CRTC report floats idea of Indigenous content quotas

The CRTC has released the findings from its first phase in the development of a new Indigenous broadcasting policy, highlighting a severe lack of Indigenous representation on Canadian radio and television as one key issue. This phase — the first of three — consisted of consultations with Indigenous broadcasters, producers, and artists, and took place in 2019 and 2020. A report released Wednesday details the CRTC’s findings and gives the Commission a number of starting points as it seeks to replace the now 30-year-old Native Broadcasting Policy. First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals and groups that the CRTC consulted put forward the idea of Indigenous content quotas to address their communities’ lack of representation in the Canadian media, with consultation participants suggesting that incentives for Indigenous inclusion are not making up for the shortfall. “Participants felt that this should become a Condition of Licence and re-iterated at licence renewal. It needs to be tracked, measured, and enforced if the percentage drops below the minimum.” The CRTC’s report indicated that such a quota could be set at five per cent of content on both radio and TV, reflecting the proportion of the Canadian population who identify as Indigenous. This could provide a particular boost in discoverability for Indigenous musicians — although Indigenous artists are counted under the standard 35 per cent Canadian content quotas on commercial radio, the CRTC report indicated that their work was often ignored or its Indigeneity was not acknowledged. Indigenous players in broadcast TV reported similar issues: Indigenous groups who aimed to produce TV content felt that major Canadian broadcasters have been hesitant to put Indigenous content in front of mainstream audiences, and often treated these communities’ attempts to do so in a dismissive fashion. “Attendees explained that despite their continued efforts, they are constantly being shuffled over to APTN without being given serious consideration by other broadcasters...the only way to change this is to impose mandatory requirements on mainstream broadcasters to air a minimum percentage of Indigenous content — and this would be a floor, not a ceiling,” the Commission wrote. While participants generally approved of APTN’s work, there were concerns that it is sidelined as a “specialty” service, with many cable carriers relegating it to the depths of their channel line-ups, making it harder for the network’s programming to garner a substantial audience. Some participants in the hearings flagged particular concerns with the way CBC/Radio-Canada has dealt with Indigenous video producers, with the public broadcaster reportedly requiring such projects to go through five layers of approval. Such productions were more likely to be relegated to CBC’s streaming platform, Gem, where many Indigenous communities would be unable to access them, due to a lack of high-speed internet in many rural and remote communities. The hearings also unearthed issues with CBC Radio: while CBC North was credited for its efforts to work with Inuit communities, the CRTC report concluded that it “should not be the central place for Indigenous programming”, particularly since many Indigenous communities in the country have no connection to the North. Radio broadcasters told the CRTC that they found it “difficult” to work or partner with the public broadcaster, particularly when attempting to share their content with the CBC or gain access to CBC content. “They felt that these were examples of how the public broadcaster could demonstrate more inclusive behaviour, and furthermore, felt this type of cooperation was reasonable, seeing that the CBC uses public funds,” the Commission’s report said. Some participants also argued that Indigenous languages could be better represented on Canadian broadcast mediums. The report cited complaints of overly restrictive rules around language, pointing to the case of northern Quebec, where 95 per cent of Indigenous people speak Inuktitut or Innu, but most TV channels broadcast exclusively in French. “The CRTC and the mainstream broadcasters are colonial forces that bring French and English into our communities, which ends up erasing our language,” said one participant. At this stage, such proposals are just ideas, as the CRTC is planning another two phases of consultation on the creation of a new Indigenous broadcasting policy. The second phase, due to start soon, will involve a standard CRTC consultation, open to interventions from any interested parties. After that, the CRTC will develop potential policies, and conduct a final phase of consultation with an array of Indigenous groups. — Reporting by Tim Forster at tforster@thewirereport.ca and editing by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca

CRTC report floats idea of Indigenous content quotas

News | March 25, 2021

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CRTC report floats idea of Indigenous content quotas

News | March 25, 2021

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