and your attention.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18346 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18347 THE CHAIRPERSON: I'm going to get whiplash checking out if my ‑‑ any of my colleagues have anything to say.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18348 Thank you, Ms Taylor. We have no questions.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18349 THE SECRETARY: Mrs. Chair, we'll now proceed with Harvard Broadcasting Inc., if they wish to come forward at this time?
‑‑‑ Pause
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18350 MR. COWIE: Madam Chair, Members of the Commission, my name is Bruce Cowie, vice president of Harvard Broadcasting. And with me, on my left, is Debra McLaughlin of Strategic Inc., and our legal counsel, Rob Malcolmson on my right.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18351 Let me begin by thanking you and the Commission staff for all your patience and assistance this week. At the outset, many wondered how you would get through this agenda in the prescribed time, and here we are near the end of the phase. I believe congratulations are in order for all. Out of respect for that pace, we will be very short in our conversation with you this morning.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18352 We would like to briefly respond to the intervention by Rawlco, Hildebrand and Goldstein. Madam Chair, you asked Mr. Goldstein to provide data dating back to 2000 for three economic indicators. We have not seen what Mr. Goldstein has provided, and perhaps it has not yet been filed. What we can tell you is that we've obtained this data from Conference ‑‑ from the Conference Board, and it shows growth in Saskatoon in each of those indicators. Population has grown by 2.7 percent since 2000. GDP has grown by over 20 percent since 2000, and retail sales, a key indicator when it comes to predicting radio advertising revenue, has grown by 40 percent since 2000.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18353 Madam Chair, Members of the Commission, this is factual, reliable, long‑term data, and what it shows is significant growth in this market since the year 2000.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18354 Combine this indicator with another key economic indicator, economic diversity, and it's clear that the Saskatoon market is growing and is highly diversified. As you noted, Madam Chair, the Conference Board of Canada ranked Saskatoon at .93 for diversity, with 1 being the perfect score. In fact, Saskatoon ranked second in the entire country in this key indicator.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18355 Mr. Rawlinson and Mr. Hildebrand say there is no revenue in the market to support a new entrant, yet Mr. Rawlinson and Mr. Hildebrand also say that as applicants for a new licence in Saskatoon, that they will be applying. And the final projections filed by that application project $9.3 million in revenue over the first licence term. Suffice it to say, there's fundamental contradiction here.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18356 And finally, there's the issue of impact. During his intervention, Mr. Hildebrand admitted that a youth oriented format would have the least impact on his station. Mr. Rawlinson was less clear on the point, but the fact that Rawlco and Hildebrand have themselves filed an application for a new youth oriented licence would seem to suggest that this format would have the least impact on their existing services.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18357 Madam Chair and Commissioners, we ask you to take all of these factors into account when deciding whether to issue a new licence is Saskatoon and we thank you for allowing us to appear today.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18358 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you. We have no questions.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18359 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18360 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18361 And I would ask Newcap Inc. if they wish to come forward in Phase IV?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18362 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Maheu, you have ten minutes for your presentation.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18363 MR. MAHEU: Thank you, Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18364 Mark Maheu for Newcap Radio. Madam Chair, Members of the Commission, Commission staff, I just would like to take a couple of brief moments here to, first of all, thank you for an excellent opportunity, an excellent hearing. It's been a wonderful week. I want to especially thank the staff and the folks in the examination room. They've been very helpful, and things were on time, and it was very well run. So thank you, and we applaud your efforts.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18365 Newcap would like to very briefly speak to a couple of points raised by the interveners we heard earlier this morning, specifically the comments from Mr. Hildebrand and Mr. Rawlinson regarding the proposed new licence for Saskatoon.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18366 Mr. Hildebrand mentioned this morning, one of the points he made was that national sales in the marketplace were off this year, or off recently. I think the number he quoted was 15 percent, and he did not mention whether or not ‑‑ and if he did, I didn't hear it, but I don't think he mentioned what trend local sales were taking in the market, only that national was off by 15 percent.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18367 Just in thinking about national sales in a market the size of Saskatoon, based on our experience, national sales normally are about 20 percent of the radio revenue in a marketplace. So if national sales are down 15 percent, it's 15 percent of 20 percent, so it's a small amount of a small number.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18368 To put it into perspective for you, if local sales in the market were up 3 and a half percent, that would mitigate the entire 15 percent reduction in national sales so that would level things off. And also in a market the size of Saskatoon, or even a market like Regina, one national buy from a major client, like an agri business client ‑‑ for instance, sometimes people come in and out of radio ‑‑ one major client not buying radio during a season could make that kind of difference percentage‑wise in a marketplace.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18369 Suffice it to say that we believe that local revenue is what drives a radio station's success. They have a certain amount of control and influence over that revenue, so I just wanted to mention that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18370 Mr. Hildebrand also mentioned that Saskatoon ‑‑ I think his quote was, "The city is one of the best served in Canada." And I don't think there's any doubt and I don't think anybody at this hearing, especially Newcap, is here casting any dispersions about the effort in the work and the job that the broadcasters in Saskatoon do. They do an excellent job and they've ‑‑ they build a great franchise in those marketplaces, but that doesn't change the fact that there are a number of large and popular formats missing in Saskatoon for a city that size. And when we talk about service to the community or a community being served, that is a very important element that needs to be considered, along with spoken word and community service and community events and the good will you're building in the marketplace.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18371 The number one reason people come to radio in the first place, how you get them in the door is the music that you play. And then once ‑‑ especially if you're in a music format. And then once you've been able to build a bond with them with the music you play, all the other services that you provide build the kind of loyalty and partisanship to your brand or to your station. So for the community to be as well served as some other markets might be, some of those missing formats need to be addressed.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18372 Mr. Goldstein mentioned this morning that he expressed concern about the market's capacity to absorb the revenue lost by the introduction of new licensees. More radio, in our experience ‑‑ and the numbers seem to bear this out. The more radio that's available in a marketplace, especially when new stations are introduced, the bigger radio share the advertising pie gets. And history and the facts show very conclusively that in every market of any size where the Commission has licensed new licences, when you take a look at markets that subscribe to TRAM(ph), or you could do it from the CRTC returns on markets that are not tracked by TRAM, you see an inordinate growth over the first couple of years in that market and the amount of money spent in radio well above the previous trend.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18373 And if you look at the numbers for markets like Kitchener‑Waterloo where three new stations were licensed back, I believe, in 2002, if you take a look at a recent example in Edmonton where new licences went on the air in the past 18 months, and you take a look at the accelerated radio revenue growth rates that took place in those markets, you could also see it in the annual returns that are going to be filed by the end of this month for PEI, for Halifax, for Ottawa, and next year you'll see the next same thing in Calgary. And what we're trying to say is whenever you license new licences in a marketplace, there are more people selling radio in the market, more radio salespeople knocking on more doors, radio gets a higher profile, and new money is created for the medium. This combined with the growth rate that we're anticipating, the economic growth in Saskatoon can more than handle new licensees in the marketplace.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18374 What it boils down to, just to close, it ‑‑ this proceeding about Saskatoon has made me think about something Charles Darwin said, which I think is very relevant. And he said in the Origin of Species that the capacity for a species to survive is not dependent upon how strong you are or how intelligent you are, but rather your ability to adapt. And we know if new licensees are granted a licence in Saskatoon, the marketplace will adapt. The incumbent broadcasters will adapt. New licensees will adapt as they do in every other market across Canada, and the end result is better service for the Saskatoon market.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18375 Thanks very much for the opportunity to present the ideas that we did, and we look forward to your response when it happens.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18376 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr. Maheu.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18377 MR. MAHEU: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18378 THE CHAIRPERSON: Madam Secretary ‑‑ oh, we're over. We're done.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18379 THE SECRETARY: We are done, Madam Chair. So this completes the considerations of item 17 to 25 on the agenda.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18380 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18381 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18382 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18383 It is now quarter after 12. If we could start at quarter after one? I'm giving you an hour. I think it's pretty good.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18384 Thank you very much.
‑‑‑ Recess at 1215 / Suspension à 1215
‑‑‑ Upon resuming at 1315 / Reprise à 1315
LISTNUM 95 \l 18385 THE CHAIRPERSON: Order please.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18386 Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18387 THE SECRETARY: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18388 Before we proceed to the next item, I would just like to indicate for the record that Radio CJVR has filed a letter with the panel with respect to the CTD contributions to FACTOR in respect of their Medicine Hat, Regina and Saskatoon applications. This letter will be placed on each application file.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18389 We will now proceed with item 26 on the agenda, which are applications by Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc., AVR, to renew the licences of the Native Type B radio programming undertakings, CKAV‑FM Toronto, CKAV‑FM‑2 Vancouver, and its transmitters at Abbotsford, CKAV‑FM 3 Calgary, and CKAV‑FM 9 Ottawa, which are expiring on the 31st March 2007.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18390 In relation to application number 2006‑0244‑2, an application by Aboriginal Voices Radio to renew the licence of its Native Type B radio programming undertaking, CKAV‑FM Toronto in notice of public hearing CRTC 2006‑9, the Commission stated that it appeared that the licence may have ‑‑ that the licensee may have failed to comply with its conditions of licence that it ensure that a minimum of 25 percent of all programming broadcast each broadcast week is spoken‑word programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18391 The Commission has determined that it has insufficient evidence to assert that AVR has not complied with this condition of licence and will not address this issue at this public hearing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18392 Appearing for the applicant is Mr. Jamie Hill who will introduce his colleagues. Mr. Hill, you will have then 20 minutes for your presentation.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18393 Please go ahead.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 95 \l 18394 MR. HILL: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18395 Good afternoon, Madam Chair, Members of the Commission, Commission staff, colleagues and broadcasters and ladies and gentlemen. My name is Jamie Hill. I'm the president of Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18396 I realize that it has been a long week for all concerned. As this is the third day in as many days that I will have introduced our panel to you, I will simply state their names for the record. They are Bob Wood, Roy Hennessy, Patrice Mousseau, and Grant Buchanan. Lewis Cardinal unfortunately had to return to Edmonton this morning.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18397 Today we are pleased to speak to AVR's licence renewal applications regarding each of Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary. I will begin by reiterating that the primary mission of AVR is to improve the lives of Aboriginal Canadians. In that regard, it is vitally important for them to see themselves reflected in the media or to reverse the historical legacy and to assist in finding solutions to the problems that Aboriginal Canadians face today. In my remarks this afternoon, I propose first to look back briefly at the past licence term and then to comment on certain issues raised by the Commission.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18398 The Toronto station was AVR's first and was licensed in June 2000. This was followed quickly in 2001 by the next three stations, which are each part of this review; Calgary in March, Vancouver in June, and Ottawa in October. Between May and July of 2003, the Commission also granted AVR licences in Montreal and Kitchener‑Waterloo, and a rebroad in Abbotsford, BC. Finally, in April of 2004 Edmonton was added.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18399 The Commission will appreciate that the AVR team was not prepared to watch immediately in all those places but responded, in some cases, to Commission calls for applications out of concern that frequencies might not exist when AVR was ready. The Commission has been supportive and patient with AVR, and we are deeply appreciative of that. Indeed, this is this a special week in that regard. The Commission's decision awarding a licence to CHUM was upheld and, with it, a guaranteed 4.515 million to be contributed by CHUM to AVR.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18400 Each of your decisions was accompanied by a date by which AVR had to commence operations. While Toronto launched successfully a number of years ago, for each of the other three services under consideration today, that commencement dated represented a constantly changing target. That date was extended by the Commission a number of times in each of Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18401 At the beginning of this year, AVR faced the embarrassing prospect of getting to the end of a licence term in each of those cities with little to show for it, but the people at AVR, including its new board of directors, persevered. And I am pleased to tell you that we have now launched in each of Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal, with Vancouver just around the corner. We are hopeful that Edmonton will soon be joining them, while Kitchener‑Waterloo is slightly further down the track.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18402 The dream that we all had and that the Commission helped, by granting the approvals that it did, has now come to fruition. The dream is not yet totally complete as we have indicated in prior licensing hearings, and as the Commission has recognized in the early days, the various markets are dependent on the network feed from Toronto until they up ‑‑ are up and running and able to supply the local programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18403 In the cases of Ottawa and Calgary, they have been on the air only four months. While AVR's Vancouver service awaits only the FCC's response with respect to its latest frequency choice, as you know, both the Commission and Industry Canada have already signed off on that frequency, and we are ready to pull the switch.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18404 In broadcasting notice of public hearing CRTC 2006‑9, the Commission raised four issues that it indicated that it might want to explore with AVR. These were the following: A, a possible logging violation; B, a possible violation of its spoken‑word condition of licence; C, concern relating to Aboriginal languages commitment; D, concern relating to local programming commitment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18405 Later, in a subsequent additional notice on October 16th, 2006, the Commission stated that it also wished to address the apparent failure of AVR to file annual returns for CKMV‑FM Toronto for the years 2001/2002, 2002 to '03, and 2003/'04. I will address each of the Commission's concerns in sequence.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18406 Regarding the logging tapes, I have reviewed this matter carefully and with the staff at AVR responsible for logger tapes. The first CD containing logger tapes that was sent to the Commission could not be opened. The follow‑up tape that Commission staff did successfully open was missing a couple of files. Staff was correct; it was missing files. And the explanation is as follows: The logging system that AVR uses is called RadioLover. It takes an individual broadcast stream and records the audio in stereo MP3 format. RadioLover also breaks down each individual hour and stamps the file name with the current time and date. This system is dependent upon an Internet connection. If an Internet connection is terminated, there is no way for the stream to record.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18407 Last fall, AVR had several technical malfunctions as a result of moving its studios. One of these malfunctions was a drop in the Internet feed several times during the CRTC monitoring period, resulting in blank periods in its audio logs. This was clearly a frugal but unacceptable methodology and required immediate remedial action.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18408 AVR is now logging off‑site, directly from radio transmission as well as with RadioLover. The signal is being recorded using a personal computer, an uninterrupted power‑supply unit with 12 hours of battery life and FM receiver and software called Audio Logger Pro. Since AVR began using this method, there have been no missed logs due to dropped Internet connections and the logs are stored off site to ensure their safety.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18409 In addition, as we have prepared plans for the construction of our network master control room, we have included the iMediaTouch logger system. This system includes not one, but two separate logging recording systems in each city which provides a redundant logger at each station. Should a fault occur with the primary logger, the second logger takes over the logging function. And in the master control in Toronto, the system monitor indicates a malfunction allowing us to request immediate servicing by our local technician. This system also allows us to perform the logging function in the master control room in parallel to each local station. Therefore we will have four times redundancy to ensure that we have logger tapes whenever required. This is the same system that is employed by CBC Galaxie for logging their multitude of pay audio music channels.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18410 Chair, Members of the Commission, we fully understand the critical importance of logger tapes to the regulatory process and can assure you that we have taken the necessary steps to avoid a repetition of this event.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18411 Regarding spoken‑word condition of licence, as per discussions with legal counsel during the past week, we understand that AVR's condition of licence relating to spoken word is no longer an issue from the Commission's perspective. We are very appreciative of your efforts ‑‑ of the efforts your staff made in resolving this matter. In any event, I can reassure the Commission that, as we speak, AVR continues to be in compliance with the 25 percent spoken‑word condition of licence.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18412 We are also prepared to discuss details regarding interpretation of this environment during question period but, from our perspective, we were content with the level and content ‑‑ and content with the requirements of Public Notice CRTC 2000‑14.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18413 Regarding Aboriginal languages, as Mr. Cardinal advised the Commission earlier in the week, AVR is proud that Ron Ignace, the Chair of the Task Force on Aboriginal Languages Initiatives joined the AVR board of directors last month. We look forward to his valued input with respect to Aboriginal language programming, among other things. AVR remains as committed as ever to the preservation, protection and promotion of Aboriginal languages.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18414 In recent correspondence with the Commission and its applications Regina and Saskatoon, AVR indicated that it would have no difficulty continuing with the 2 percent Aboriginal music and 2 percent Aboriginal spoken‑word conditions of licence that all AVR stations are subject to. The Commission, in the deficiency process, asked if AVR would accept the refinement of the spoken‑word commitment to ensure that the 2 percent of Aboriginal programming occurs during the broadcast day. AVR has indicated in writing to the Commission that it accepts that change as proposed in the Commission's deficiency letter.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18415 Regarding local programming, the Commission's Notice of Public Hearing noted, "AVR's increased preference to focus on national network programming rather than its original local programming commitments." As we have made clear this week, AVR is committed to local programming and has not applied to reduce its local programming commitments in any market. What is true is that AVR has launched a number of stations in the last few months and is currently relying on the Toronto feed for its programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18416 The Commission has always understood that in the early going of any of AVR's stations, there would be a reliance on the programming from Toronto. For example, in decision CRTC 2001‑627 granting AVR's Ottawa licence, the Commission stated, "In its early years of operation, the station's programming will, in the main, originate with the proposed FM radio station licence to AVR in Toronto." This is decision CRTC 2000‑204. "The applicant's plans in this regard are similar to those it has for other AVR radio stations recently authorized by the Commission, one in Calgary and the other in Vancouver." Decision CRTC 2001‑172 and 2002‑314.