The Harper government’s Throne Speech commitment to open the telecommunications and satellite industries to foreign ownership threatens Canadian culture and tilts the playing field against Canadian broadcasters, according to the watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
According to this afternoon’s Speech from the Throne: “Our Government will open Canada’s doors further to venture capital and to foreign investment in key sectors, including the satellite and telecommunications industries, giving Canadian firms access to the funds and expertise they need.”
“Intended or unintended, this announcement creates a slippery slope that will likely lead to the sale of Canadian broadcasters to foreign companies,” said Friends spokesperson Ian Morrison.
This domino effect is caused by the converged structure of today’s communications industry where telephone companies own broadcast and satellite assets and cable companies own telecommunications and satellite assets.
“If telecommunications and satellite companies, which are in direct competition with cable, are permitted to be owned and controlled by foreign interests, then cable monopolies will demand equal treatment and sell out to the highest bidder. Broadcasters will follow suit and several generations of hard work to maintain our cultural sovereignty through Canadian ownership and control of broadcasting will be lost,” Morrison said.
Companies which control broadcasting systems tend to favour their own programming over that provided by other suppliers.
“Foreign companies can be expected to favour their own over Canadian programming. This would lead to a disaster for Canadians who want to see Canadian stories on TV,” says Morrison.
Today’s announcement comes after the Harper government signaled its intent to open the floodgates to foreign control.
In mid-December, the federal government overturned a CRTC decision and granted a licence to Globalive, a company which the CRTC determined is Egyptian owned and controlled, to operate a wireless service throughout Canada.
“We believe that Harper’s decision with respect to Globalive is illegal because the Telecommunications Act makes clear that all communications companies must be effectively owned and controlled by Canadians,” Morrison says.
