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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS BEFORE
THE CANADIAN RADIO‑TELEVISION AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
TRANSCRIPTION DES AUDIENCES DEVANT
LE CONSEIL DE LA RADIODIFFUSION
ET DES TÉLÉCOMMUNICATIONS CANADIENNES
SUBJECT / SUJET:
Various broadcasting applications further to calls for
applications for licences to carry on radio programming
undertakings to serve Chilliwack and Vancouver, British Columbia /
Plusieurs demandes en radiodiffusion suite aux appels de demandes
de licence de radiodiffusion visant l'exploitation d'une
entreprise de programmation de radio pour desservir Chilliwack et
Vancouver (Colombie-Britannique)
HELD AT: TENUE À:
The Empire Landmark The Empire Landmark
1400 Robson Street 1400, rue Robson
Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver (C.-B.)
February 29, 2008 Le 29 février 2008
Transcripts
In order to meet the requirements of the Official Languages
Act, transcripts of proceedings before the Commission will be
bilingual as to their covers, the listing of the CRTC members
and staff attending the public hearings, and the Table of
Contents.
However, the aforementioned publication is the recorded
verbatim transcript and, as such, is taped and transcribed in
either of the official languages, depending on the language
spoken by the participant at the public hearing.
Transcription
Afin de rencontrer les exigences de la Loi sur les langues
officielles, les procès‑verbaux pour le Conseil seront
bilingues en ce qui a trait à la page couverture, la liste des
membres et du personnel du CRTC participant à l'audience
publique ainsi que la table des matières.
Toutefois, la publication susmentionnée est un compte rendu
textuel des délibérations et, en tant que tel, est enregistrée
et transcrite dans l'une ou l'autre des deux langues
officielles, compte tenu de la langue utilisée par le
participant à l'audience publique.
Canadian Radio‑television and
Telecommunications Commission
Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des
télécommunications canadiennes
Transcript / Transcription
Various broadcasting applications further to calls for
applications for licences to carry on radio programming
undertakings to serve Chilliwack and Vancouver, British Columbia /
Plusieurs demandes en radiodiffusion suite aux appels de demandes
de licence de radiodiffusion visant l'exploitation d'une
entreprise de programmation de radio pour desservir Chilliwack et
Vancouver (Colombie-Britannique)
BEFORE / DEVANT:
Helen del Val Chairperson / Présidente
Rita Cugini Commissioner / Conseillère
Elizabeth Duncan Commissioner / Conseillère
Peter Menzies Commissioner / Conseiller
Ronald Williams Commissioner / Conseiller
ALSO PRESENT / AUSSI PRÉSENTS:
Jade Roy Secretary / Secretaire
Joe Aguiar Hearing Manager /
Gérant de l'audience
Carolyn Pinsky Legal Counsel /
Conseillère juridique
HELD AT: TENUE À:
The Empire Landmark The Empire Landmark
1400 Robson Street 1400, rue Robson
Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver (C.-B.)
February 29, 2008 Le 29 février 2008
- iv -
TABLE DES MATIÈRES / TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE / PARA
PHASE III (Cont.)
INTERVENTION BY / INTERVENTION PAR:
Variety - The Children's Charity 1357 / 7884
Wyckham Porteus 1359 / 7899
Christopher Gaze 1370 / 7978
City of Nanaimo 1372 / 7993
George Hanson 1375 / 8003
CVI Centre for the Arts 1381 / 8032
Gung Haggis Productions 1386 / 8064
MuddCats 1416 / 8271
Pacific Audio Visual Institute 1425 / 8325
Arthur Hughes 1444 / 8449
Gabriola Radio Society 1452 / 8501
Music B.C. Industry Association 1462 / 8568
NCRA 1472 / 8627
PHASE IV
REPLY BY / RÉPLIQUE PAR:
Matthew Gordon McBride (OBCI) 1486 / 8701
Frank Torres 1488 / 8721
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 1499 / 8793
- iv -
TABLE DES MATIÈRES / TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE / PARA
PHASE IV (Cont.)