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18417 Other than in Toronto, the stations have been on the air only a few months. AVR will add local components to them over time, just as envisaged in the Commission's licensing decisions. That remains AVR's commitment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18418 In our deliberations regarding this important issue, we have come to the conclusion that it no longer makes sense to have a patch‑work quilt of varying local obligations. If we are crafting a condition of licence relating to local programming for Saskatoon and Regina, as we discussed early this week, we think it makes sense to come up with a common benchmark that can be used in each of our markets.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18419 As we alluded to in our reply earlier today, we think that a threshold should be set at 25 percent of the broadcast week which equates to 31.5 hours a week. In our view, this new condition should be stated to come into effect no later than 24 months following the date of your decision relating to the renewals.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18420 In its recent notice, the Commission alerted AVR to the fact that it had apparently not received annual returns for AVR's Toronto signal for its several periods. The Commission did receive an annual return for 2004/2005 and will be receiving one for 2005/2006 and can expect to receive one each and every year from now on. As the Commission is aware, the team before you has essentially been in place for less than two years, and the news of the missing annual returns from prior years came as a surprise when we read about it on the Commission's website. I have not been back in the office since then to investigate. I can only indicate that it would not have happened and will not happen with this team.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18421 I do not know what we can offer the Commission at this point. It would be difficult, potentially inaccurate and expensive now to go back as far as 2001 and start trying to reconstruct annual returns for you, but if you require us to do so, we would of course comply.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18422 Regarding Canadian content, finally I would like to end on a high note. AVR has a requirement to air more than 35 percent Canadian content vocal music selections. AVR is far above the threshold. Commission staff have indicated that, by their count, we are over 46 percent. As we have suggested earlier this week, that figure is far below the real number since AVR plays so many emerging Aboriginal artists that are not found in the Commission's database.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18423 Indeed, our staff at AVR believe that the figure is really more like 60 percent Canadian selections, and we have undertaken to work with staff to update the Commission's database to ensure that these wonderful new Canadian artists are included in it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18424 I am therefore pleased to report that the bottom line for you, Chair and Members of the Commission, is that AVR is in compliance with all of its conditions of licence and will continue to be so. AVR proposes no changes to any of the conditions of licence in any of its markets, other than agreeing to the clarification suggested by Commission staff with respect to Aboriginal spoken‑word programming occurring during the broadcast day, rather than over the entire schedule, and to a new condition relating to local programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18425 Accordingly, AVR respectfully requests that all four of the licences be renewed from the current expiry date of March 31st, 2007 through to August 31st, 2013.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18426 I would close by saying that AVR is deeply appreciative of the support that it has received from you and we also appreciate the hard work your staff, in working through a number ‑‑ hard work of your staff in working through a number of unique situations. Your efforts and decisions have allowed us to create the first national Aboriginal radio network in the world and we thank you, not only on behalf of AVR but also on behalf of all Aboriginal people in Canada.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18427 We would be pleased to respond to any questions that you might have.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18428 THE CHAIRPERSON: Vice‑Chair Arpin.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18429 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18430 Good afternoon, Miss and Mister. And we ‑‑ you've already covered a good number of my questions, but certainly that being said, we'll try to have some kind of a dialogue over the experience AVR has had since being, first, authorized today and look a bit forward in your plans with regard to the future as ‑‑ well, as you said, it is the first time that AVR appears before the CRTC for a renewal of its flagship and its three other stations; those in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18431 In a brief way, could you give the Commission some background information on the report for ‑‑ that AVR had to put in order to first implement and launch the Toronto station and the three stations involved in the renewal? As you may understand, that ‑‑ you have had some communication with ‑‑ over the years with staff members, but for the record, the Commission doesn't know very much about what ‑‑ how difficult it was and what were the main issues and what makes you happy today that happily ‑‑ that you're up and running happily and you have ‑‑ you're on air in ‑‑ already in three markets and waiting for the FCC. And we surely will investigate the FCC thing a bit further just to have a clear picture of what ‑‑ of what's going on.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18432 MR. HENNESSY: The other evening as we were discussing the preparations for the launch ‑‑ or the application, rather, for Regina and Saskatoon, and we were talking back ‑‑ looking back on our brief history from when we got involved with AVR and what all we've been through and how it might have been extremely discouraging for a lot of people to face the type of adversity that we have come across.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18433 The two‑steps‑forward‑one‑step‑back syndrome seemed to be a common experience for us at many steps along the way, and it happened before we were involved as well. But the one thing that we came away from that discussion with was ‑‑ I think it was Jamie or Bob made the statement that none of us, given our background, our experience, our, I guess, relative success that we've had in other areas of commercial broadcasting, none of us would be at this table and none of us would be continuing to put forward an effort if we didn't really believe that we were going to win, if we didn't really believe that we were on the verge of creating something that was very unique and potentially great.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18434 So that's sort of the motivation that we all have to keep going forward because it's not easy when you don't have regular commercial cash flows, when you exert a great deal of effort to generate enthusiasm and interest in support for the station and hit a wall, hit barriers, and the anticipated money ‑‑ which, in your mind, you've already spent ‑‑ you've already built the new offices and facilities in Vancouver, and then suddenly you find that that's going to be delayed again for a while.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18435 It's ‑‑ it is a real compliment to everyone here and to the staff that we have back in Toronto, that they keep their morale up, and they have. And a lot of that comes from the belief in what we're doing and also from people associated with our efforts who encourage us to keep moving forward. And a lot of it comes from Mr. Hill, who is the eternal optimist. There is no one step back.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18436 MR. WOOD: I think I could add to that, Commissioner. We think it's tough enough to run a business when you have money, and AVR has been running on fumes for several years now. And we would not be alive today were it not for the goodwill of this Commission and we're very grateful to the Commission.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18437 This is kind of a banner day for AVR because we learned, I guess just yesterday, that the appeal with respect to the CHUM application for Calgary was denied. So that gives us an opportunity to live again another day, and we shall.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18438 And insofar as some of the difficulties we've had, when the new board came into place at AVR, there were many, many things, many files that had been mishandled, were not well organized or ignored altogether. And it's taken Mr. Hill and the board and the team that he has assembled, close to the two years that he has been on the board, to get all of that straightened out, the governance, the financial areas, assembling the right people, the team that is in place now.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18439 And the team is larger than you see before you here today. The gentleman who is helping us with our financial matters is Michael Jarvis. He is a semi‑retired former controller of Ultramar. He has brought a lot of the discipline to our financial area and helped to organize our systems, which has been very helpful to AVR.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18440 And of course we can't say enough about the help that we've received from McCarthy Tetrault, not just in preparing for the different licensing issues that have arisen, but also in terms of helping us with our governance and getting that whole area straightened out and brought up to date.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18441 We've also got support on the engineering front from Paul Furminger who used to be the vice president of engineering for MacLean Hunter which, at the time, was the large ‑‑ one of the largest broadcast companies in Canada. And when MacLean Hunter was acquired by Rogers, Mr. Furminger's position became redundant, and we have been fortunate to be able to have not only his experience and expertise, but his amazing network of contacts to help us to negotiate all of the things going on in all of the cities with respect to purchase of transmitters, setting up the sites, and all of the things that go along with establishing stations in markets across the country.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18442 We should say that the team also includes some consulting engineers, including Gord Henke and Associates, and Jim Multner(ph) and then there are some other people kind of on the peripheral who are helping in the community as well. They're all terrific people and they are very, very committed to seeing this network survive and flourish and fulfil its mission.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18443 We're also very blessed to have a terrifically competent, committed group of people on the board of directors of AVR. And starting with Mr. Hill, Mr. Hill is ‑‑ has studied economics at Harvard. He's also a very accomplished business person. He has devoted a number of years doing a turnkey operation for the Smithsonian Institution for their magazine, which is the magazine of the American Indian. It's the largest circulation magazine in the world. Between that magazine and the magazine that he also publishes, called SAGE Magazine, he is a very accomplished business person and he's very sought after in the community to sit on different boards to help operate successfully different Native enterprises. AVR is very lucky to have him.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18444 And the board that he has assembled, along with himself and Mr. Cardinal, is a blue chip group of people who are very committed and qualified in their own areas. For example, in Calgary, the board member, Russ McLeod, is a 25‑year broadcaster who is one of the few Native success stories in radio broadcasting. Russ worked in Vancouver on the air for many years and later moved to Toronto, eventually worked his way up to become the morning man of CHUM‑AM in Toronto. He's on the board of AVR.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18445 The lady in Ottawa, Claudette Commenda(ph) is a lawyer. She is the executive director of the confederacy of cultural and education centres in Canada, very committed, very knowledgeable about the issues. I could go on about the board, but I guess I'm trying to say it's certainly been a real team effort here.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18446 In terms of some of the frequency issues that we've had, the frequency that we were ‑‑ originally applied for in Vancouver was not available to us. It was awarded to the CBC. CBC effectively said that they would support us in the pursuit of a different frequency, and once they had received their licence, we ‑‑ we're hopeful of getting their support, but I think they determined that that would not be appropriate to their interests, and so we were left really without an alternative frequency in Vancouver.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18447 We then went to work with our consulting engineers and found another frequency and, unfortunately, we were unable to get approval from a mainstream broadcaster for a tiny bit of interference we would cause them in the Tsawwassen ferry area and subsequently had to pass on that frequency as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18448 So now we're on to the third frequency that we are now ‑‑ have had approved by both Industry Canada and the Commission and we're awaiting approval from the FCC for a frequency in Vancouver. AVR has spent in total in Vancouver, in terms of equipment and establishing its operations there, coupled with engineering fees on the search for the latest frequency, a quarter of a million dollars. If we added in the consulting costs that we have spent for Vancouver, and legal and other consulting costs, just to get us to where we are now from the beginning in Vancouver, it would be close to half a million dollars and probably more.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18449 In terms of ‑‑ I should say that on the 9th of November we're very hopeful that the FCC will weigh in with approval that we can use the frequency that we have applied for in Vancouver.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18450 In Calgary, it's one of the few markets where there are no issues. We are on the air in Calgary. We've got a beautiful C‑class signal there and we're rolling Calgary. We haven't got all the local programming on there yet, but we expect that that will come in due course.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18451 We are not yet on the air in Edmonton. We hope that that will be within the next 90 days. We've ordered a combiner actually through the CBC. They've ordered it. They're installing it. The combiner that was delivered to them did not meet specifications. It's been sent back, and they're working on it. We expect to have delivery of that within the next 60 days, at which time we'll then install the rest of the equipment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18452 In Kitchener, the CBC withdrew its support for the transmission site that we wanted to use there, so we're now talking with CTV for a site to operate out of Kitchener.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18453 In Toronto, you may recall AVR had originally applied for two frequencies; the low‑power FM frequency that we now operate with, and CBC's 740 AM. We had hoped that we would have adequate coverage by combining the two. We were awarded only the FM frequency, not the AM, and that's okay. We've been working on finding ways to expand the Toronto FM frequency. We approached an area broadcaster for a waiver some years ago, weren't able to obtain the waiver, so we're back to them again, and a couple of other broadcasters in the region as to how we might expand that frequency. We've got some new ways and some new incentives that we think we can offer them that we are optimistic will bear fruit. So we're confident that we'll have some improvement in our Toronto signal.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18454 In Ottawa, we are up and running in Ottawa. We're operating out of a CHUM site in Ottawa with the support of the CHUM organization. We're very grateful for their help.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18455 In Montreal, we're operating at low power. We're still attempting to establish a site from which to broadcast at full power. The site that we're on at low power is the Saqua(ph) site, but there's apparently code 6 issues there that won't permit us to go to full power. So as soon as we conclude the negotiations we're engaged in right now with the site that will permit us to go to full power, we will be at full power in Vancouver.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18456 So it ‑‑ kind of every day it's a new day and it's new problems, but we're all very, very confident that we have a strong team here that will enable us to grow this into a tremendously useful tool for ‑‑ not just for Aboriginal people, but for Canada.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18457 And we've never spoken about the larger or the longer‑term view, and I'll just take another few seconds here to say to you that once the network is operating in all of the markets in which it hopes to operate ‑‑ and certainly we'd be more than happy with approximately ten of those markets, but there may be one or two others that we can add on later when we have the finances, such as Thunder Bay where the Aboriginal population is fairly high.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18458 But in terms of AVR's corporate development plan, Phase 1 was to implement the network service. Phase 2 was to launch the Toronto station. Phase 3 was to introduce our existing stations. Phase 4 was to complete the expansion across Canada. Phase 5 was to establish news correspondents in our different markets across Canada. Phase 6 is to launch a second network feed in French. It wouldn't be identical, but it would certainly would be a feed that would provide for news and music programming 24 hours a day that would be available to existing stations in Canada that wanted to pick up that service in French. And Phase 8 is to provide separate feeds for news and spoken‑word programs in a variety of Aboriginal languages.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18459 And one of the great promises, we think, of AVR is not just these developments and the utility that they will represent for Aboriginal people and the awareness‑building programming that we'll provide, but we've made it clear throughout to different people in the community, and certainly it's the commitment of the board, that AVR at some point in its evolution will have very high quality programming that will be available to all broadcasters across Canada at no charge.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18460 And as you will be aware, there are about 650 reserves in Canada and, of that 650, 200 of them have no radio service whatsoever. The other 400 or so are served by the regional networks or their own independent station. AVR is intending to make its service available to those communities at no charge.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18461 And we're currently working on two initiatives that would enable us to help them establish low‑cost, what we call, suitcase radio stations in each of their communities so that when they're into the system, coupled with all of the regional stations that are in the system, then they can plug into AVR for any portion of its programming. If they want to downlink the hourly national news, they can do so. If they want to downlink the national telephone talk show, they can do so. They can pick up any aspect of AVR's programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18462 Many of them are volunteer organized radio stations where they operate for sometimes only eight hour a day. If they wish to extend their programming to 24 hours, or to weekends, again they can do so, simply by downlinking AVR.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18463 So what we're all working on here today, kind of in partnership with you, is something that's far bigger than just another licence or extending this network. This has ramifications far beyond what we're talking about here. Mr. Hill could tell you about some of the archiving things with elders and languages, and so on, that we plan to do on the website going forward so that we think that the mission of AVR, which is to help improve the lives of Aboriginal people, is something that we will not only be doing, but we'll be delivering in a multitude of ways so that, at the end of the day, while there have been many problems and many financing issues ‑‑ and we could go on at length about those ‑‑ we are nevertheless confident that Mr. Hill, and the team that he has assembled, is equal to the task and that we will deliver on the service that we have proposed to you, and across Canada, and that your, I guess, confidence in the ‑‑ in us is justified and that we will meet our requirements.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18464 MR. HENNESSY: Well ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18465 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay. Thank you for that lengthy ‑‑ that introduction, but it put everything into context and it's well appreciated. Do you want to add something, Mr. Hennessy?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18466 MR. HENNESSY: I was just going to mention when Mr. Wood made reference to the French language service, we also are aware that there's ‑‑ not a conflict, but there's a difference between the demographics of the Aboriginal community in urban areas and the tremendous increase in the birth rate in Aboriginals is resulting in a younger population. And we're also aware of the demographics of a radio station that is full service and that is heavily committed to news and information, and those two seem to digress because increase the talk, decrease the young audience is the result.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18467 So what I'm ‑‑ which is not to mean that we don't play the music that the younger Aboriginals are interested in, but we day‑part it and do not give a consistent 24‑hour‑a‑day service with some of the areas like hip hop and R & B. They're featured evenings and weekends.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18468 That ‑‑ but the concept is to create another stream, another Aboriginal radio with younger hosts, and younger announcers and music aimed at that younger demographic, which would probably be served by streaming over the Internet. Again, it's an extension like was mentioned with the French language, all originating from this resource that we are building today.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18469 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18470 At ‑‑ when you appeared on Wednesday, Mr. Cardinal mentioned that Ron Hennessy ‑‑ and you had it in your text today ‑‑ had joined the board of directors of AVR. When did he join the board?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18471 MR. HILL: Vice‑Chair, Ron Ignace? That's your question?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18472 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18473 MR. HILL: That was recent. It was the last board meeting we held ‑‑ I don't know the exact date, but my sense is that it was about a month and a half ago.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18474 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay, that's sufficed. I'm not looking for a specific date, but I ‑‑ because I was going over our own record, and our own record shows that you have nine directors, and obviously Mr. Ignace's name was not ‑‑ is not on that list. Is it an add‑on to your ‑‑ to the board or is it a replacement for somebody?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18475 MR. HILL: Yes, he was a replacement for one of the board members that left. Jennifer Podemski left the board. So I think that we should probably ensure that you have updated information, and my apologies for that, but it was quite recent, and we'll make sure that you have an updated list of who the board is.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18476 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And could you tell us how these board members are selected? Are they co‑opted or are they ‑‑ or is it what ‑‑ how do you say this? You don't have shareholders? You ‑‑ so how do you ‑‑ how does it happens that one day Jim Hill became board member of AVR and eventually even appointed as a ‑‑ as the president of the organization?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18477 MR. HILL: Well, it turns out I was a replacement as well for another board member that had left. Board members are normally elected at the annual general meeting by the community members whose job it is, in our bylaws, to elect the board. And right now we have 25 Aboriginal community members spread across the country, and that's their job, to elect the board.