Canada-wide
ComMedia 2015 Invites CRTC to Community Media Conference

CACTUS alerted the CRTC to the fact that it was planning to organize the first national digital community media conference in the fall of 2014, with the hopes that both CRTC staff and commissioners would be able to attend, contribute to panels, and get to know the frequently overlooked sector of the broadcasting system that they regulate.
It was on the CRTC's three-year work plan that it would review community TV policy, and CACTUS' intent in liaising with the CRTC as soon as it had 'hatched' the idea for the conference was to make sure that all parties could maximally benefit from the research, best practices, and policy alternatives that might arise from this first coast-to-coast meeting of community media practitioners on all platforms.
In February of 2015, the CRTC announced following its recently completed "Let's Talk TV" process that it would shortly review community TV policy in the broader context of its policies for local conventional television.
Concerned, CACTUS requested a meeting with CRTC staff to:
- renew our invitation to participate in the community media conference
- discuss the timing of the proposed review
- express our concern that the needs of the community TV sector might be sidelined in favour of the needs of larger interests and owners of conventional broadcasting networks.
When the CRTC met with CACTUS in late May, CACTUS learned that the community TV policy review notice might be posted before the end of summer, possibly precluding CRTC staff and Commissioners from participating, and precluding any of the research, practitioner knowledge and experience from shaping the CRTC's understanding of the sector and the policy review framework.
CACTUS therefore submitted the following formal request to delay a community TV policy review until after the conference, allowing the CRTC to participate fully, in a collegial fashion with media researchers and practitioners.
CACTUS request to delay hearing until after community media conference.
Since this letter was sent, several other conference organizers, research collaborators, sponsors, and concerned citizens have echoed CACTUS' request that the CRTC give its full support to the conference, and not squander the unprecedented opportunity to renew our country's commitment to and understanding of community media in the digital environment. You can read some of their letters below.
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
Clifford Lincoln
La Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec
The Canadian Media Guild
David Skinner, York University
Deepak Sahasrabuhde, Manager, Newwest.tv
Dr. Michael Lithgow, University of McGill.
Kirsten Kozolanka, Carleton University
CWA-Canada
Community Media Education Society
Professor Robert Hackett, Simon Fraser University
If you would like to encourage the CRTC to participate in and support the conference, you can either fax your comments to (819) 994-0218, or use the comments form on the CRTC web site. If you use the comment form, you can either type directly into the box on the form, or upload a separate document (for example, a letter on organizational letterhead).
Your voice is important to ensure that there are as many stakeholders at the table for this historic pan-media meeting, policy-makers especially!
CACTUS Presents "Community Media in Canada" Workshop at IAMCR, Montreal

CACTUS presented an hour-and-a-half long workshop entiteld "The State of the Nation: Community Media in Canada" at this week's International Association of Media and Communications Research conference, held for the first time in Montreal, at UQAM (the University of Quebec at Montreal). This is a yearly conference that attracts researchers from around the world. The conference has a "Community Communications" section. The IAMCR is a project of UNESCO.
The intent of the presentation was to provide international attendees with an overview of community media in their host country. The session was attended by researchers from Canada, England, Ireland, France, and Columbia. A lot of discussion ensued about digital standards and the impact that gaming is having on traditional media.
CACTUS will also present a 12-minute 'highlights' talk at a second session on Wednesday, July 15th.
The presentation was developed with input from David Murphy, Darryl Richardson and Barry Rooke regarding community gaming applications, community online media, and community radio, respectively.
CACTUS and Carleton University Partner to Host First National Community Media Conference

