Aboriginal & Indigenous Rights in Broadcasting

In 2004 aboriginal producers thought that change was to come about in aboriginal broadcasting in Canada. The government of the day had commissioned me to write a report about the state of independent aboriginal broadcasting. The report recommended that we have our own organization with a voice that represented our industry. The government agreed and supported our efforts to make changes to the inequities for aboriginal people compared to the way other minorities are treated by Canadian cultural agencies. The report had been called AT THE CROSSROADS and was never released but I will publish the report in sections over the next few weeks. The first section was called CONTEXT.
Jeff Bear
July 15, 2006

CONTEXT
This study comes at an opportune time in the evolution of aboriginal broadcasting and filmmaking. One of the priorities of the federal government is to ensure that federal cultural agencies reflect diversity in their workplaces. As demonstrated in Canadian policy and legislative history, federal authorities have historically responded to the cycles of change that demand social and political reform. And nowhere has there been more change than in the world of aboriginal film and television. In the last forty years, there have been a number of key milestones in aboriginal media that help us understand how this reform has taken place. These include the following:

1958 CBC establishes a northern service.

1967 CBC TV comes north.

1975 Ottawa promises satellite TV for every Inuit community over 500.

1979 The Anik Satellite Experiments began. Inuit organizations in the Eastern Arctic and Northern Quebec participated in pilot projects to test communications satellites in applications such as TV broadcasting, community communications, tele-education and tele-health. (Inuit Broadcasting Corporation is born in 1981).

1980 CRTC establishes the Committee on Extension of Service to Northern and Remote Communities (the Therrien Committee). The subsequent report stressed the urgent need for special measures to allow aboriginal people to preserve their languages and foster their culture through various broadcasting initiatives.

1981 Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, IBC is born.

1981 CRTC licenses CANCOM to deliver a range of southern programming into northern and remote communities. As a quid pro quo, CANCOM is required to provide assistance to northern aboriginal broadcasters. CBC transponders in the north shared with IBC and other northern aboriginal broadcasters in groundbreaking agreement on access to mainstream technology.

1983 Government of Canada announces the Northern Broadcasting Policy and the
Northern Native Broadcast Access Program. Public funds are allocated for the production of radio and television programs by thirteen native communications societies across the north.

1985 The CRTC releases its Northern Native Broadcasting policy statement (Public Notice CRTC 1985-274). This policy establishes certain short term measures to ensure native broadcasters have access to existing northern distribution systems, but it also emphasized that a dedicated northern transponder would be required to handle the volume of programming and to ensure that programs were scheduled at appropriate times.

1985 Gerald L. Caplan/Florian Sauvageau Report , “The Task Force on Broadcast Policy holds public hearings across Canada. Aboriginal producers show up in record numbers.

1986 Gerald L. Caplan/Florian Sauvageau Report, “The Task Force on Broadcasting Policy” recommends far reaching changes to aboriginal policy. Among the changes recommended is a dedicated satellite transponder for northern services.

1988 Minister of Communications announces support for a northern aboriginal television service to be known as Television Northern Canada (TVNC).

1991 Broadcasting Act of 1991 recognizes, for the first time, that aboriginal broadcasting is an intrinsic part of the Canadian broadcasting system. Section 3(d)(iii) states that the system should "through its programming and the employment opportunities arising out of its operations, serve the needs and interests, and reflect the circumstances and aspirations of Canadian men, women and children, including equal rights, ... and the special place of aboriginal peoples within [Canadian] society."

1991 CRTC licences TVNC. The service would provide discreet television services to northern audiences. The Department of Canadian Heritage would create a northern carriage system.

1992 Inaugural launch of TVNC.

1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Final Report

3.6.11
The government of Canada recognize the special status of Aboriginal language broadcasting explicitly in federal legislation.

3.6.12
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission include in license conditions for public and commercial broadcasters, in regions with significant Aboriginal population concentrations, requirements for fair representation and distribution of Aboriginal programming, including Aboriginal language requirements.

3.6.13
Public and private media outlets, in particular the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, provide access to Aboriginal media products for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians by (a) purchasing and broadcasting Aboriginal programming from independent Aboriginal producers; and (b) producing English and French versions of original Aboriginal programs for regional and national redistribution.

3.6.14
Public and private media outlets address the need for training and better representation of Aboriginal people in public communications by developing and implementing employment equity plans.

3.6.15
Governments, including Aboriginal governments, recognize the critical role that independent Aboriginal print and broadcast media have in the pursuit of Aboriginal self-determination and self-government, and that they support freedom of expression through (a) policies on open access to information; and (b) dedicated funding at arm’s length from political bodies.

3.6.16
Colleges and universities with programs in communications, journalism and film co-operate to support access for Aboriginal students by providing transition courses, scholarships and counseling services.

3.6.17
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission be mandated to establish fee structures and provisions for joint ventures as part of licensing conditions to ensure a stable financial base for the production and distribution of Aboriginal broadcast media products, particularly in southern Canada.

1996 National Film Board of Canada creates annual Aboriginal Filmmaking program with $1 million annual commitment.


1997-98 The Canadian Television Fund (the EIP through Telefilm Canada and the LFP) begins financing aboriginal language productions annually for approximately $1 million.

1998 In Public Notice CRTC 1998-8, the CRTC recognizes TVNC as “a unique and significant undertaking serving the public interest and the objectives of the Broadcasting Act” and that a national aboriginal channel should be “widely available throughout Canada in order to serve the diverse needs of the various Aboriginal communities, as well as other Canadian.” The Commission also stated that it would consider any application by TVNC designed to achieve these objectives.