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18478 Now, if someone leaves the board, then someone comes in on an interim basis and then they are up for election at the next AGM, and the term of the board members is three years.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18479 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And they could be renewed?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18480 MR. HILL: Pardon me? Yes, they could be renewed.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18481 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: They could ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18482 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18483 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: ‑‑ they could be. And those 25 communities, what's their makeup? They're representing various bands or various ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18484 MR. HILL: Well, yes. I mean it's a very diverse group.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18485 Some of them are ‑‑ for instance, before Mr. Ignace joined the board, he was a community member and he's a former chief of his First Nation. There are ‑‑ many of them are urban Aboriginal people. I mean, it spans the diversity of the Aboriginal experience which is there are people who grow up in cities and spend their life in the city, and I guess this is part of the Aboriginal experience. The connection with the original First Nations or Metis community where maybe they're ancestrally originated from has, I guess, diminished in ‑‑ relative to other people in the city who grew up on the reserve and have migrated to the city.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18486 So it's ‑‑ it runs the gamut. We do have members who speak ‑‑ are fluent in their Native language and they, I guess, practice, you know, their traditional spiritual beliefs that have come down through the generations. And we have members who, you know, maybe are Christian in their belief. You know, we have members who are, I guess, professional Aboriginal people, you know, working in an urban environment and we have members who, I would call them elders. So, you know, it's a wide range of people representative of the communities, is how we look at it, and then their job is to elect directors who, you know, are going to do a good job in ensuring that AVR delivers on its mission.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18487 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And who then elects the president of the organization?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18488 MR. HILL: The president is elected on a yearly basis by the board of directors after the AGM after the first ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18489 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: At the first ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18490 MR. HILL: ‑‑ at the first ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18491 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: So does that ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18492 MR. HILL: ‑‑ board of directors meeting after the AGM.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18493 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And that's also the mandate of the ‑‑ the way the vice president is also ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18494 MR. HILL: Yes, all the ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18495 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: ‑‑ nominated?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18496 MR. HILL: ‑‑ all the officers are elected that ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18497 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: All the officers are ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18498 MR. HILL: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18499 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: ‑‑ are nominated after the AGM by ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18500 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18501 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: ‑‑ by the new board?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18502 MR. HILL: By the new board, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18503 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And is it ‑‑ Mr. Ignace is replacing Miss Podemski, but do you have an automatic replacement mechanism or it could be ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18504 MR. HILL: Well, I think the way we've done it so far is tried to identify suitable directors. You know, we ask through the entire AVR organization, all the personnel, you know, if we lose a member potentially, you know, who out there would be suitable, you know, and would ‑‑ and we feel would do a good job and then we try to assess those ‑‑ assess them and, you know, then it goes to an election.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18505 Now, on an interim basis the board of directors appoints the interim director until you get to the AGM.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18506 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay. Well, thank you very much for the information and at least from ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18507 MR. WOOD: Oh, Commissioner, if I might just add to that that the members of the board ‑‑ the board has also been very sensitive about it ensuring regional representation, so there is a director from British Columbia, one from Calgary, one from Edmonton, a couple from Ontario and a couple from Quebec. If the Commission chooses to grant AVR a licence for Saskatoon and Regina, then at the first opportunity, Mr. Hill has said that AVR would attempt to add to the board a member from Saskatchewan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18508 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay. Well, thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18509 At our request, you have provided the Commission on a confidential basis your expected procurement of fundings that derive from the existing CTD commitments for a new licence, and we thank you for the interest.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18510 You've also, during your ‑‑ an earlier presentation, and particularly the one for Regina, alluded to government grants. Among them was the Ontario Trillium Fund.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18511 To your knowledge, are there other source of public and private financing? And, if yes, are you currently working and finding long‑term commitment for their ‑‑ from these sources?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18512 MR. WOOD: Yes, we will ‑‑ are working on that. Actually in the last four or five months, we've certainly been focused on getting the stations on the air and preparing for this hearing but, starting on Monday morning, that will be a full‑time focus to move that along.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18513 We have met with ‑‑ recently with the Minister of Heritage who has indicated that there are different categories where we would qualify for funding and that she would assist us in the pursuit of that funding, and we intend to follow up on that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18514 Secondly, we are currently working on an application for funding from Aboriginal Business Canada. They have a category that provides for capital expenditures to expand into other markets, so we've met with some of their officials and we're expecting that that application will be filed within the next three to four weeks, and we would have an answer on that early in the new year.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18515 And there is, ongoing, different parts of the country, for example in British Columbia, the British Columbia government recently announced, I think it's, a $200 million fund to help advance Aboriginal peoples interests in the province. And we have a director in British Columbia, Mr. Ignace and someone else, who have a good awareness of how to access the funding for that money, and we intend to pursue that as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18516 I think the chairman mentioned at this hearing the Peace Hills Trust Fund. We did speak to Peace Hills a few years ago, but we really weren't in a position at that point to qualify under their terms. We believe we are now and we'll be accessing that if we can. So, yes, we will have a full-court press going forward to pursue other funding.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18517 We also have a couple of other, what we would call, creative approaches to the financing of AVR almost in perpetuity that we are working on. They involve very sensitive negotiations. We can't go into detail on that right now, but we're very confident that, in the not too distant future, we will be in a position to say to you we are now able to finance all of the requirements of this network to complete its expansion and to fulfil our programming mandate.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18518 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18519 And we will remain on the revenue side of the ledger for my next question and we'll deal about sale ‑‑ advertising sales and sponsorship. I know that you've addressed the issue during the ‑‑ an earlier appearance, but are you working with ‑‑ do you have a sales team or is it farmed out?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18520 MR. HENNESSY: We do not have a sales team in the sense of the traditional radio station. We have advertising agencies and some experienced radio sales ‑‑ they're actually consultants in a couple of areas ‑‑ in Vancouver, Calgary and one who's located in Windsor, and they're working with us on developing the sponsorship package. And the last conference call we had was ‑‑ it would be about three weeks to a month ago, I guess, prior to focusing on preparing for our appearance here, and what we were doing is comparing ‑‑ we're building lists of trade associations, industry associations and Canadian corporations that have a need to reach the Aboriginal population, or a desire to reach them with a message about their organization. And that's everything from Shell Oil wanting to inform the Aboriginal community, and those who listen to the station because they share a philosophy of the Aboriginal people, that Shell is doing its part in the oil sands, for example, recovering and refurbishing the soil after they've extracted the oil.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18521 There's those types of areas and programs that we can help them reach the community. We can also help them in the area of employment, which would be of particular interest to the Alberta market where it's very, very difficult to find skilled or unskilled labours. So being able to point out career opportunities, whether it's trades or educational opportunities through our programming into the Aboriginal communities, will have a two ‑‑ a double‑edged effect of helping address the problem and also helping address the unemployment and educational problems on reserves.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18522 So there's a number of those categories and groups that we have been building into ‑‑ call it our target list, and if we're going to target on the forest industry, we have our associate, Michael Morgan in Vancouver, who has done work with Aboriginal groups. He's a former broadcaster in ‑‑ has his own ‑‑ or had his own advertising agency and he has made preliminary approaches to representatives of the forest industry, the forestry unions, and we're organizing a target list so that we can go after that segment on a ‑‑ both a national and regional scope and, from there, start generating the programming they're interested in sponsoring that also relates to the interests of the audience.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18523 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: The ‑‑ now, if we speak about expenses, the biggest expense will be obviously employees and ‑‑ now, how many employees do you have now?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18524 MR. HENNESSY: Do we have now?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18525 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18526 MR. HENNESSY: Well, one of the things when I got involved with ‑‑ because, with AVR, Mr. Hill is very fiscally responsible, and minimizing costs and taking use of ‑‑ or advantage of technology was a high priority. And we did serious trimming, not something that we were happy to do, but something that was necessary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18527 We use Aboriginal talent on air and off air wherever possible. We use freelance contract suppliers. We have ‑‑ the national voice of the network is a ‑‑ is an Aboriginal and was a high‑profile announcer in Toronto at one time and worked at other stations in Canada, and he does a ‑‑ all of our ‑‑ the promotion voicing, that type of thing. But we have another announcer who lives in Orillia and does voice‑tracking for us from there. So these contracts ‑‑ if I include the freelance contract plus the staff that we have on site, I think we are probably breaking ten.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18528 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Altogether? Including ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18529 MR. HENNESSY: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18530 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: ‑‑ including management, traffic, accounting?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18531 MR. HENNESSY: The old joke about a staff meeting in the phone booth rings true.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18532 MR. HENNESSY: Now, we have a ‑‑ when I say ten, I mean there are others that ‑‑ we have syndicating programming that is supplied to us at no charge. There's a health show that we pick up that is ‑‑ comes from AIROS. It's American Indian Radio on satellite. It's actually funded in New Mexico and created in Alaska, I believe, and deals with health issues specific, or of major importance, to all Aboriginals in North America. We'll pay for that show and, you know, certainly there's a team that puts that together that we're not responsible for.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18533 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Obviously they are not your employees.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18534 MR. HENNESSY: But our goal, when we put together our business plan for the network when it is up to speed and fully financed, we are talking in the area of 40 to 45 employees.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18535 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Altogether, that ‑‑ when you're ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18536 MR. HENNESSY: In that ‑‑ it's at the Toronto production centre and in the administration, the management side, and then of course there will be the satellite pods of staffs in each of the communities, and those will be approximately five people in each community in the initial few years. Hopefully we can build that to larger as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18537 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: The ‑‑ now, if we start talking about current programming, as I said earlier, I did check your website and ‑‑ to have a descriptor of your programming, and also you provided us with a list of other content. But in looking at it, I note that you have a call‑in show called Native America Calling that is run on 30 stations. That ‑‑ that's an American program or is it done out of Toronto for all of North America or is it the other way around?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18538 MS MOUSSEAU: It actually originates on the AIROS network that Mr. Hennessy was talking about earlier, but the content itself comes from both U.S. and Canada. They have quite a few of callers from Toronto and across Canada ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18539 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Because they have ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18540 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ on the air.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18541 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: They ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18542 MS MOUSSEAU: I've been on ‑‑ I've been ‑‑ actually done the talk show myself as well, so it's shared.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18543 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Oh, it's shared, so they are components of the programs that are, well, uncertain because I say ‑‑ it's every ‑‑ it's on every day of the week, so there's something ‑‑ some days that it's done out of Toronto and other days it's done out ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18544 MS MOUSSEAU: No, it's always done out of the U.S., but content and callers and guests come from ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18545 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Other ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18546 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ Canada.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18547 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay. And they are providing the audience with an 800 number so that the callers will get to them?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18548 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes, they do.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18549 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: They do.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18550 MR. HENNESSY: Again, it's the ‑‑ our plan, as we've discussed over the last week, is to have a two‑hour national Canadian Aboriginal talk show. In the meantime, we want to give access for the exchange of opinions and ideas in the most inexpensive way we can, and free is the best we've found so far.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18551 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: If I'm taking your program grid, at least the one that I've got through the Internet, could you tell me which one are syndicated program?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18552 MS MOUSSEAU: Unfortunately the schedule you have is of course out of date, but I can tell you what some of the programmings ‑‑ programs are that are syndicated. We have the Native American Calling that we were just speaking about.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18553 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18554 MS MOUSSEAU: We have American Indian Living, and that is the health show what Mr. Hennessy was talking about. Originally AVR in fact did produce our own health show. I was the host of that, as well as we had an Aboriginal doctor here in ‑‑ or sorry, there in Toronto, that took part in that. Unfortunately he became unavailable, so because health, of course, is such an important issue, we went to AIROS. They have a national network in the U.S. It's not really a network. It's a satellite feed but ‑‑ asked them if they had something available, and that's why we're using American Indian Living at this time for our health programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18555 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And those are the two syndicated programs that you have currently on your grid?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18556 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes. The only other one would maybe be considered syndicated would be the Metis Show. It is generated from here in ‑‑ from in Toronto by someone who works for AVR, but we also offer it for free to Metis FM, which is an Internet based radio station.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18557 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: But it ‑‑ that's ‑‑ but that's not produced by AVR but produced by someone who is a contributor, a regular contributor to AVR?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18558 MS MOUSSEAU: That's correct. He provides programming for us once a week for free.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18559 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: From ‑‑ in your original plan, you were planning to have programming also to cater to the Natives that were coming from Spanish country ‑‑ or Latin country. Not Spanish, but Latin country and have programming in Spanish. Have you done so?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18560 MR. HENNESSY: It's part of the music content of ‑‑ in particular in the afternoon program going global, there's a large segment of music from South America, Latin America that addresses the Spanish community. We are not doing any Spanish language programming at this point in time. Again, those are our options when we expand our vision to the indigenous world, that we can look at in the future.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18561 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And that program is daily and has a duration of four hours?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18562 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18563 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: You're quite busy because I ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18564 MS MOUSSEAU: I'm the host of that as well, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18565 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: On top of being here today and now ‑‑ and I see your name coming quite often on the program schedules so I think you're surely quite busy.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18566 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes. Yes, I am.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18567 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: The ‑‑ in all the other programs that you are ‑‑ for which we have a descriptor, AVR Art Review, Red Tales, Earthsongs, At Issue, Women's Round Table, Wisdom of the Elders, and Heartbeat, UnderCurrents, All Request Show, Show in the Morning are done via ‑‑ in Toronto ‑‑ or produced in Toronto out of your facility?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18568 MR. HENNESSY: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18569 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: The ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18570 THE CHAIRPERSON: Put your mic on.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18571 MR. HENNESSY: I'm sorry. Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18572 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay, yeah. The ‑‑ are some of the ‑‑ or another thing on your program grid, that some of the titles are sometimes repeated, it is the same ‑‑ I'm taking Heartbeat as an example on Saturday and Sunday, and also on some weekdays, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Is it ‑‑ are they a repeat of the same program or is ‑‑ are they unique original shows or is it ‑‑ there's one original and it's repeated four times during the week?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18573 MR. HENNESSY: Usually they're original content on each program. The title just indicates the theme for the program.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18574 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Well ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18575 MR. HENNESSY: Other ‑‑ for instance, the weekly art review, we do repeat that program.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18576 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: While you appear for Regina and Saskatoon, we ‑‑ you spoke about AVR weekend. I note that on your program grid for Toronto you have AVR show in the morning and AVR weekend. Are the AVR weekends compilation or repeats of the show of the morning or are they totally original programs?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18577 MS MOUSSEAU: Some of it has elements of important or very funny bits that happen during the week, but generally it is unique on the weekends as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18578 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay. And you are also still broadcasting in French, 11 p.m. to ‑‑ from 11 p.m. to midnight on Sunday?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18579 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes, we are and we are in fact broadcasting our French language program on Monday at 10 p.m. as well, until 11 p.m.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18580 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And you have a French‑speaking host?