Shaw Communications has agreed to resume its monthly payments to the Canadian Television Fund, CEO Jim Shaw said Tuesday prior to his appearance before the Commons heritage committee.

Shaw said he now feels assured the government will examine the structure and accountability of the disputed fund, one of the most prominent financing sources for television productions across the country.

During his committee appearance, Shaw repeatedly urged more accountability from those managing the fund, which is funded by the government and cable companies, and questioned its current structure.

"We have paid our share of the load, our fair share of supporting everything, and all we're asking is for the production fund to do this," Shaw said.

"We have had no attention from anyone on this issue. We say this is a terrible waste of a Canadian asset and that's why we took the action that we did."

He also urged producers to create more television programming that appeals to Canadian viewers.

"It's a challenge to the industry to be successful," Shaw said. "You can't be successful if you don't produce anything that Canadians want to watch."

Panel might hold public hearing

Later Tuesday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which enforces payments to the CTF, announced it has set up a task force to examine the recent concerns about the fund.

Michel Arpin, the CRTC's vice-chair of broadcasting, will head the four-person task force, which will investigate issues such as:

  • The most effective use of CTF money.
  • The size and structure of the fund's ruling board.
  • Appropriate ways to deal with real or perceived CTF conflicts.

The task force will meet with the fund's stakeholders through the end of April. It will release its final report and make recommendations to the CRTC before the end of August. If deemed necessary, the task force will also hold a public hearing.

Shaw Communications and Vidéotron, a subsidiary of Quebecor Inc., had suspended their payments to the CTF in protest over the way the fund is run. Shaw, which pays about $40 million a year to the fund, suspended its payments in late December.

Minister stands firm

The two companies complained about the high number of CTF-funded productions that ended up being broadcast by CBC/SRC and said the fund's managers do not support newer technologies, like video-on-demand.

Tuesday's announcement from Shaw comes about a week after Vidéotron also agreed to resume its payments.

Last week, Heritage Minister Bev Oda said she would write letters demanding the resumption of the payments.

She and new CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said the two companies must begin making payments again before any changes to the CTF can be considered.

Both Oda and von Finckenstein also promised to consider a Vidéotron proposal suggesting alternate ways of funding Canadian television production.

With files from the Canadian Press