The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations and Carleton University will host the first national digital community media conference November 22-24 in Ottawa.
CACTUS' plans to host a professional and policy development conference to bring together community TV, radio, online and gaming pracitioners with the general public, researchers and policy-makers was first announced at the People's Social Forum in Ottawa in 2014. Since then, plans have progressed apace. Researcher Kirsten Kozolanka of the School of Journalism and Communications at Carleton University agreed to partner with CACTUS in order that the conference could be held centrally in Ottawa, easily accessible to government agencies whose policies affect community media, including the CRTC, Canadian Heritage, and Industry Canada.
The goals of the conference include exploring:
- best practices in the digital environment, ways in which the divisions between traditional community media such as community TV and radio are breaking down, and the need for new strategies to serve communities online. Also to be explored is the way in which youth and new demographics are increasingly developing media literacy skills through gaming.
- new policy directions needed to support community media in the multiplatform environment.
Thanks to a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) the conference will be maximally accessible for researchers and practitioners to attend from all parts of the country.
Catherine Edwards, CACTUS' spokesperson commented, "Thanks to the support of sponsors including our member channels, the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Communications Workers of America - Canada, the Canadian Media Producers Association, ACTRA, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, SmartChange, rabble.ca, IMAA, the Federation des television communautaire autonomes du Quebec and SSHRC, we will be able to offer travel and accommodation support for presenters. We're really delighted. This is a pivotal time for community media, and we need all heads at the table to come up with new directions in practice and policy."
The intent of the conference is to allow a broad forum for exploration prior to the CRTC's plans to review its 2010 community television policy.
CACTUS Submission to Spectrum Auction Framework 2015
CACTUS' comments to Industry Canada regarding its proposal to align its television spectrum usage plans with those of the US.
Quebec: Plan Culturel Numérique--$750,000 for Quebec Community Channels to Upgrade to Digital

In March, the Quebec government released its "Plan Cultural Numérique" (Digital Cultural Plan).
In it is a provision of $750,000 to be shared among Quebec's not-for-profit community television corporations to spend on technological upgrades so that equipment is digital and HD, and to enable digital archiving of content.
For more information, details about the plan (in French) can be found here:
Quebec Government Press Release Concerning Aid to Quebec Community TV Channels
Unfortunately, community-owned and -operated television channels outside Quebec receive no financial assistance from any government or industry body. Most still broadcast in SD and have limited resources for archiving their content.
Meanwhile, many cable community channels have jettisoned decades worth of analog audio-visual content documenting every aspect of life in their host communities, because it has no long-term commercial value to them.
ACORN Canada: Organizing 101
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Canada is membership based national organization of low- and moderate-income families. We have over 70,000 members organized into twenty neighbourhood chapters in nine cities across Canada. We believe that social and economic justice can best be achieved with a national active membership who are invested in their organization and focused on building power for change! We spend the majority of our resources going door to door in low and moderate income bringing people together to fight for social and economic justice! We have members in every province across he country and have won several important victories including: Provincial Payday Lending legislation working in coalitions to raise the Minimum Wage in Ontario to $11/hour plus indexing to inflation and many tenant right victories. Other national and provincial campaigns: Remittance Justice, Digital Access to Opportunities, Healthy Homes and Disability and Social Assistance Rights. We are looking to reach low and moderate income families across the country. This video focuses on our door to door work.
ACORN Canada: Digital Divide
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Canada is membership based national organization of low- and moderate-income families. We have over 70,000 members organized into twenty neighbourhood chapters in nine cities across Canada. We believe that social and economic justice can best be achieved with a national active membership who are invested in their organization and focused on building power for change! We spend the majority of our resources going door to door in low and moderate income bringing people together to fight for social and economic justice! We have members in every province across he country and have won several important victories including: Provincial Payday Lending legislation working in coalitions to raise the Minimum Wage in Ontario to $11/hour plus indexing to inflation and many tenant right victories. Other national and provincial campaigns: Remittance Justice, Digital Access to Opportunities, Healthy Homes and Disability and Social Assistance Rights. We are looking to reach low and moderate income families across the country. This video focuses on our national Digital Access to Opportunities Campaigns and why low and moderate income families across the country need to get involved.
OpenBroadcaster Inc.
Open Source Community Media Servers and broadcast consulting services.
Let's Talk TV Summary of Submissions Relevant to Community TV
This document summarizes submissions to phase III of the CRTC's "Let's Talk TV" consultation (CRTC 2014-190) from industry groups and stakeholders. It does not reflect comments by individual Canadians.
CACTUS Phase III Submission to "Let's Talk TV" (CRTC 2014-190)
This is CACTUS' written submission to Phase III of the CRTC's "Let's Talk TV" consultation (CRTC 2014-190).