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18581 MS MOUSSEAU: Not really at the moment we don't. We're just running the music, so we're looking ‑‑ we're actually looking at someone right now who not only can speak French but can also speak Cree and English, so it could really help ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18582 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: So it could ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18583 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ flush that program ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18584 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: ‑‑ it could do something else.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18585 MR. HENNESSY: One of these ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18586 MS MOUSSEAU: We could use him on many of our programs.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18587 MR. HENNESSY: As you said, you see Patrice showing up on the schedule a lot. When I said ten, I didn't count her five times, but that's ‑‑ certainly could be done. A couple of months ago, as we started in anticipation of the sign‑ons in our leading up to putting out the news stringers and developing the programming, we ran an ad looking for talent in broadcast dialogue and received ‑‑ it was interesting the pattern of response that we received.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18588 We did have several calls from Montreal and people in Montreal excited about the idea that the station ‑‑ "Where is it? I can't hear it." Stand by, you know. And the fact that we were thinking of doing programming in French and creating a French component and that they are ‑‑ there's certainly an interest there and there are some Aboriginal talent broadcasters who expressed an interest. Same in Ottawa. Vancouver was ‑‑ there was a tremendous response there. They basically wanted ‑‑ maybe they should do the ‑‑ half of the station anyway.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18589 So we're going to have an interesting time when we begin to put together the network as we perceive it because, in our discussions, we really do talk about having the afternoon show originate with a Vancouver announcer and bringing part of that West Coast perspective and maybe it's mid‑day's ‑‑ when the talk show ends, maybe the mid‑day's originates from the prairies. Maybe we move it to different cities in different weeks. We have that flexibility with the technology that we're employing and certainly the interest for ‑‑ from the Aboriginal applicants tells us that we will be able to do that in all the cities that we're going to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18590 MR. HILL: Mr. Vice‑Chair, if I could add a couple of comments to, I guess, the general line of questioning? One thing, I think, that distinguishes AVR is it is a non‑profit and, therefore, I know the conventional model regarding programming is to, you know, optimize the programming so that there is a surplus at the end as far as what the financial situation is, you know, which would be earnings.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18591 AVR, because we are non‑profit, we don't really have earnings, so what we would do is we would utilize the revenues that we're able to build, you know, and focus ‑‑ we would focus them on programming to the greatest extent possible once we're able to put the infrastructure in place to be able to broadcast in all the cities.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18592 So the quality of the programming and the type of programming that we do is dependent upon your financial success as we move forward and try to build a national radio service financially, and that's the challenge that precedes getting the cities on the air ‑‑ that precedes getting cities on the air and developing programming. So we do aspire to ‑‑ for instance, we have, you know, some American content. We do aspire to have, you know, almost all Canadian content.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18593 Now, the Aboriginal people do, you know, look south of the border because the border, you know, goes up the middle of some traditional Aboriginal communities or ‑‑ and large territories, so there is, I guess, an affinity to ‑‑ as far as relationships south of the border with Aboriginal people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18594 And, you know, just historically, we're aware of our history of ‑‑ as ‑‑ you've probably heard the term "Turtle Island". It is the Americas, and there are relationship that, you know, go back generations across the Americas, so this is the type of thing you'll see in the programming that we do. We do support the type of programming where we are getting into some of the Latin world because there are Aboriginal people there.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18595 But I would say I think we're doing a great job as far as the programming, but we do have aspirations to approve that and to ‑‑ we've actually talked about different eras that we want to go through as far as our programming. We have talked about ultimately where we want to be, financing permitted, because we have this idea of the premium Aboriginal service. And it's a little different than what we're seeing right now because the programming is dependent upon the financial wherewithal of AVR but, you know, we're working very hard to build the situation financially so that we can continue to improve the programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18596 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18597 I had a long list of question on compliance but I appreciate the ‑‑ your introductory remark and the answer that you gave on all the issues of logger tape, annual return, spoken word, music and everything.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18598 So flipping the page quickly ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18599 But I will have ‑‑ you've already talked about it, but I'm keeping the last question that I had, which was ‑‑ is can you assure us today that your station, Toronto station is in full compliance with all the existing conditions of licence?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18600 MR. HILL: We are in full compliance. That's what we're all aware of. We've talked about it, and I have to tell you that the team are committed to ensure that we are in full compliance going forward into the future. And, of course, as the CEO of Aboriginal Voices Radio, I have to give my personal commitment that I will endeavour to ensure that we remain in compliance with all of your regulations.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18601 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I'll now talk about the usage of Aboriginal language, and there are the existing conditions of licence, but I know that there has been correspondence between staff and AVR regarding the minimum requirement for spoken language. I note that you're ‑‑ in the letters that you've ‑‑ you say that you've consulted with Mr. Ignace ‑‑ Ignace?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18602 MR. HILL: Ignace.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18603 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Ignace. Obviously in ‑‑ French say Ignace, but I'm sure he's not French.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18604 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Ignace. So I have to ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18605 MR. HILL: And he's fluent in his Aboriginal language, and I'm sure there's another version.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18606 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Exactly, I'm sure. Like this morning, we had Mr. Prokopie that she had problems with, but my psychologist's name Prokop(ph) and ‑‑ but he ‑‑ and he was Polish. This guy ‑‑ this gentleman was an Aboriginal, but you only add a "hi" to Prokop, so she ‑‑ there was relationship between the Polish and the Aboriginal. So she always had problems with his name. It was ‑‑ obviously had dealt with him for some time.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18607 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I know that there was a discussion about minimal requirement regarding the usage of various Aboriginal language, have perused through the report that Mr. Ignace ‑‑ Ignace produced on Aboriginal languages and cultures in ‑‑ it was titled, "Towards a New Beginning" that was done ‑‑ completed in June 2005 in which he is surely making strong recommendation to the language speaker to use more and more Aboriginal language.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18608 Now, I know that in the replies that you gave to staff, you suggested that you want to maintain English as the basic communication language because there are obviously too many languages and dialects and you're trying to serve the whole Aboriginal community rather than a specific group. But could you, for the benefit of the Commission, explain why you think English is key to your group?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18609 MR. HILL: Well, let me start by saying, you know, we tend to go through a sequence of priorities as we manage as a team. Maybe our ‑‑ and I have to say that the Aboriginal language issue hadn't really risen to the forefront in light of the other things that we were trying to work through and solve. And, you know, this spirit of vigorous debate on ‑‑ is because we're ‑‑ we tend to think we're going to be successful and we have to think about what we're going to do in the future and, you know, what is the best thing to do, you know, over a number of years on the issue.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18610 So we got into a debate about the Aboriginal languages, and there was a, you know, very good argument made that in order to preserve and protect and promote Aboriginal language, this involved people who don't speak their language, so they have to be, I guess, convinced of the merits of this debate. I see this debate in my own community of Six Nations when emersion schools came in, there was a very passionate debate that went on and whether or not there should be emersion schools or not and, you know, what is the value of Aboriginal language because ‑‑ just to give you an example, some people think, well, you know, people have to get a job and support themselves, and is that really going to help?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18611 But yet, there's other research that says people who know a second language tend to do better in school. So, you know, this debate ensued. And the debate about what our approach should be ensued as well, and we had ‑‑ you know, there's compelling arguments of different ways to do this, so we had ‑‑ we were coming to the conclusion with the level of programming that we have that maybe the best way to do this was to ensure that we have programming, spoken‑word programming, that specifically speaks of not only the merits of Aboriginal languages, but how do you ‑‑ how you go about what are the practices for ensuring that these languages are protected?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18612 And we continued to debate beyond, you know, the time frame of the submission that you had received on that. And we've come to the conclusion, you know, after fully ‑‑ having a full dialogue on the issue that the best thing we can do is to continue with our 2 percent commitment and, on top of that, to have English language programming which does serve to protect and preserve and promote the Aboriginal language. So we decided to do both, so that, I guess, is the answer, that we ‑‑ we're going to have programming that is in Aboriginal language as a condition of the licence of 2 percent and, on top of that, we are going to continue with what we had proposed as far as English language. We're going to do both.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18613 MR. HENNESSY: There's also the French vocal component in our music ‑‑ pardon me, not French ‑‑ the Aboriginal vocal component in our music, and it is there but there is a limited number of it ‑‑ a limited amount of it being produced because young musicians who are trying to develop their career and generate sales and concert tours, everything else, they know the language of their comers is English.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18614 So most of the recordings ‑‑ even though it deals with the stories of Aboriginal life, the vision of the world through Aboriginal eyes, they still use the English language to communicate that story. So the majority of the recordings we receive are in English, but we do receive some in Aboriginal. And we think this could be a self‑fulfilling prophecy by producing a vehicle that will provide exposure and encouraging these artists to record.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18615 Patrice, that song that you were talking about yesterday? There's only two people in the world ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18616 MS MOUSSEAU: Actually there's only one. We were talking ‑‑ we mentioned yesterday, talking about Aboriginal music sung in an Aboriginal language and I was talking about this one song that we have is called Ossnilshetan(ph) and the woman who sings it was taught the song by the mother of a director she worked with. She is the only living person left that actually speaks this language, so she recorded this song, and it's absolutely beautiful.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18617 And we play it on AVR all the time, and this is an opportunity for people to hear the language and hear it musically, so it's ‑‑ I'm hoping we'll maybe start to encourage people from that particular community to be interested in picking up their language. But again, there was only one person left that speaks that language.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18618 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Your introduction, Mr. Hennessy, was leading me to my next question because you have been saying that you have somewhere around 7,000 selections of Aboriginal produced material. What percentage of them are in Aboriginal language?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18619 MR. HENNESSY: Yeah, there's approximately 7,500 Aboriginal Canadian selections in our ‑‑ or Canadian Aboriginal selections in our library.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18620 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18621 MR. HENNESSY: And ‑‑ about 200?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18622 MS MOUSSEAU: 200, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18623 MR. HENNESSY: Something in the area of 200 of that 7,000 are actually in an Aboriginal language, so you can see it's a limited ‑‑ and we are trying to encourage and locate more, and anytime that we're talking to Aboriginal tour promoters, recording studios, anything like that at all, when we can identify a song that is in that language, we want it and we'll give it exposure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18624 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I don't know if you've been looking at it and trying to understand the phenomenon, but I know that ‑‑ well, cash in, but there's not producing anything more left, but Florian Voila and Tiema(ph) are singing in new or ‑‑ and quite successfully makes the airwaves throughout Quebec.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18625 Why in English Canada a similar phenomenon has not been tried?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18626 MS MOUSSEAU: Those are artists we play all the time. I think we've talked about this Fortama(ph) is one of my favourite artists, and I love the fact that they're incorporating not only their own language, but English and French into these songs and they're doing it so beautifully. And that's the thing is we want to have those songs played across a national network, so other musicians can go, "You know what? I can do this and I can do this not only in English, but in my own language." And incorporating the traditional aspects of the language and the harmonies and the rhythms with something contemporary and become commercially successful and get their music played on a national network.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18627 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Now, other than having a music library, are you in contact with those who are recording artists? So are you enticing them to produce more sound recordings in their own language?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18628 MS MOUSSEAU: All the time.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18629 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: All the time?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18630 MS MOUSSEAU: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18631 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: See, I knew you were very busy.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18632 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: The ‑‑ it's my understanding that you're accepting to maintain the two condition of licence, that pertaining to the 2 percent of your vocal music selection be in a ‑‑ in the Aboriginal language and 2 percent of all your programming in each broadcast week be of the Aboriginal language?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18633 MR. HENNESSY: That's correct.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18634 MR. BUCHANAN: Yes, with that slight modification that staff picked up during the deficiency process.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18635 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yes, absolutely.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18636 MR. BUCHANAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18637 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I remember. We ‑‑ and that is part of your oral presentation?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18638 MR. BUCHANAN: That's right.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18639 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Exactly. Okay, agree. Now, could we deal about local ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18640 MS BENNETT: Sorry, just before we move on, it might be a good time to just clarify that because the staff proposal was that it would be 2 percent of the programming in the broadcast week, not over the broadcast day. So I know your presentation says over the broadcast day and I just wanted to clarity what your intention was because I don't think staff's proposal was that it had to be over the broadcast day.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18641 MR. BUCHANAN: It should say during the broadcast week. It should sink up to the ‑‑ it seemed anomalous that if those words were missing from one, and they were in the other, so we want the two to be parallel.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18642 MS BENNETT: Okay. And just to be perfectly clear, it was the addition of the spoken‑word element. So the existing COL says 2 percent of all programming ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18643 MR. BUCHANAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18644 MS BENNETT: And the staff proposal was 2 percent of all programming be spoken‑word programming in an Aboriginal language?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18645 MR. BUCHANAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18646 MS BENNETT: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18647 MR. BUCHANAN: Well, there already is the one about the 2 percent of music being in the Aboriginal language.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18648 MS BENNETT: Right.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18649 MR. BUCHANAN: Correct.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18650 MS BENNETT: So I just wanted to be clear. Okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18651 MR. BUCHANAN: That's correct.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18652 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18653 Mr. Wood, do you want to ‑‑ or I know that you've been looking for the microphone, but there's only two ‑‑ three that will be open at the same time, so we were ‑‑ there were three microphones open, so that's why I saw that. Do you want to say something?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18654 MR. WOOD: I was just alarmed here that the microphone I was using wasn't ‑‑ didn't appear to be working and, in case the boss told me I should say something, I wanted to be ready. So I've now got another microphone here.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18655 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay, fine. Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18656 Spoken word, we have a lengthy process of reviewing the quota of a ‑‑ the condition of licence on spoken word, the way it was structured. I think from the Commission's own perspective, we surely came to the conclusion that it was very hard to monitor the condition as it was in the ‑‑ as a condition of licence as it was put in the actual Toronto and all your other decisions. So we have been contemplating another approach for a spoken‑word requirement, an approach based on the regulation as ‑‑ and the definition of it. The ‑‑ have you contemplated something by yourself or you're leaving it really to us to find out a way to make sure that there is a minimum spoken word or spoken‑word commitment? I know that we had a long discussion with all the commercial broadcasters that appeared this week. You were very often in the room, so you hear us talking about news and other types of news, sports and surveillance and other type of spoken words, some that we call ‑‑ qualify as being ‑‑ we have been using the word "script", spoken word but to think ‑‑ to talk about more spoken ‑‑ structured spoken word, rather than banter and ‑‑ or ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18657 MR. WOOD: Commissioner, we'd actually like to live up to the 25 percent spoken‑word requirement simply by following what the regulation says. And the way that we would do that is the old way, when the FM regulations were much more prominent and broadcasters calculated the amount of spoken word in a block program. They subtracted the amount of commercials that were aired in that program. They subtracted any jingles or station announcements in that program, and so in a 60‑minute hour, they might have 55 minutes that would qualify for spoken word. Then in the rest of their programming, for example during a music program hosted by an announcer, if the announcer at the end of a music selection, does a minute or a minute and a half of comment and then introduces the next song, the portion of that segment which is not related to station identification or a live commercial, would qualify as spoken word. That's the way that they used to calculate it according to the regulation. We would be very comfortable with that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18658 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: We're trying to find out a more simplistic way to ‑‑ because we learned through the process with that by ‑‑ with our own staff only to monitor one day takes seven days and obviously it takes a month and a half to monitor a week and ‑‑ of programming and ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18659 MR. WOOD: And we could definitely simplify that by suggesting that the 25 percent commitment averages about 31 and a half hours per week, and that in our commitment ‑‑ we would be meeting that commitment largely through clear cut, block programs and through newscasts which are very clear and easy to calculate. So we would get very close to the requirement through those vehicles, and then if we still weren't at the full 25 percent, then we would fall back on the ad lib comments and informed comments and opinion from the announcers.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18660 And so we think that we would be close to the commitment through the block programming, and any shortfall would come ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18661 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: So ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18662 MR. WOOD: ‑‑ from the other.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18663 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: ‑‑ so what you're saying to me ‑‑ to the Commission is that if we were to come up with 31.5 hours of spoken ‑‑ block programming, spoken word as a condition of licence, it's ‑‑ it would be acceptable to you?