1999 The CRTC approves the application (Decision CRTC 99-42) by TVNC to operate a national Aboriginal programming network, to be known as the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). The Commission will issue a single license for a satellite-to-cable programming undertaking, including existing transmitters in Northern Canada, expiring August 31, 2005. APTN begins airing nationally on September 1, 1999. Under the terms of its broadcast undertaking, APTN will broadcast 120 hours of programming each week in English, French and up to 15 different Aboriginal languages. It will include children’s and educational programming, cultural and current affairs, drama, music, comedy, documentary features, discussion programs, political coverage, and special events, as well as programming about indigenous people around the world. APTN will devote 90% or more of both the broadcast week and the evening broadcast period to Canadian programs. Moreover, the CRTC expected the APTN to broaden its scope from northern native to national aboriginal. The network was expected to expand its use of aboriginal producers.

2000 The Canadian Television Fund reports spending 2.5 million in aboriginal language programming.


2.2. Aboriginal Screen Culture: At a Crossroads

These milestones (as described above) provide a context in which to frame the evolution of aboriginal screen media and help set the context for what the stakeholders of this study believe should be the next steps. The stakeholders of this study believe that aboriginal screen culture is at a crossroads. The recommendations that are made in this report must be seen within the optic that the changes to be made to further aboriginal self-expression in television must be founded on the concepts originally outlined by George Erasmus and Rene Dussault, Co-chairs, in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) Report. These concepts were described as follows:

“It is important to understand the concepts on which this strategy rests. There are four: the reality of societal and cultural difference; the right to self-government; the nature of Aboriginal nationhood; and the requirement for adequate land, resources and self-reliant Aboriginal economies. Each is linked to the others and all are critical for success.” (Announcement of the RCAP 1997)

Twelve years ago, cultural icon, broadcaster and human rights critic, Fil Fraser wrote: “In the face of the foregoing, Canada is currently having a challenging time determining if, in fact, a truly 'Canadian' culture exists, and if it does, what it is…defining Canadian culture becomes increasingly difficult as the evolving mainstream of real life shifts from a primarily British and northern European given, to a new reality which now includes Aboriginals as de facto, if not constitutionally recognized…”Fraser made this observation partly influenced by incredible changes reached in Canadian society.

In their presentation to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage examining the future of Canadian broadcasting (Our Cultural Sovereignty: The Second Century of Canadian Broadcasting), independent producers had this to say. “Section 35 of the Constitution Act of Canada, 1982, recognizes and protects existing aboriginal and treaty rights, including the inherent right to self government and rights that exist by way of land claim agreements or may be so acquired.” This is important to note because defining aboriginal rights and titles through the land claims processes is an on going issue in aboriginal self- expression.

These Constitutional changes have transformed federal legislation particularly when the Broadcasting Act was amended in 1991. The new legislation recognized the unique thread woven by aboriginal cultures into the Canadian mosaic:

Section 3.(1)(d)(iii) of the Broadcast Act recognizes the “special place of Aboriginal peoples within [Canadian] society,” as a fundamental cornerstone of the Canadian broadcasting system. Of particular importance is the role of First Nations peoples in the provision of
programming and employment opportunities arising out of the operations of the broadcast systems, and reflecting and serving the needs and interests of a multi-cultural and multi-linguistic society. (Quoting from brief submitted by independent producers. See bibliography)

This is a role of great importance to independent aboriginal film and broadcast producers. The lobby of independent aboriginal producers in southern Canada had begun in earnest during the late 1980’s when the demographic face of Canada began to change radically.

During the consultations by the Caplan Sauvageau Task Force on public broadcasting, a high number of submissions were received that proposed changes to improve upon access by aboriginal producers to mainstream audiences. The Caplan Sauvageau recommendations influenced changes to national policies—but as with other radical reform-- change was slow to come.

Again in 1996 when the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) reported its findings, there were significant recommendations to improve the communications and broadcasting systems for aboriginal people. Unfortunately, Canadian public opinion inhibited the full acceptance of the RCAP’s groundbreaking and far- reaching recommendations.

Over recent years, the Canadian government, at varying levels, has been quietly implementing various components of the 1996 report. For example, the RCAP recommended the establishment of a creative fee structure for support and development of the aboriginal broadcasting and this lead to the licensing of the APTN, in 1999. There were six other recommendations in the RCAP dealing with aboriginal people in film and television. Those RCAP recommendations, (RCAP Recommendations 3.6.11 to 3.6.17) deal with the same issues we are dealing with today.

Federal agencies need to continue to nurture the growth of the aboriginal workforce in film and television. In our view, with an aboriginal network, federal support initiatives, regulatory support and private investment--- the aboriginal film and television industry is poised to become a player in the Canadian economy. Currently, program support for aboriginal film and television is spread across various government agencies and crown corporations and as this study will indicate—programs are inadequately funded.

This study is called At the Crossroads for two reasons. First, as aboriginal producers there is a collective sense that our growth period is at a standstill due to various economic and political factors: we do not have a fair share of the national cultural resources; and secondly because there is no national strategy, blueprint or map of how to build capacity for aboriginal film and television. We have shown that Canadian law and policy has created the beginning point for aboriginal self -expression while Canadian broadcasters and filmmaking agencies are paving the road to a more inclusive Canadian screen culture. It will take courage and commitment from all agencies supporting this study to take the next steps, to go beyond the crossroads.

We propose that the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Recommendations 3.6.11 to 3.6.17 be adopted as the beginning point for building the capacity of an aboriginal workforce in film and television.
To be continued……….