Mr. Gerry Martiniuk: I raise an issue that has great consequences for every person in Ontario, especially outside of Toronto. Local television and local TV news are in trouble. Stations are being closed in communities across Ontario and Canada. Other stations in Ontario are being given away for next to nothing. Consider that CHCH-TV in Hamilton was recently sold for $12 cash. One of the cable companies agreed to purchase another Ontario station for $1, but that deal fell through. Compare this with the recent sale of Mountain View Cable, a cable system serving only part of the city of Hamilton, for a quarter-billion dollars-that's "billion." Guess who bought it? One of our profit-rich cable companies that hate competition.
The business model that over-the-air television has operated under is broken. An imbalance exists between the stations and the distribution companies, and if it isn't fixed, communities like mine will lose their local stations and their local news.
Local television stations must be compensated for their signal by the distribution companies, and there is no reason for the public to pay more to the cable companies. I urge all members of this House and concerned citizens of Ontario to complain to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission at their website, crtc.gc.ca, and encourage them to fix this problem before it is too late.
Hansard-Official Historical Record of
Debate in the Legislative Assembly of
Ontario – 39th Parliament
Presented by: GERRY MARTINIUK, MPP
Oct. 28, 2009