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18664 MR. WOOD: Well, we're expecting that the 25 percent spoken word would qualify for both the block programming and the other, but we're simply saying that we will meet most of it through the block programming. But if you're saying that the input from the announcers would not qualify, then the 25 percent would be a very large commitment for us. We would emphasize the 25 percent spoken‑word commitment in itself is a very high commitment. We're quite prepared to meet that and we're happy to meet it, but if you say that it would only apply to block programs, that would be a significant additional burden on AVR.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18665 MR. HENNESSY: It's not only a significant amount of time involved, it's also the most expensive type of content to create for radio is entertaining and compelling spoken word. So that's one of the challenges that we're facing, trying to fulfil our obligations and our dreams.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18666 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And if ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18667 MR. WOOD: One way that we could help to simplify that, I think, is that we do fully intend to get very close to the 25 percent commitment with our block programming, and then in the remaining hours of the schedule ‑‑ and let's assume there are maybe another 90 hours of the schedule of music programming, we can explain to the staff that in every hour the announcers are talking for at least two minutes an hour ‑‑ usually it would be closer to four or five. But if we say to the staff it's at least two minutes an hour, the staff can simply do a quick calculation, sample a couple of random hours, determine that is what's happening, and they'll know that we are well over the commitment so that they don't have to calculate every record internal and external for every hour of the full week. That would definitely simplify it for them.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18668 MR. HENNESSY: Because the hours do have ‑‑ the music hours do have a standard template. I mean you know there are stop sets where commercials go. You know there are station IDs, weather surveillance, newscasts. It's ‑‑ the clock is laid out on a consistent basis.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18669 If we make that clear to the Commission and to the staff this is the format that we're programming, these are the occasions per hour where this content is included and then, as Mr. Wood suggested, we supply all the hours. You do a random check and if you check ten of the hours during the week, and all ten comply with what ‑‑ as we ‑‑ the guidelines we laid out, then I think we can assume that in spirit and in fact we are exceeding the commitment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18670 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay. Well, we surely we'll think about it and maybe ‑‑ maybe the solution is here. Well, of course that's ‑‑ what will be the ‑‑ a reasonable level of enriched programming? And you understand what we mean by enriched programming? And I think you are doing some of the enrichment programming that we ‑‑ when we've reviewed the schedule, the programming that ‑‑ themselves are more thematic in ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18671 MR. HENNESSY: The health show and ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18672 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yes, that will be a theme program.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18673 MR. WOOD: Probably 12 to 15 percent.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18674 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And in hours?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18675 MR. WOOD: In hours? Probably 15 hours a week.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18676 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Fifteen hours a week? And will you accept that as a condition of licence?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18677 MR. WOOD: Yes, we would.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18678 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay, we'll ‑‑ the ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18679 MR. BUCHANAN: Sorry, is that ‑‑ Bob, you've got to turn yours off. I didn't understand. Is that a condition that would replace the spoken word? Is that ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18680 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yeah, that will replace.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18681 MR. BUCHANAN: Because I didn't understand what you were ‑‑ so ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18682 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: No, no, that ‑‑ what we're ‑‑ the discussion here is that we ‑‑ the Commission has come to the conclusion that the monitoring of the existing condition of licence have shown that we ‑‑ major disagreement between all the parties and difficulties of understanding what was really meant by spoken word, and also ‑‑ and shown also to the Commission that the ‑‑ there was a burden on you. It was also a big burden on us and our ability to really monitor, in a timely fashion, the ‑‑ such a condition of licence.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18683 And if you look at the decisions that the Commission has issued over the last five ‑‑ five to ten years, there's no more that type of conditions of licence. And historically, it was inserted in the issuance of the first licence of AVR, but it had ‑‑ it did prove that the issues that we had formally with other broadcasters were raised again by the monitoring that we conducted of the programming sometime ago. Now, what we ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18684 MR. BUCHANAN: That's fine. That's fine.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18685 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay, what the Commission has done, only for the record, is that they have moved to another approach and they have moved to enriched programming. And Mr. Wood suggested that 15 hours of ‑‑ per week of enriched programming, as a condition of licence, was to be an acceptable way to ‑‑ and obviously enriched programming doesn't include news. News is over and above those 15 hours.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18686 MR. WOOD: It would not include the newscasts, but on the other hand, if there was a weekend news review type program devoting one hour to news issues of the week in a structured program, that would qualify. And also the national telephone talk show would qualify because that also is a structured type of program.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18687 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18688 MR. WOOD: So anything that's structured that has a beginning and an end, rather than the individual elements from the disk jockeys, that would qualify.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18689 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Yeah, that's what I understood you were suggesting in the 15 hours.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18690 MR. WOOD: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18691 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: At the various hearings that ‑‑ where licences were granted for ‑‑ to AVR for various undertakings, like Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa, you made numerous local programming commitments. In the case of Vancouver, you committed to ‑‑ by the end of the licence term, broadcasting up to 30 hours of broadcasts ‑‑ pre broadcast week of local programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18692 In Calgary, that ‑‑ the commitment was to ‑‑ that you will commence with two hours and a half and increase to 30 percent ‑‑ 3 percent of the schedule by the end of the licence term.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18693 In the case of Ottawa, it was committed that you will be broadcasting up to 14 hours by the end of the licence term. It does not appear that you are providing any local programming in these market, except in the case of Toronto.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18694 In response to the Commission's inquiries about this situation, you have indicated a stage roll‑out plan for the development of local programming, commencing with the development of a local news bureau, followed by the development of a local morning show, local support for a national talk show, and all remaining local programming commitments.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18695 With this in mind, do you have a schedule of ‑‑ for roll‑out by market of this programming? If yes, could you elaborate on that schedule ‑‑ on that roll‑out, particularly the case of Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver? And, if no, why not?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18696 MR. BUCHANAN: The answer ‑‑ and I'll defer to my colleagues if necessary, but the answer is no. The state ‑‑ the idea was, first of all, that there would be some time after the launch for that to come into effect. And as you know, that's brand new. It ‑‑ nobody expected it to take this many years to get those stations up, but they are just up.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18697 And the whole idea of the conditions of licence that we were talking about earlier when we built the bridge into this phase of the hearing was that we would come up with a standard percentage of local across the board and that we would have a phased roll‑in by a time, you know, within the window of the next two years.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18698 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: But on a looking‑forward basis, now that you are on the air in Calgary and in Ottawa and shortly we hope in Vancouver, have ‑‑ what are your plans to roll out local programming?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18699 MR. HENNESSY: We gave you the idea of the steps that we were going to take to roll out and we think that's a logical way to introduce and develop local service. For the timing, as I mentioned in my opening comments, we've been on such an up‑and‑down rollercoaster for a period of time, trying to determine when we were going to have consistent funding and funding that would allow us to make plans that we could actually follow through on and fulfil that ‑‑ as Mr. Wood said, the announcement yesterday that we do have the funding coming now from CHUM that ‑‑ and we have ‑‑ we know that we are now secure to put ‑‑ we have the funding for the next seven years that we will be able to be on the air and provide the service.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18700 I think we can now really seriously start putting some time lines on when we initially will start the service. I don't have a specific time line with me, but that's certainly one of the next topics that I'll be having when we get back to Toronto is let's start putting the schedule together now.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18701 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: But could we expect, say, that you could initiate news ‑‑ opening up your news bureau, the ‑‑ with one newsperson in these markets, say, within the ‑‑ let's say by September 1st of 2007? Is it something that will be contemplated?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18702 MR. WOOD: Commissioner, I think our answer on the local programming would be that, without specifying which particular aspect of the local programming would be introduced at a particular time, that we would be comfortable with a deadline of 24 months to launch local programming, our 25 percent commitment ‑‑ not any aspect of it, but all of it within 24 months.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18703 And we can assure you that if we have our financing in place before that, it will happen much sooner than that. It will happen just as soon as we can physically get it on the air.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18704 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Now that you have the comfort of the CHUM revenue for the next seven years and that ‑‑ and also in the information that you've provided us, we could see that there is still money to come from Standard and Newcap and also there will be money coming from SIRIUS at some point in time. And as you said, Mr. Hennessy, earlier, that you are already in the works to solicit grants and funding, can the Commission contemplate an earlier date than 24 months to start doing local programming in the three locations that are part of that ‑‑ this renewal?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18705 MR. HENNESSY: We certainly will be contemplating doing it and working to achieving that goal. It's ‑‑ if it becomes a hard committed line and one of these fundraising endeavours takes longer than we anticipated, or isn't as successful or as beneficial, then we could find ourselves caught in a dilemma of not being able to fulfil a ‑‑ an obligation, but certainly we're going to ‑‑ we want to do it as quickly as we possibly can. This is not a ‑‑ any endeavour to avoid responsibilities or commitments. It's just a practical matter, the pragmatic fact of having to have the resources to move ahead, and we'll do it as quickly as we have them.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18706 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: The ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18707 MR. WOOD: I guess I could add to that, Commissioner, that in Regina and Saskatoon, AVR will ‑‑ could have to spend as much as $600,000 just to do the launch of the stations in these two cities. The CHUM money in $660,000 over ‑‑ each year over seven years, so we don't have the critical mass of those dollars today to do everything right away today.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18708 We're actually working on financing to see whether or not we can't use the collateral of the CHUM flow of money so that we could arrange financing in the amount of a million and a half or $2 million so that we can start all of these things right away. And if we were able to secure that financing, it would certainly make it easier for us to do that. But I don't think it would be unreasonable for us to say that we could, in these markets, move up the launch of some of our local programming to a time line tighter than the two years.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18709 We can't say exactly what that local programming would be because we haven't actually worked on that yet, without making a hip‑pocket kind of commitment to you. But if two years is not acceptable to the Commission, we could very ‑‑ at the very least say that we could meet half of it within a year without specifying what parts of it would be available within the year.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18710 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I guess the question that the Commission is asking itself, and it applies also to Montreal, Kitchener and Moncton and Regina/Saskatoon, if you were granted the licence ‑‑ or rather than a broadcasting undertaking, are you in fact a retransmitter of a flagship ‑‑ of a radio service that originates out of Toronto? And the ‑‑ and obviously the requirements to be a retransmitter are quite different than the requirements for being a broad ‑‑ a programming undertaking and ‑‑ because every time we have ‑‑ we are having a discussion or an issue, it's ‑‑ you're always pushing forward the day of implementation of the ‑‑ even of the first programming component, and you ‑‑ it was said over this week that the easiest part to do for AVR was to start with a ‑‑ the implementation of a news bureau because you first start to ‑‑ by provide ‑‑ covering the area, but providing the information through the full network even before starting to ‑‑ to the ‑‑ having exclusively a local origination. Now, what I'm trying to attempt here is to have a better idea when we could expect that those news bureau would ‑‑ could be up and running in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18711 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Well, we could take a break and ‑‑ while you discuss that question among yourselves.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18712 MR. WOOD: I think we're ‑‑ we'd be comfortable with the idea of one year on the local news component of our local programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18713 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: And one year starting which date?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18714 MR. WOOD: From the date your decision.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18715 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: From the date of the decision. So could we issue it tonight? No.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18716 MR. WOOD: Well, that's okay too.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18717 MR. HENNESSY: We'd accept that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18718 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: So one year from the issuance of the decision.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 18719 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Okay, we're coming. We're coming.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 18720 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: I'm really coming to my last question. And now that you've been through your first licence term, what are the challenges that AVR is facing? I think you got started up and running. You're still ‑‑ but there still are some problems, but there still are other issues. And are there other challenges than the financial one? And what about recruiting qualified Aboriginal employees because we ‑‑ during these ‑‑ the last three days, there were a lot of talking about how hard it is to find out ‑‑ Aboriginals to work in broadcasting because we also heard that the issue was also true in television. And also what about mentoring and what's ‑‑ do you have specific views on those issues? Will you compliment the information that we have gathered over the last couple of days so that the Commission has enough ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18721 MR. HENNESSY: I said when we ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18722 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: ‑‑ a very broad knowledge of those ‑‑ the issues that you are specifically facing.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18723 MR. HENNESSY: When we advertise that we were looking to develop a talent base or a talent pool for future development of the network, we had a good response. It was not a huge response, and we ‑‑ there is a gap between the people who would like to be involved with the station and their skill level, and it's not like the days of ‑‑ could I go back in time, Mr. Wood?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18724 When we had major market radio stations and had smaller market stations that were the feeder system, and you would find a talented young announcer and say, "You're going to go to work in Moose Jaw", which is ‑‑ when I worked for Moffat Communications, that's what we did. All across Western Canada we found talented young potential announcers and radio personnel and we shipped them to Moose Jaw where they put in their year and a half or two years and learn the ropes. And one day the phone would ring, and there was an opening for them in Winnipeg or Edmonton or whatever. That system has collapsed in mainstream broadcasting. It doesn't exist, which I think the industry will regret at some point in the future.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18725 We don't have a system like that at all, which is why we encourage schools when we hear about the scholarships that are being offered, and things like that that are being done to encourage Aboriginal people to get involved in broadcasting. We're very much in favour of that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18726 I mean, Patrice, you ‑‑ how often are you contacted about positions?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18727 MS MOUSSEAU: Very often. I'm actually getting people sending me their demos and their resumes. Unfortunately I haven't been able to do any hires yet, but I'll tell you ‑‑ you know what? There are Aboriginal people out there that maybe they don't have the training but they have the talent and the intelligence and the ambition and the drive to succeed.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18728 I, myself, don't come from a radio background. I was trained at AVR, and the people who have since been hired by AVR and will continue to be hired by AVR will be trained as well. Maybe it's a little easier to access an Aboriginal broadcaster as opposed to going right to a commercial broadcaster. It can be, maybe, a little intimidating for an Aboriginal person, especially because they don't have any role models and mentors, or if ‑‑ there are very few in mainstream media. I see AVR as an opportunity for more and more Aboriginal people to get involved and join the mainstream as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18729 MR. HENNESSY: We are also going to be a gateway for Aboriginal performers and radio and television performers to go into the mainstream, and that's already happening. And we had a ‑‑ one of our announcers, Bidash Higay(ph), got a weekend job at a major news talk radio station in Toronto. It was an entry position, but he was very, very nervous. He was very apprehensive about going to "the" big station, and the real radio world if you like. He went up, went through an interview, went through a training process and became a very accepted and skilled operator/producer for weekend talk shows.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18730 And we see ourselves as being that gateway as well of being able to find talent partially developed or undeveloped, bring them into our system, mentor them, perhaps down the road in a few years they'll end up being the ‑‑ becoming the host of the morning show in Regina and, from there, become a host ‑‑ or a program developer or presenter on the full network and, from there, move into a mainstream broadcasting position as well. But it will be a way to propel them up through their field.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18731 MR. WOOD: I actually think there are three sources for Aboriginal talent on the network, and we don't really subscribe to the idea that the talent isn't there. We think the talent is out there, that it's plentiful, and that people just haven't taken the time to look carefully at places that you don't normally look.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18732 For example, one place ‑‑ and we've actually checked this ‑‑ is to go to the community colleges, and you speak to the instructors at the community colleges, and they will tell you that there are, in each year, two to three Aboriginal students who have gone through the program, but then they drop out of the system because they can't find jobs in conventional radio. And so we think that by accessing that input in different community colleges, that's one source.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18733 The second source is to go to the existing radio stations across the country. There are many Aboriginal people working in some of the mainstream stations across the country who would love to work at a network like AVR but, at this point in time, maybe are simply not in a position to be able to hire those people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18734 And the third is to go to some of the existing regional network radio stations across Canada. There are indeed people who work at those stations who would love to have the opportunity to move up to an AVR and then ultimately to the mainstream radio sector. And we just think that once we are able to go, once the word travels around the community that we have our funding, that we're setting up our programming, that we're hiring people, that all kinds of people will come forward ‑‑ as they already are.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18735 And that also ‑‑ those three options do not include the idea that there are many people out there in other areas with no broadcast training whatsoever who are nevertheless very talented, who would make a tremendous contribution to AVR. And I need look no further than just down the table here to our program director. She had no experience in radio whatsoever and, in the short period of a few years, has become one of the finest young broadcasters in Canada in my view. She's just absolutely first rate, and there are other people out there like that for whom AVR would represent a first‑time opportunity.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18736 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Thank you very much and thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18737 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18738 I'd like to take a break for 15 minutes, please, and then we'll be back at 3:30.
