Canada's broadcast regulator began a week of hearings on Monday looking at proposed changes to the Canadian Television Fund, drawing passionate and fiery comments from representatives of the country's main actor, director, writer and producer unions.

The heads of ACTRA, Writers Guild of Canada, Directors Guild of Canada, Canadian Film and Television Producers Association and CBC/Radio-Canada argued against a proposal to split the current pot of funding into two streams — one to finance commercial productions and another to support culturally significant programming.

They stand in opposition to the private broadcasters, led by cable giants Shaw Communications and Quebecor's Videotron. The two companies set off the current controversy back in Dec. 2006 when they suspended their payments to the CTF amid growing dissatisfaction with the body.

Shaw, the largest contributor to the fund, and Quebecor had alleged that the CTF had given a disproportionate amount to public or educational broadcasters and squandered their contributions by funding unpopular programming.

The firms resumed payment after former Heritage Minister Bev Oda ordered a CRTC taskforce to review the CTF. Its proposals — namely for a more "market-oriented" fund and a reduced board of directors — were released in June 2007.

Rejecting the proposals

Those at the head of the CTF — which finances the majority of domestically produced TV programming — began the day by arguing in favour of its current structure: essentially one fund financed by about $150 million in contributions from private broadcasters as well as about $120 million from the federal government's Heritage department.

Citing the success of a wide range of shows such as Degrassi: The Next Generation, Little Mosque on the Prairie and Sophie — which are among the shows that have also sold to U.S. or international broadcasters — the CTF argued that Shaw and Quebecor's complaints were not justified.

"All of these culturally and commercially successful shows would not exist without the vital support provided through the CTF funding," CTF president Valerie Creighton said.

She and others who testified Monday also argued that many CTF-funded shows being produced are successful both in commercial and cultural senses, with a distinction between what would be considered one versus the other often an arbitrary decision.

"We just don't agree with the concept that you need two funds," said Maureen Parker, executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada, echoing comments by Creighton that a previous attempt at dual-stream funding had been inefficient and failed.

"It's an artificial distinction to say one product is commercial and another is cultural... we're making them for the domestic marketplace."

Many of the groups at Monday's hearings also criticized Canadian private broadcasters for not supporting domestically-made programming in favour of simulcasting U.S. shows. They said private broadcasters have sidelined what little Cancon they have through poor promotion and unappealing time slots.

"Our problem in this country is the broadcasters who have been demonstrating a slavish devotion to lowest common denominator U.S. shows and simulcast them at bargain-basement prices," ACTRA president Richard Hardacre said at a news conference Monday.

"Even if you wanted to watch a Canadian show, you could not find it in the schedule," actress Wendy Crewson testified.

The day-ending CBC presentation also echoed many of the same sentiments expressed by the earlier groups, with Richard Stursberg, CBC's executive vice-president of English services, testifying that the CTF "has been very successful in creating popular Canadian programming for Canadians" over its existence.

Stursberg said that in his experience as a past chair of the fund, it has always been in transition.

"The fund has never been rigid or static," he said. "Its greatest strength has always been its adaptability."

Arguing for dual-stream funding

A lone voice arguing in favour of the taskforce proposals for a dual-stream fund came from Glenn O'Farrell, president and CEO of the Association of Canadian Broadcasters.

O'Farrell testified that because public and not-for-profit broadcasters have a different mandate than their private colleagues, they should not be in competition for the same pool of CTF funding.

He also said that he felt, on the francophone side, that public and educational broadcasters are being allocated too large a share of funding from the CTF.

The morning began with further controversy from Jim Shaw, who said he would not appear Thursday to testify during his scheduled session because CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein was not helming the hearings. Commissioner Rita Cugini is moderating the three-member panel.

"Mr. Jim Shaw refuses to follow the rules after he has forced these hearings in the first place," ACTRA's Hardacre later charged.

Cable firms are required to submit about five per cent of their gross revenue to specifically fund the creation of Canadian programming, an agreement they made in return for permission to increase their cable rates in 1993.

The fund subsequently set up in 1996 to distribute that money became the CTF.

With files from the Canadian Press