The CRTC Needs to Go

Video courtesy of Jesse Hirsh

After years of taking a more hands-off approach to new media on the Internet, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has unfortunately recently decided to re-open the file.

Currently, a public hearing is being held in Ottawa investigating the issue of Canadian broadcasting in the new media environment.

New Media Regulation: ISP Levy

Due in part to the CRTC's undying obsession with protecting Canadian content within the Canadian broadcasting system, the organization is ultimately "looking at setting up a $100-million fund to support homegrown programming on the Internet," reports the Globe and Mail.

The CRTC would do so by introducing an Internet service provider (ISP) levy, a tax Canadians would be forced to pay to support Canadian artists and to ensure that there is an adequate amount of Canadian content available to them online.

The Public Hearing is a Waste of Time

Instead of wasting their time with useless hearings, I think the CRTC should have listened to the two leading broadcast lawyers they once hired. Laurence Dunbar and Christian Leblanc wrote a lenghty report for the CRTC, cautioning them that regulating Canadians while the rest of the world is competing in an open market would in fact be counterproductive.

The CRTC is Out of Touch with Reality

It's clear to me that the CRTC mistakenly believes that Canadian programs are "a public service essential to the maintenance and enhancement of [Canada's] national identity and cultural sovereignty."

Quite frankly, I can't say that I associate my sense of being Canadian with any Canadian program currently being played on television or online. In fact, I don't even watch Canadian content because it's so incredibly boring!

Let's face it, most Canadian artists have consistently proven that they are not inventive enough to compete in the marketplace in terms of producing interesting films and television shows. Seriously, Corner Gas? To know that this is the sort of Canadian content the CRTC is protecting is truly sad and frustrating.

The CRTC Should be Abolished

In a perfect world, in my opinion the CRTC would be shut down. The organization is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Today, Canadians can pick and choose what they want to watch or listen to at their own convenience for free, online.

Deregulating Canadian broadcasting systems would mostly likely force Canadian artists to start doing a better job. In the end, they would have to create interesting material people actually want to spend time watching or listening to.

If Canadian artists are able to creatively figure out ways for their content to appeal to much broader audiences, Canadian broadcasting, either in the conventional or new media forms, can succeed without any assistance or protection from the CRTC.