‑‑‑ Recess at 1515 / Suspension à 1515
‑‑‑ Upon resuming at 1530 / Reprise à 1530
LISTNUM 95 \l 18739 THE CHAIRPERSON: Order please.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18740 Commissioner Williams.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18741 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18742 I just have a few questions, and there's no specific theme here. They're just little ‑‑ a little patch‑work quilt I have to fill based on some of Vice‑Chair Arpin's questions.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18743 At almost every hearing AVR is involved in, the local Aboriginal broadcasting community raises a few issues that causes us to think that they're questioning AVR and their importance and relevance and accountability to the broader Aboriginal community. So that ‑‑ one of the points they make is your board is not sanctioned by way of a popular election, and I heard some of your responses there, so we'll spend a bit of time on that ‑‑ that you do not ‑‑ that you did not consult or involve, say, western Aboriginal broadcasters like the Alberta group, the Saskatchewan group that we heard through this hearing, and the Manitoba group and other groups, in your development of your vision and your plans and where you want to go.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18744 So a couple things, I guess who and how are your 25 community ‑‑ Aboriginal community members selected? They seem to be a group that elects the board and then the board elects their officers. So what is their distribution across Canada and how are they selected, these 25 Aboriginal community members?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18745 MR. HILL: Well, when I came into the organization approximately a couple of years ago, there are a number of members in place, and we've since added to the membership in ‑‑ but essentially the way it works, it's ‑‑ in the organization through the network of AVR, we try to figure out, I guess, amongst the whole network who do we know that is going to do a good job in understanding the mission and, you know, they're willing to put time in to achieving the mission. And one of their primary roles, of course, is what happens at the annual general meeting and that is to elect the type of, I guess, leadership on the board that's going to ‑‑ you know, they have confidence that the people on the board will do a good job in moving AVR forward.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18746 We don't have a popular, I guess, election process. That's something that I inherited. It's in the bylaws. It's been the ‑‑ in the bylaws that were filed at the very beginning of the ‑‑ when the organization was developed. That ‑‑ that is the way it would work. So recognizing that we're developing a national Aboriginal radio service, we realize that it's important that we get input from across the country, and we've tried to do that. The board is dispersed ‑‑ or the membership is comprised, I mean, of people who, you know, are from all different communities across the country. We realize that we do tend to focus on the cities where we're broadcasting, as opposed to going in all areas of the country, you know. We want to have people who understand what the urban Aboriginal population is facing and can contribute in a meaningful way because of their own experience and knowledge of, you know, what would be helpful to AVR.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18747 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So AVR selects the Aboriginal community members who then vote in the board who then elect their own officials?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18748 MR. HILL: The members ‑‑ yeah, the members have to, at an AGM, formally approve the additional members. The community members inform ‑‑ approve the additional community members that become community members.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18749 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How does someone ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18750 MR. HILL: So it's kind of like there's a ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18751 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ someone becomes a community member? Let's say we ‑‑ is there a community member from Saskatchewan?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18752 MR. HILL: Not that I'm aware of yet.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18753 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is there a Canadian member from ‑‑ I guess you do have one from Alberta. British Columbia?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18754 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18755 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Ontario, I think you mentioned.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18756 MR. HILL: They are primarily where our cities are, where we're licensed. There are a few that, you know, exist out ‑‑ outside of those specific communities, but they're ‑‑ primarily the focus has been to get people who will ‑‑ you know, are going to be able to provide input because they live in those cities and they know what the situation is, what people are facing there so ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18757 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So do you fly them in to this annual general meeting? Where's the annual general meeting located? Like, how does a mainstream Aboriginal Canadian get involved in this national broadcasting organization or network through the community member selection process? Or how can they input? Like, how can ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18758 MR. HILL: They would have to make an application to us, but we haven't ‑‑ we ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18759 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And who approves those?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18760 MR. HILL: Pardon me?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18761 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And who would approve those applications?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18762 MR. HILL: Ultimately the membership, the existing membership would approved new members.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18763 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So you have a membership list then?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18764 MR. HILL: Yes, we do.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18765 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Would you be prepare ‑‑ be prepared to file that membership list with the Commission?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18766 MR. HILL: Yes, we would.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18767 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We want to see how broadly representative AVR is.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18768 MR. HILL: Okay, yeah. We would ‑‑ we can do that.
‑‑‑ Undertaking / Engagement
LISTNUM 95 \l 18769 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What is your outreach strategy to ‑‑ like, say you want to come into the Province of Saskatchewan ‑‑ or let's use Alberta because you're already there ‑‑ licensed there in a couple locations. What's your outreach strategy in Alberta? Like, who do you meet with from the Aboriginal community and what kind of input do they give to you to tell you what they would like in a national Aboriginal broadcaster?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18770 MR. HILL: Well, I guess there's kind of two answers that's ‑‑ that relates to the time line of the development of Aboriginal Voices Radio. So I came onto the board a couple of years ago and I was immediately faced with, I think, challenging situations because, over a period of time, it was made aware to me that we are supposed to have ‑‑ be broadcasting in various cities and we're not. So I was confronted with a situation as a board member at that point that, I guess, we're behind according to the schedule. We have to get these licences on here.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18771 So ‑‑ and as a director on the board, I became aware of other challenges that we face now and have faced ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18772 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Hill?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18773 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18774 THE CHAIRPERSON: With respect, the question was what is your outreach. And what he ‑‑ the question was asked what is your outreach to the people, the Aboriginal people in Alberta to find out what they want to hear on AVR. Please listen to the question, panel, and answer the question.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18775 MR. HILL: Okay. Our outreach is ‑‑ as I described it, it's to go through the network of the members of the board, and the network is quite extensive. And we try to meet with as many people as possible to gain input and to see what types of things we can do in the future.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18776 The ‑‑ where I was going previously is that we have not had the opportunity since I've been on the board to engage in outreach in any serious way because if we spent a lot of time doing that, there is potential we wouldn't have been able to get our licence on the air ‑‑ I mean our cities on the air. You know, we had to focus. We had to really focus on getting these cities on the air and complying with what the CRTC expects of us, and that's simply the story.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18777 Now, as far as the people who are in this organization, do they believe in outreach? Do they believe we should ‑‑ to do outreach? I mean we can demonstrate that the people in this organization are extremely serious about others. This is something that's ‑‑ that the board debates relentlessly. You know, when can we start doing ‑‑ getting seriously into ‑‑ start to meet with the community, and we simply have not had the financial resources to do that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18778 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I can accept ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18779 MR. HILL: I mean our vice president ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18780 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ I can accept that answer. We'll ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18781 MS MOUSSEAU: Can I ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18782 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ we'll move on ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18783 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ may I actually ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18784 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ in the interest of time.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18785 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ add something to that?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18786 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Sure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18787 MS MOUSSEAU: I think maybe you're looking for something like a specific example when I ‑‑ we did do some kind of community outreach. I had an opportunity to take part in what's called a blueprint for the future, and it's for Aboriginal youth to have an opportunity to speak to professionals in a variety of different fields. I was lucky enough to be there speaking about broadcasting, and the room was full of youth. And we were talking about how to get into journalism, but I started asking them about what they wanted to hear. And I grabbed a marker and a white board, and we ended up filling an entire white board as to what Aboriginal youth needed in Vancouver.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18788 So we're looking for opportunities like that to occur. There is another blueprint coming out, and I hope to be doing the exact same thing for the youth in Calgary as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18789 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18790 MR. HILL: If I could, Commissioner, can I speak to our future intentions about outreach and what we want to do on outreach?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18791 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, I just want to look at where you've been first, and then we can spend time looking ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18792 MR. HILL: Okay. Well ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18793 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ on where you want to go, sure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18794 MR. HILL: ‑‑ where I've been and where the organization's been because I did review as much as I could ‑‑ as much as I could find the time to read through all of the previous history of AVR. I saw extensive consultation across the country in each instance with the licence. From what I could see in the written record that's available to me, there was just a multitude of Aboriginal people that were ‑‑ that were talked to and expressed support for the network.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18795 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How large is your ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18796 MR. HILL: And that's ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18797 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's fine. How large is your community member work in Alberta given two licences in that province? How many actual individuals do you consult and work with in Alberta? If you've not reached out to the community, there must be some individuals you've talked to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18798 MR. HILL: Well ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18799 MR. WOOD: Commissioner, I could answer ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18800 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18801 MR. HILL: Yeah, I'd like to say that our vice president has led the discussion, and it's quite extensive. I haven't really talked to him and haven't had a chance to talk to him in detail about all of the people he has spoken to, but he's just now receiving an award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation for community service, which is based upon the extensive outreach that he does as a member of the Aboriginal community in Alberta.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18802 And he does relate to me stories all the time of discussions that he has had with various members that ‑‑ of Aboriginal people throughout Alberta and what the types of things they want to see. So as far as how many people have we consulted? We've ‑‑ we have ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18803 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, no ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18804 MR. HILL: ‑‑ left that up to the local ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18805 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ no, I'm sorry. I must be clumsy in the asking of my questions. You say you have 25 community members ‑‑ these are all tying back to governance issues, just if I could try and fence it in a little bit. And these 25 Aboriginal community members again, I guess, there's nominations from the floor at an AGM and then a board is elected and then a board is elected and then the board then elects, within themselves, their officers and then, I guess, the organization as a whole goes out and tries to seek new members at some point, or whenever it's ‑‑ it deems it has time or it's important.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18806 MR. HILL: Well ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18807 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So I'm kind of curious as to how many actual community members you have in a province where you've received two licences in the two major cities. Of the 25, how many there are there?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18808 MR. HILL: Okay, I have to, from memory, write down the list of the numbers. It's not something that I've, you know, committed to memory ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18809 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is it ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18810 MR. HILL: ‑‑ but I think I can ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18811 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ is it ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18812 MR. HILL: ‑‑ come up with a list.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18813 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ is it two or ten?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18814 MR. HILL: I think it's more on the order of three or four ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18815 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Three or four.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18816 MR. HILL: ‑‑ from Alberta.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18817 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. So you ‑‑ your representatives in Alberta would be those three or four, and like Mr. ‑‑ or like Lewis Cardinal, they may have wider contact within the community so they would represent a portion of the community? Is that what you're saying? Would that be ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18818 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18819 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ a fair characterization?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18820 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18821 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Did your ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18822 MR. HENNESSY: We don't directly ‑‑ oh, I'm sorry.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18823 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Go ahead, Mr. Hennessy.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18824 MR. HENNESSY: One other form of outreach that we do to the average person listening to the station is to encourage them to use e‑mail and contact us. A number of people listen to us over the Internet anyway at this point in time, and we get regular, consistent e‑mails regarding the programming; suggestions, ideas, questions. And those are distributed amongst the program director, the technical department and myself. So we do encourage that on the air and hope to build on that, to have that interaction as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18825 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Very good.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18826 MR. HILL: If I could just mention one more thing and that is the advisory circle ‑‑ circles that we intend to put together. I don't really believe that we can do a good job with national Aboriginal radio service in all the things that we've proposed that were ‑‑ that we intend to do as far as what the programming is without community input, and it has to be extensive.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18827 But I do want to say that those types of initiatives are expensive and, you know, we've had the financial situation, the ‑‑ what we've had to live with as a board, and we're trying to certainly improve that as a number one priority. We realize we have to build the stations and then we have to get into the programming as far as a sequence of events. So, you know, we've been focusing on putting together the financial wherewithal to get the stations on the air. And the next order of business is the programming, and we've discussed as soon as we get to the point where the stations are on the air, we can land some financing. The very next thing to do is to build the programming, and that has to be built with extensive community input. And this is something the board recognizes, and we ‑‑ and we're about to do.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18828 We actually talk about this. As soon as the hearing in Regina and Saskatoon is over, we have to get to the programming and then we have to start to get into building relationships throughout the communities where our licences are going to be broadcasting. So this is something that, you know, the board ‑‑ we can look at the ‑‑ I guess, the experiences of who ‑‑ of the board members, what they've done in the past. And I think you would see an extensive record of community involvement and community consultation, and we're all committed to that for sure.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18829 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Sounds great. Did AVR take the opportunity that this hearing provided at no cost, to talk to the other Aboriginal broadcasters in this province that happened to be in the same room and in the same hotel the last few days?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18830 MR. HILL: Yes, we did. We've talked to a number of people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18831 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's ‑‑ that's an easy outreach ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18832 MR. HILL: Yeah, I've had a chance to ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18833 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ because there's no cost ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18834 MR. HILL: ‑‑ talk to Jean LaRose. That's the first time I've met him. And I also had a chance to talk to the CEO of MBC and, you know, just express the fact that, you know, we want to look for a positive relationship where we can do things together that are mutually beneficial, and she seemed to agree that that was a good idea for the future.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18835 She did relate some historical information to me that I wasn't aware of, but I told her that, you know, for sure we'd like to work together ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18836 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, I'm ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18837 MR. HILL: ‑‑ see the types of things ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18838 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ I'm encouraged by your answer. That's an encouraging word, I guess. We're ‑‑ I think the song says, "Seldom is heard an encouraging word", but that certainly was an exception.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18839 Will AVR be competing with the 13 members of NNBAP for Heritage Canada type funding? Is that any part ‑‑ or ever contemplated in your future financial funding models?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18840 MR. HILL: No, it's ‑‑ I don't think it's been contemplated at all. We're aware of that program, and we've ‑‑ as far as I know since I've been on the board, and I do know we have not pondered accessing that envelope of funding.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18841 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is AVR aware of the tremendous service that rural remote Aboriginal communities, that these heritage Aboriginal broadcasters have been performing for years?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18842 MR. HILL: Yes, we are. We're actually grateful that they exist and they're able to serve Aboriginal people. You know, we do try to consider what our position is as far as, you know, what's out there as far as broadcasting for Aboriginal people and what we want to do, and this is our philosophy that we've talked about. We want to bring as much positive impact into the Aboriginal communities that we're intended to serve and we want to never get into a situation of negatively impacting any other Aboriginal broadcaster because the primary mission of our organization is to improve the lives of Aboriginal people.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18843 You know, we've ‑‑ we don't have any idea that we want to get into any kind of competitive situation with other Aboriginal organizations or broadcasters because that would detract from our mission.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18844 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Would you consider finding ways that AVR could work with these broadcasters? And is there a way to include these broadcasters in some of your network plans? Or we've talked earlier ‑‑ I think it was to Mr. Hennessy ‑‑ about a talent feeder in the Canadian Broadcasting system that you're being sent to Moose Jaw, I think was the example, or a farm team, if you will? Perhaps that exists in these experienced broadcasters. There may be a lot of talent out there now that is actually working ‑‑ has been working for a while and they wanted to have a new opportunity or something different.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18845 MR. HILL: Absolutely, Commissioner.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18846 We totally believe in that and we've talked amongst ourselves and we've actually talked to our corporate partner, CHUM Limited, some of the people there about some of the things that exist out there as ‑‑ because of their awareness and working with other Aboriginal broadcasters. So we've had a lot of discussion on that issue.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18847 And again, if I could, we just challenged, as an organization, to ensure that our sequence is being met step by step and we're getting into a position soon. And as far as, you know, the news regarding Calgary, where now we can seriously begin to try to develop relationships with all of the broadcasters.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18848 This is a conversation I just had with Jean LaRose and he actually told me ‑‑ he said we'd be happy to ‑‑ or I ‑‑ he said he would be happy to try and bring us together with some of the other broadcasters, and him also. He actually talked about a meeting. He's going to be in Toronto. We could get together and see how we can start to establish those relationships going forward, so we're ‑‑ we ‑‑ that is something that we want to do.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18849 MR. WOOD: A couple of specific ways in which we might be able to work together with those broadcasters would be in terms of the news correspondents in each market where we might be able to share the resource of a news correspondent so that they can feed the national network and the regional network at the same time.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18850 A second way would be to provide access to them of our Aboriginal Canadian music list. We have a team of people working on the development of that list and we'd be happy to make it available to the regional broadcasters so that they can extend their own music list and, hopefully, that they would reciprocate that gesture.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18851 Also on the sales area, we will be offering AVR, through our national rep house, the opportunity to ‑‑ for national advertisers to buy advertising on AVR, but if the regional broadcasters wanted to be part of that sell, we could offer a national buy where advertisers could buy both AVR in the urban centres, and the regional networks in the remote communities as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18852 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. I appreciate your comments. I'm getting a sense that when you became involved with AVR, there were fires everywhere. You tried to put out the ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18853 MR. HILL: Thank you, Commissioner.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18854 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ put out the bigger ones that were closest to you and could harm you the most, in your opinion. Now, that it appears you have a little bit of breathing space, have you a strategic plan put in place on how to manage all of your different responsibilities of running a business and being a broadcaster?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18855 MR. HILL: Yes. I'd like to ‑‑ if I could say, that's ‑‑ actually strategic planning is one of our strengths. And part of my past is working for Anishnabe Nation in Ontario who administered a program called Jobs Ontario in Ontario whose focus ‑‑ it was a $5 million a year focus, and the focus was strategic planning regarding economic development in all of the Aboriginal communities in Ontario. And I had chaired the ‑‑ started out chairing the selection committee, the selection committee whose responsibility it was to allocate the money across Ontario and then I moved on to being the administrator for half of the province in order to advise and implement strategic planning.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18856 So I, you know, spent a lot of time ‑‑ specifically my job was strategic planning so I learned a great ‑‑ you know, just a great deal about strategic planning and studied strategic planning. And, you know, we have other management here as well who, throughout the course of their careers, strategic planning has been part of what must be done.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18857 So we actually ‑‑ I ‑‑ I'd like to think that we're pretty good at it because, you know, we've ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18858 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It sounds like, from what you've told me, that you certainly have all the tools to put together a very good strategic plan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18859 MR. HILL: That is an area I'm very confident that we're doing a very good job ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18860 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So can you file ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18861 MR. HILL: ‑‑ for a strategic plan.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18862 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ your strategic plan along with that members list for the Commission to review, just so we get an idea of what you've decided and where you're going and what your priorities are?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18863 MR. HILL: Yes. We don't have a specific document that we've developed over a two‑year period, but I could tell you what our strategic plan is as we have ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18864 THE CHAIRPERSON: Could you just provide it in writing? We're all getting very tired.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18865 MR. HILL: Oh, okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18866 THE CHAIRPERSON: And we're becoming increasingly conscious ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18867 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: About the time.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18868 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ about the questions that are being asked and the answers that are not been answered.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18869 MR. HILL: Okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18870 THE CHAIRPERSON: So please listen to the question. The question was do you have a strategic plan. It was not your CV in developing ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18871 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18872 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ strategic plans.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18873 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18874 THE CHAIRPERSON: And of course the next question is give us a copy. If you don't have a copy, draft it and give it to us.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18875 MR. HILL: Okay. We can do that, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18876 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18877 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: When, would be the last part of that question? How soon can we have it?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18878 MR. HILL: A couple of weeks? Could we ‑‑ is that okay?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18879 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So that would be the members list and the strategic plan ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18880 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18881 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ within a couple weeks?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18882 MR. HILL: Yes.
