CUPE Quebec’s Provincial Council for Communications (CPSC) is asking the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to drop an exemption order for digital media broadcasting undertakings.
“The CRTC has the power to act swiftly and put a stop to the preferential treatment internet giants are receiving from the federal government. We have petitioned the CRTC to reverse a decision made years ago which is completely obsolete. There is no reason Netflix and other corporations like them should be under an exemption order” said Rejean Beaudet, recording-secretary for the CPSC-CUPE and provincial president for the local union at TVA, Quebec’s largest private television station.
The CRTC’s mission is to monitor and regulate the Canadian broadcasting system. The Commission can choose to exempt classes of broadcasting undertakings unable to meet the objectives of the broadcasting policy for Canada set out in the Broadcasting Act. Yet, Netflix profits from the exemption and is now the fifth most important broadcaster in the country, ahead of Quebecor.
“It’s clear that the biggest online broadcasters have the ability to contribute to the objectives of the Broadcasting act and they are threatening the future of Canadian television. Traditional broadcasters are in a precarious situation. The two-tiered system has gone on long enough” added Rejean Beaudet.