‑‑‑ Undertaking / Engagement
LISTNUM 95 \l 18883 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Mr. Hill, I guess ‑‑ well, I have some concerns to the strategic plan. I heard something earlier in your presentation on this vision that alluded to expanding AVR into the broader indigenous world and I ‑‑ it rang a bell with me. I thought, geez, the monies that these Canadian commercial broadcasters have put forward as benefits and which we approved as eligible to try and fund initiatives that we thought were important to the Canadian Broadcasting system were intended for the domestic Aboriginal broadcasting area.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18884 And is the AVR contemplating a change in focus? Are you ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18885 MR. HILL: Not with those ‑‑ Commissioner, not with the funding that you have specifically provided for a specific purpose.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18886 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: But with other funding that you'd be ‑‑ if you were successful in getting other funding, you would ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18887 MR. HILL: If it was ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18888 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ you may want to earmark it for that type of purpose?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18889 MR. HILL: ‑‑ unrestricted funding and according to our ‑‑ you know, our strategic plans for the future, it's a ‑‑ it's an aspiration. You know, that's a long‑term aspiration.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18890 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So that it's ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18891 MR. HILL: It's not something we're contemplating in the next year or ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18892 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18893 MR. HILL: ‑‑ or anything like that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18894 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So that, I guess, would also be addressed in your strategic plan and as part of your vision further out and ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18895 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18896 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And is ‑‑ I guess, is AVR ‑‑ I assume the answer is yes, but I'm going to ask you. Is AVR committed to focusing on its core mission of delivering what it's already said it's going to do with the licences that we've awarded in the last few years?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18897 MR. HILL: Absolutely.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18898 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's my series of questions, Mr. Chairman.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18899 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18900 THE CHAIRPERSON: Commissioner Pennefather.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18901 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18902 Good afternoon. I'll be brief, and Madam Chair has agreed to indulge me just a little bit. It's less a question than a comment, and a question. I don't know if you know, Mr. Hill, but I've been with the Commission a few years and I've been on every panel to deal with AVR. Back in the day ‑‑ as the kids say ‑‑ in Toronto when Gary Farmer came to the table with probably close to three tables behind him, if not two and one on the side.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18903 And I'm mentioning this as an opening because when I listen to the discussion on local programming, if we take it out of the regulatory discussion for a moment and think about it a little bit more in a strategic plan sense or bottom‑line radio and what it's there to do, Commission ‑‑ Vice‑Chair Arpin raised the comment earlier that our concern is that what we've got going here is instead of the vision of ‑‑ yes, a network, but a network whose strength was the local programming, created locally and heard across the country, thereby creating a dialogue. What instead one is concerned about is, in a rush to get on the air, what gets on the air is Toronto.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18904 And the balance of those two is crucial. And one of the reasons is having lived through ‑‑ and again, I apologize; this is a comment ‑‑ lived through the applications, they were people at the table whose expectations were just that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18905 My further comment is a suggestion back to the current French programming, and I don't know where Montreal's at. You say it's launched and, let's say for argument's sake, it's a retransmission of Toronto. Please correct me if I'm wrong. But going forward, the Montreal table that came to us for the application was, again, two rows deep. And there were people at that table who would really be, I think, the kind of people who could really give you that sense of not only French, Cree, or Mohawk and music, but also could begin even now to create the French programming and, therefore, launch Montreal in the French language. People like Elana Subobsawin(ph) who were there, and another young woman whose ‑‑ unfortunately whose name escapes me, but she, on the news side, was, as they say, dynamite.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18906 So it was just a question of ‑‑ you may want to comment on my comment, but one of the issues surrounding our questioning, whether we're looking at it financially or regulatory or from a planning point of view, was where one is concerned ‑‑ not just as a Commission, but because of what came forward to us in the first place ‑‑ was an expectation that one would have local resonance, and that is the strength of a network. That is its ability to have influence on people's day‑to‑day lives. So devil in the details, as we said earlier in the week, in getting that going.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18907 MR. HILL: Right.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18908 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: And not seeing it as just answering the Commission's need to roll out the local. Its foundation is there in the beginning, and its very people ‑‑ experience with people that I'm talking to you about.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18909 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18910 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: So that is my comment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18911 MR. HILL: Well, I guess I could respond to that. You know, I guess one of the things that I have to do in my own business, and I guess all broadcasters have this challenge, and it's an economic concept that everybody's familiar with and ‑‑ is the idea of limited resources. So what we have to do on the board and amongst AVR's management is allocate our resources ‑‑ which are going to be limited in our opinion, but to allocate our resources, you know, in a manner that's going to optimize achieving our mission and our goals and objectives, and of course to ‑‑ complying with, you know, what is ‑‑ the CRTC is giving us as far as regulations.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18912 So this is a challenge, and we do want to hit the sweet spot as far as an appropriate and best optimum allocation of resources to advance the various things that we have to do it. And it's a set. It's a set of things so, you know, we do this, geez, on a weekly basis and all of the set of, you know, goals that we have to achieve, one of them is what you just spoke to regarding, you know, all the local involvement that we could do.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18913 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: I'm not sure that ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18914 MR. HILL: And we have to ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18915 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: ‑‑ I'm not sure if local involvement is what I said. I said local programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18916 MR. HILL: Okay, local programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18917 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18918 MR. HILL: To me, they're kind of connected, the local programming and local involvement, but I ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18919 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18920 MR. HILL: Local programming. So one of the things that I use is called critical success factors, and it's make or break you. So I guess my answer is that we have been confronted with not as many make‑yous as break‑yous. And I think that the local programming issue is a make‑you, but as ‑‑ for sure we're committed to it, and we're only now coming into a situation where we can move to consider these types of things because it is costly for us to do this because there's the idea of opportunity cost. If we go and focus our efforts over here, the opportunity cost is we're not addressing that over here, which is a break‑you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18921 So we're moving along, I think, wisely in what we're faced with to try to build a network, and we take ‑‑ you know, we do take that seriously. And I can tell you the board are very serious about it because, you know, we do talk about this. You know, we got to get ‑‑ we've got to get to the point where we can start going in, reaching out into the community. I say we're committed, but we have these break‑yous before us that we have to achieve not ‑‑ in not having anything get broken before we can move on to these things that we truly aspire to.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18922 And we do, as a group, truly aspire to these things, and I'd like to say that we're make ‑‑ we've made great headway. You know, the revenue stream in the past year, five and a half million dollars that has come into AVR, and that is as a result of just a ‑‑ an intense effort inside AVR to make sure that we, I guess, pull that off.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18923 And now that we have, I guess, a bit of breathing room now, that now we can move on to these aspirations and ensure that we're doing those things that have been committed to for the long term, and that's the place that we're in today.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18924 And I'd like to thank the Commission for their involvement and support in getting to ‑‑ us to this point, and now we can move to those things that we really feel strongly about instead of just being in a crisis.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18925 And we're actually now ecstatic that now we can ponder building the radio network and building the programming. We're very happy to be in the position now to be able to ponder that, and now to go out and start to develop relationships in all of the communities that ‑‑ you know, as many as we can and as appropriately as we can and as inclusively as we can in all of the areas where Aboriginal Voices is now broadcasting or considering broadcasting because we're happy to be in a position to, you know, if we were to be granted a licence here, to be able to start to form relationships in Saskatchewan as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18926 And we've already started to do that. I was at a meeting outside with a gentleman who is part of the Aboriginal community here and doing some great things in the Aboriginal community here, and he's told us he would help us.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18927 COMMISSIONER PENNEFATHER: Okay, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18928 MR. HILL: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18929 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Hill, you're facing three veterans; Commissioner Pennefather, myself, and Commission Williams, and we have seen many, many, many applications by AVR. And in each and every one, there had been a pattern. Number one, a local provincial broadcaster, Aboriginal broadcaster, was never consulted. And you're keeping the pattern up. You're doing very well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18930 And so we are always left in this position where we have an opposition from them, instead of ‑‑ you should be sitting down and talking about co‑operating and exchanging programming but ‑‑ and the second thing that used to happen with AVR is they did have a First Nations community with them ‑‑ not the broadcaster, but the First Nations.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18931 And what Commissioner Pennefather is talking about is imposing Toronto programming, and what we would ‑‑ what we used to see in Edmonton and in Calgary was Mrs. Jones and her friends and they wanted to do a program about living in Edmonton and have it on the wide ‑‑ on all of AVR. That's ‑‑ and so that's the change in concept that we see here, and that's ‑‑ anyway that's just ‑‑ I wanted to talk to you about ‑‑ I'm having a difficult time, and I don't see the extraordinary circumstances in why the circular about renewal and non‑compliance should not be followed.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18932 You have not complied with the logger tapes, local programming and annual return and ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18933 MR. HILL: I'm sorry, what was the last one?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18934 THE CHAIRPERSON: Annual returns, that's the regulation issue.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18935 MR. HILL: Okay, okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18936 THE CHAIRPERSON: And the circular says if you're in non‑compliance, we give you a four‑year renewal. Why shouldn't we? How can we justify it to the rest of the broadcasting community that we don't even stick to our own rules?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18937 MR. HILL: Well ‑‑ what's that? Yeah, I guess the best answer I can give is we came into a challenging situation. I don't have the broad ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18938 THE CHAIRPERSON: AVR is AVR.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18939 MR. HILL: AVR is ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18940 THE CHAIRPERSON: You can't say that was another person. AVR is the same person. You want to extend the AVR licence, so you can't say "I'm new here".
LISTNUM 95 \l 18941 MR. HILL: Well, yes, I do want to extend the AVR licence and I realize there are problems in the past. And I mean as much as I'd like to go back and change them, I can't, but I can make a commitment that these types of things are not going to happen in the future. And the best that I can do is give you my word that they're not going to happen, and I can demonstrate that we have addressed them and we're prepared to address them very vigorously to ensure that we comply with the Commission's expectations of us.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18942 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah, and of course that's why the circular says people should have a short leash ‑‑ shorter leash so we can ensure that they have been remedied.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18943 MR. HILL: I understand that is one of your options.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18944 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18945 MR. BUCHANAN: Chair Cram, if I might?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18946 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18947 MR. BUCHANAN: As I read the circular, it says you don't get called to a public hearing if you're a first‑time offender for logger tape violations, which is I think what we're talking about.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18948 THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, we're talking logger tape, local programming and annual return, which is a regulation issue, isn't it?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18949 MR. BUCHANAN: Yes, but that isn't in the four‑year circular, I think, that we were talking about.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18950 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, okay. So ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18951 MR. BUCHANAN: I think you do have an alternative.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18952 THE CHAIRPERSON: I do, okay. But with three breaches, one of the regulations and two others ‑‑ two fairly serious ones. Local programming is the one that I'm concerned about, but the logger tapes ‑‑ why should we not consider a shorter term?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18953 MR. BUCHANAN: The ‑‑ well, the local programming was not a condition of licence. I think the idea was, shortly after launch you would move towards introducing ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18954 THE CHAIRPERSON: Right.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18955 MR. BUCHANAN: ‑‑ local programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18956 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay, mmhmm.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18957 MR. BUCHANAN: They've just launched, and I think they're ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18958 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18959 MR. BUCHANAN: ‑‑ you know, we are on the same ‑‑ nobody expected to have to wait five years to launch, but I think ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18960 THE CHAIRPERSON: All right.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18961 MR. BUCHANAN: ‑‑ they're within the realm of possibility on the local programming, but you have correctly ‑‑ I mean that is true. The annual returns, we just found out about, and you're absolutely right about that, although that's not the a function of the circular.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18962 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18963 MR. BUCHANAN: And on the other one ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18964 THE CHAIRPERSON: So ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18965 MR. BUCHANAN: ‑‑ you do have a choice.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18966 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ you're saying the logger tapes are of course a breach and the breach of the regulations, and the local programming has not been done. We are at the end of the term. It has not been done. The expectation was that it be done by the end of the term, and you're saying we can justify it to the rest of the broadcasting community that we'll give a seven‑year licence renewal?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18967 MR. BUCHANAN: Well, you've ‑‑ we've come to the hearing. The purpose of the short‑term renewal is to look at how we've performed once you alerted us to the issues ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18968 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18969 MR. BUCHANAN: ‑‑ and to give us a chance to review. So you don't come to a hearing; you get a short‑term renewal and then you go on your ‑‑ you review the progress. So instead, we got the notice. We've come to the hearing ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18970 THE CHAIRPERSON: Because there were so many problems.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18971 MR. BUCHANAN: Because there were so many problems? Well, at least with respect ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18972 THE CHAIRPERSON: I mean if somebody in a normal seven‑year term did one of these things, the logger tape issue or breached a COL about ‑‑ and I recognize ‑‑ I hear you, a COL about programming, that's when they get the renewal ‑‑ or the short‑term, but there's more than one here, and it then got to an issue of we have to discuss this.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18973 MR. BUCHANAN: Well, I think ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18974 THE CHAIRPERSON: All right, I'll leave that. You do acknowledge, though, that we could have concerns and that we may want to consider a shorter term?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18975 MR. HILL: Yes, we do acknowledge that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18976 MR. WOOD: Commissioner, if I could just add to that? Of course we throw ourselves at the mercy of the court here, but that being said, I think you would agree that within the past 12 months, a lot of progress has been made at AVR. So if you're concerned about where AVR is going in the future, with the team that's in place now, you can have confidence that AVR is going to move forward and meet all of your requirements.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18977 And secondly, we hope that you will cut us some slack as you have in the last past because ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18978 THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, that's the issue. How much ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18979 MR. WOOD: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18980 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ how long do we cut you slack?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18981 MR. WOOD: Well ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18982 THE CHAIRPERSON: That's the real issue, isn't it?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18983 MR. WOOD: ‑‑ we think that based on what the Broadcast Act says, that the system should reflect the special place of Aboriginal people in society, that we're not just like an ordinary broadcaster. We're not even like an ordinary Aboriginal broadcaster. We're a national, cultural distinct Aboriginal service. It's a little harder to bring that together than it is a mainstream radio station that's operated by one of the major corporations.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18984 So against that background, we simply hope that you will continue to be patient with us and to recognize that we now have the team in place that will move forward expeditiously to meet all of your requirements.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18985 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. I want us to talk about local programming in Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. And I look at what you should have done by the end of the licence term that you're asking us to renew. And you say you will get the news up within one year. It seems to me if you've had five million going through, and its looks like you're going to have at least two million from this industry, two million this year if it's ending ‑‑ I don't know which fiscal year it is. It seems to me you can do better than just the news in a year.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18986 And I'm thinking that we would indeed be ‑‑ well, again, I'm thinking about equity with the rest of the industry and I would have thought that we would be right at the 25 percent within 12 months of renewal. And I recognize it's three different places, but you will ‑‑ it would be in some ways ‑‑ I mean you'll have a couple of months for somebody to write some decisions, but I would find it difficult to say to the rest of the broadcast industry we're extending it and extending and extending it. As the Vice‑Chair said, we keep pushing things back, and I think we have to start speaking about getting to your knitting.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18987 So would you agree to a COL that you would have 25 percent of your total programming during the broadcast week produced in various ‑‑ Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver within 12 months of the date of the decision?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18988 MR. HILL: Yes, we would, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18989 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. And in relation to Saskatoon and Regina, it would be to have 25 percent of total programming during the broadcast week produced in Regina or Saskatoon within 24 months of going on air.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18990 MR. HILL: We would ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 18991 THE CHAIRPERSON: Would you agree to that?
LISTNUM 95 \l 18992 MR. HILL: ‑‑ we would agree to that as well.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18993 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay, thank you. That's all my questions.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18994 Commissioner Williams.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18995 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I just have one last comment. It's not so much a question as a comment. I just quickly scanned the list of the various benefits in licensing contributions that the ‑‑ that we've helped redirect from the Canadian Broadcasting system, and it totals up about 8.8 million so far to AVR. And I hope that you guys are ‑‑ and Ms Mousseau, and all of your other members of this organization that we obviously had high hopes for and a lot of great belief in as based upon our support, that we are just more than a little concerned about what we're getting in the way of value.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18996 And I guess to use a western expression, it's time see ‑‑ where's the beef? We want to ‑‑ that's why I want to see your strategic plan. I think that's why the other panelists want to see some significant progress that's measurable in a very short‑term, and it's not meant unkindly. We think this is probably the kindest advice that we can give you, but we have to get your attention and we would hope that you could take what you learned in the last several years and make your vision a reality that we can all be very proud of.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18997 MR. HENNESSY: I can assure you that we empathize with your desire for us to show you "where's the beef", for us to produce and make the dreams a reality and that we don't take this lightly and we, every day, do every ‑‑ as much as we can to move forward in fulfilling that commitment. And it is a ‑‑ it is more than a career or a job for us. It is ‑‑ as I mentioned at the beginning, it's something that we're quite passionate about achieving. And anyway, I just wanted to tell you that we understand your concern and we understand your urging us to get on with it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18998 MR. HILL: If I could just add one more thing? I do appreciate you raising these issues with us and I totally understand why you're raising them and I agree with you raising them and I do appreciate the advice and the reinforcement ‑‑ reinforcing that, you know, we have to be very serious about moving forward an all of these things, including the local programming and outreach into the communities.
LISTNUM 95 \l 18999 And we are sincerely committed to that, and I think that you'll see ‑‑ I am very confident about this. I think that you'll see a very vigorous effort from us in all those regards and I do believe, personally, that we are going to achieve those things.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19000 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr. Hill.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19001 Actually I had another question. I hate to do this to you. Mr. Wood, could I take you to this program description, and we could see how many hours are actually on the grid of enrichment programming? Do you have this with you?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19002 MR. WOOD: I don't have it, but I think Ms Mousseau has it, and she can certainly speak to that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19003 THE CHAIRPERSON: I've ‑‑ well, do you know the programs at all? You must know the programs? Like ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19004 MS MOUSSEAU: He is a listener, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19005 THE CHAIRPERSON: So the Heartbeat would not be enrichment. The ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19006 MS MOUSSEAU: The Heartbeat ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19007 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ All Request ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19008 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ the Heartbeat is actually a powwow show, so we play a lot of drum music.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19009 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19010 MS MOUSSEAU: And also talking about local powwows and when they're happening. And Visasigay(ph), who is the host, he's also a powwow MC, so he takes the opportunity to describe a lot of the powwow dances and what goes on at powwows, so it's a real opportunity for not just Aboriginal people, but other people to ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19011 THE CHAIRPERSON: So that may well be ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19012 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ understand more about culture.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19013 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ be enrichment, Mr. Wood?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19014 MS MOUSSEAU: I think ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19015 MR. WOOD: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19016 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. And how long is that?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19017 MS MOUSSEAU: It's an hour‑long show.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19018 THE CHAIRPERSON: The All Request Show wouldn't be.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19019 MS MOUSSEAU: No.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19020 THE CHAIRPERSON: The Morning Show wouldn't be. The Native American Calling wouldn't be. The Women's Round Table would be?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19021 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19022 THE CHAIRPERSON: And how long is that?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19023 MS MOUSSEAU: It's an hour. I'm wondering though if the talk show wouldn't be, the Native America Calling probably would be an enrichment because they deal with a real wide variety of topics.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19024 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, okay. And how long is it?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19025 MS MOUSSEAU: It's an hour.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19026 THE CHAIRPERSON: And ‑‑ oh, maybe I should ask, the Heartbeat is only ‑‑ it's on twice? No ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19027 MS MOUSSEAU: No ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19028 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ one, two, three ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19029 MS MOUSSEAU: Four times a week, yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19030 THE CHAIRPERSON: So that would be four hours?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19031 MS MOUSSEAU: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19032 THE CHAIRPERSON: Native America is on once. Women's Round Table is on twice. Metis Show?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19033 MS MOUSSEAU: Yeah, that's ‑‑ again, that's a lot of community ‑‑ I'm talking about what's going on locally/nationally at different events, talking about the Metis culture. There is some ‑‑ we talk ‑‑ try to get as much Michif as possible in there as well, and music.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19034 THE CHAIRPERSON: So that would be enrichment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19035 MS MOUSSEAU: I would think so, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19036 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah. And it's an hour long?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19037 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19038 THE CHAIRPERSON: And it's on four times? Wisdom of the Elders would certainly be enrichment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19039 MS MOUSSEAU: Mmhmm.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19040 THE CHAIRPERSON: And it is an hour long.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19041 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes, it is.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19042 THE CHAIRPERSON: And it is on three times? Actually I want to listen to that.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19043 MS MOUSSEAU: Actually I believe it's on four times ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19044 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, okay ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19045 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ as a matter of fact.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19046 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ four times. Go Global wouldn't be. AVR Art Review would be?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19047 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19048 MR. WOOD: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19049 THE CHAIRPERSON: And how long is it?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19050 MS MOUSSEAU: It's a 15‑minute segment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19051 THE CHAIRPERSON: Red Tales?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19052 MS MOUSSEAU: Absolutely.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19053 THE CHAIRPERSON: That is, and it's on ‑‑ is it an hour?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19054 MS MOUSSEAU: It's a half‑hour program.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19055 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19056 MS MOUSSEAU: Talking about ‑‑ well, obviously Aboriginal books and ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19057 THE CHAIRPERSON: It's three times a week?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19058 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19059 THE CHAIRPERSON: And then obviously American Indian Living because it's the health issues one.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19060 MS MOUSSEAU: Mmhmm.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19061 THE CHAIRPERSON: And that's on ‑‑ that's an hour long?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19062 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes, it is.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19063 THE CHAIRPERSON: It's on twice a week?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19064 MS MOUSSEAU: Mmhmm.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19065 THE CHAIRPERSON: And ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19066 MS MOUSSEAU: Actually it's on three times a week.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19067 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, okay.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19068 MS MOUSSEAU: Sorry, four.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19069 THE CHAIRPERSON: Four, okay. And then At Issue, that would certainly be one, another one.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19070 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19071 THE CHAIRPERSON: And how long is it?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19072 MS MOUSSEAU: It's an hour‑long program, twice a week.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19073 THE CHAIRPERSON: Twice a week. Ojibwe lessons, that's got to be it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19074 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19075 THE CHAIRPERSON: That's got to be, and it's an hour long?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19076 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19077 THE CHAIRPERSON: Twice a week?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19078 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19079 THE CHAIRPERSON: Community Calendar probably isn't. This Day in Our History, The Vignettes?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19080 MS MOUSSEAU: Absolutely. We have a local historian coming in, talking about events that happen in the Aboriginal community 365 days a year ‑‑ a week ‑‑ a year, yes. Sorry.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19081 THE CHAIRPERSON: And how long are the Vignettes?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19082 MS MOUSSEAU: They are about five minutes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19083 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. And then one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine ‑‑ ten times during the day?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19084 MS MOUSSEAU: Sorry, it's actually three minutes, not five ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19085 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, three minutes?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19086 MS MOUSSEAU: ‑‑ for This Day in Our History, yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19087 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. So that's 30 minutes then ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19088 MS MOUSSEAU: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19089 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ if it goes ten times during the day?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19090 MS MOUSSEAU: Mmhmm.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19091 THE CHAIRPERSON: How much does that add up to Vice‑Chair?
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 19092 THE CHAIRPERSON: My point is would you agree to a COL for enrichment programming at the present state, at the present amount that you've got?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19093 MR. HILL: At the present state or the present amount that we have?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19094 THE CHAIRPERSON: Twenty‑six hours enrichment programming, that's what you've got. And my question was would you agree to a COL at the existing amount?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19095 MR. HILL: Well, I'd like to understand it further, if I could, Madam Chair. We had talked previously about 15 hours of enriched spoken word, and my ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19096 THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, what's what Mr. Wood said he thought you could do ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19097 MR. HILL: That's ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19098 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ but what you're really doing is 26 hours.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19099 MR. WOOD: But that's with syndicated programming.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19100 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19101 MR. WOOD: We want to do locally originated programming, not calling on American programming or other syndication.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19102 THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, then you'll have to replace it as time goes, won't you? I mean ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19103 MR. WOOD: Well, yes, but we just feel that 15 hours is a very substantial commitment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19104 VICE‑CHAIR ARPIN: Could you trade 20?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19105 THE CHAIRPERSON: Make a deal?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19106 MR. HILL: One of the things ‑‑
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 19107 MR. HILL: ‑‑ one of the things that's going through my mind, Madam Chair, is the phrase "enriched spoken" ‑‑ because this enriched spoken is what's going through my mind because we have defined other things that are in there as not enriched spoken. They're talk, spoken word, but not the word "enriched". So I just want to understand myself before I ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19108 THE CHAIRPERSON: Enriched is what, if I understand, the old regulations used to have; isn't that correct?
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 19109 THE CHAIRPERSON: Anyways, how can we deal with this?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19110 MR. WOOD: The reason that we think that 15 hours is a very high number is that, going to the point about enriched, it means that we'll be doing a lot of things on the radio station that simply don't qualify. So anything of a surveillance nature would not equally. A lot of the input from the announcers would not qualify.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19111 THE CHAIRPERSON: Exactly.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19112 MR. WOOD: Developing in ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19113 THE CHAIRPERSON: That's the point, so we wouldn't have to count it. That's ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19114 MR. WOOD: Correct, yeah.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19115 THE CHAIRPERSON: That's the issue because it becomes so complicated.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19116 MR. WOOD: Correct. And a lot of the enriched spoken‑word programming for it to qualify as enriched means that you have to research it. You have to write it. You have to produce it, and then you put it on the air. So 15 hours, I ‑‑ from experience, I can say that that is a very substantial commitment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19117 THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, right now you ‑‑ the only ones that you don't provide, the syndicated ones, are American Indian Living of two hours and Native America Calling, one hour, so you're already doing it. It's in your expenses already.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19118 MR. WOOD: We are, but I think it would be fair to say that when AVR is in a financial position to do so, it wants to provide premium high‑quality, enriched programming. And I think it would be fair to say that some of the programming on AVR would not meet our own standards in terms of the kind of quality we aspire to. So to provide high‑quality, nationally representative that resonates with the community, 15 hours is a large commitment.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19119 THE CHAIRPERSON: So we take the syndicated out, and we're down to 20 ‑‑ I'm sorry, because the American Indian Living is actually on four times a day. So 20 is doable. We know it's doable.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19120 MS MOUSSEAU: The Ojibwe ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19121 THE CHAIRPERSON: Will you accept a COL?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19122 MR. WOOD: Could we have two minutes to conference on that point? You drive a very hard bargain, Chairman.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19123 THE CHAIRPERSON: All for the broadcasting system.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 95 \l 19124 THE CHAIRPERSON: We'll take a break for 12 minutes, so that ‑‑ by my watch, that's about quarter to five. You've missed your plane.
‑‑‑ Recess at 1633 / Suspension à 1633
‑‑‑ Upon resuming at 1645 / Reprise à 1645
LISTNUM 95 \l 19125 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay, back to order. I think the ball is in your court, Mr. Hill.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19126 MR. HILL: Thank you, Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19127 I think I'd like to ask Mr. Wood to respond to what our proposal is.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19128 MR. WOOD: I guess we just want to say, Chairman, next to going to my dentist for a root canal, my favourite think in life is going through how we define this and measure it. And having been through that period of the '70s on FM radio, it is challenging both for your staff and ours, and we fully appreciate the difficulty.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19129 We'd like to propose that the 20 hours would be made up of spoken‑word programming, as defined currently by the Commission, that falls within a structured program of any length. So it would not be unstructured programming or impromptu programming from announcers during music‑flow portions of the day. It would simply apply to programs of varying length; one hour, half an hour, 30 minutes, even some programs that are 3 or 5 minutes but they're structured and they're logged.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19130 And the staff, your staff and ours, could simply go to the log, identify where those segments are and calculate them. And that, I think, would be the simplest way to do it and, on that basis, we would be prepared to meet the 20‑hour commitment that you mentioned.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19131 MR. HENNESSY: We will be able to incorporate into our logging system a ‑‑ we can ‑‑ a coding so that the staff can easily identify what we are claiming as spoken word ‑‑ whether we put SP in brackets or whatever is mutually agreeable. So if they see a segment that is "15 minutes SP", they can go to the logger tape and verify that that's precisely what it was. They won't have to deal with the other 90, whatever it is, hours of programming because we won't be claiming the other elements that might have been called spoken word.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19132 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19133 And that ends this hearing. It's been long and arduous for us all.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19134 MS BENNETT: No, wait, wait, wait.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19135 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh, no, it doesn't end.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19136 Counsel.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19137 MS BENNETT: Just a tiny, tiny detail. It's tiny.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19138 MR. WOOD: It's too late.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19139 MR. HENNESSY: The hearing has ended. The devil is in what?
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 95 \l 19140 MS BENNETT: Yeah. No, these aren't those kind of details ‑‑ well, we'll see. Just a couple of final loose ends. You agreed earlier to abide by a COL that you get to the 25 percent total programming as local within the 12 months for Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. We're just wondering if you could ‑‑ would agree to file a letter with the Commission giving notice when you've reached that threshold?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19141 MR. HENNESSY: Yes, definitely.
‑‑‑ Undertaking / Engagement
LISTNUM 95 \l 19142 MS BENNETT: Okay, thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19143 Secondly, you spoke earlier today about the desire for consistency with respect to the obligation of your various licences. Would you agree to file applications to amend your licences in Kitchener‑Waterloo, Edmonton, and Montreal to reflect the changes that have been discussed today?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19144 MR. HILL: Yes, we would.
‑‑‑ Undertaking / Engagement
LISTNUM 95 \l 19145 MS BENNETT: Okay. And then the last three small things, just some dates. You've agreed to file a list for your current board. Could you give us a date for filing that?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19146 MR. HILL: We'd like two weeks. I proposed we file it with the strategic plan document.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19147 MS BENNETT: Okay. So that's the 17th of November; is that right?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19148 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, legal counsel, I ‑‑ it was more than the board. I believe it was the ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19149 MS BENNETT: Yes, yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19150 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay, I'm sorry.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19151 MS BENNETT: Yeah, yes. So the 17th of November? So that would be the list of the board. We also talked about the membership list of the committee, and it's been referred to by a couple of names. Is that the National Advisory Circle?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19152 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19153 MS BENNETT: Yes, okay. And then the strategic plan, I believe those were the three ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19154 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19155 MS BENNETT: Okay. So all by the 17th of November?
LISTNUM 95 \l 19156 MR. HILL: Yes.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19157 MS BENNETT: Okay. That's it.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19158 Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19159 MR. HILL: Thank you.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19160 THE CHAIRPERSON: It really is the end.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19161 On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I want to thank the staff very much, the reporters, les traducteurs, the sound crew, the applicants for their excellent applications and, finally, I want to thank my colleagues.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19162 Thank you everyone for your hard work and your stamina.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19163 THE SECRETARY: Madam Chair ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19164 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes, Madam Secretary.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19165 THE SECRETARY: ‑‑ I hate to have the last word, but I do have to put ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19166 THE CHAIRPERSON: With the ‑‑
LISTNUM 95 \l 19167 THE SECRETARY: ‑‑ on the record with respect to the non‑appearing applications. There are a number of non‑appearing applications on this agenda, and they're ‑‑ we have received interventions for those. And the Commission will consider the interventions along with the applications and will render a decision at a later date.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19168 Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19169 Madam Chair.
LISTNUM 95 \l 19170 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
‑‑‑ Whereupon the hearing concluded at 1705 /
L'audience se termine à 1705
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