REPLY BY / RÉPLIQUE PAR:
902890 Alberta Ltd. 1521 / 8950
Jim Pattison Broadcast Group 1525 / 8978
Narenderjit Pataria (OBCI) 1528 / 8999
The Coast 104.1 FM 1530 / 9021
Evanov Communications Inc. (OBCI) 1534 / 9045
In House Communications Inc. 1535 / 9052
Rock 95 Broadcasting Ltd. 1537 / 9071
6851916 Canada Inc. 1539 / 9082
Astral Media Radio Inc. 1541 / 9097
Harvard Broadcasting Inc. 1546 / 9123
Vista Radio Ltd. 1554 / 9166
Newcap Inc. 1562 / 9214
Touch Canada Broadcasting Inc. 1567 / 9241
0785330 B.C. Ltd. 1568 / 9248
Vancouver, B.C. / Vancouver (C.‑B.)
‑‑‑ Upon resuming on Friday, February 29, 2008
at 0830 / L'audience reprend le Vendredi
29 février 2008 à 0830
LISTNUM 1 \l 1 \s 78837883 THE SECRETARY: We will start with Variety ‑‑ the Children's Charity. Please introduce yourself and you have 10 minutes.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 17884 MR. STEWART: Good morning. My name is Bob Stewart. I am President of Variety ‑‑ The Children's Charity of British Columbia.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17885 I am also a former Chief of Police of the city of Vancouver during the period 1981 to 1991. I have a long history. I was born and raised in the city, and I am quite knowledgeable of how it has developed over time and moved from small village to metropolitan city.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17886 Of course, being an active community person, I am very attuned to current affairs in this city. I am pleased to appear this morning on behalf of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group to support their application.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17887 I have watched the development of the radio networks, having been a frequent visitor to radio and open line shows during my 10 years as a Chief of Police and I became quite aware of the various personalities and people from management in the stations.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17888 More of late, in my capacity as President of a major non‑profit in this part of the world, I am quite knowledgeable of who is active in terms of community service.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17889 Mr. Pattison, who leads the group, I have known for many years. I would not call myself a personal friend of Mr. Pattison's, although if we met on the street ‑‑ and you can meet Mr. Pattison on the street quite regularly ‑‑ he will stop and we will exchange the time of day and move on.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17890 I am quite familiar with his style of management because he has a very diversified portfolio.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17891 I am also Chair of the Board of Governors of a provincial Authority that regulates the motor vehicle industry, and of course Mr. Pattison also has a very active portfolio there. So I am familiar with his business practice.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17892 In terms of his contribution to the community, I think it goes without saying that he is very community minded. He has been a great supporter. He has a record of philanthropy I would say second to none in this part of the world.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17893 He is not one who hesitates to reach out to the community, and in that capacity I have been successful in my fundraising role of producing in this province a major telethon, probably the biggest telethon in this country, the Variety Show of Hearts, which just two weeks ago raised over $8 million in this small province.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17894 We also run a number of radiothons with a variety of radio station companies.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17895 I must say that Mr. Pattison and the Pattison Group are one of the leading sources of funding for us in the remote communities of the province where the smaller radio stations are located.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17896 I understand that the application is to include another FM station in our market, and I have no hesitation in supporting this organization, the Jim Pattison Broadcasting Group, in their application. I think they would make a great contribution to this community.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17897 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17898 We will now hear the presentation of Wyckham Porteous.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 17899 MR. PORTEOUS: I would like to thank you for allowing me to come this morning to speak on behalf of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group and their application for an FM licence.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17900 My name is Wyckham Porteous, I have been a singer/songwriter/performer/playwright/artist in Vancouver for the past 20‑odd years. I have lived in the community for that length of time. I have been active in a variety of endeavours to raise money for various charities, as well as starting a foundation that helps recognize the plight of the women on the downtown east side.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17901 I have been very, very familiar with the Jim Pattison Group, having lived for a long period of time in Vancouver and, like Bob said, his record in terms of philanthropy, community activism in terms of his work within the community speaks for itself.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17902 My particular interest in this application is as an artist and someone who has been recording music and releasing records since 1989. I have found it particularly frustrating to be in an environment where it becomes increasingly difficult to have your music heard by the general public and if you don't have an audience it becomes increasingly difficult to make a living as a performer, particularly in this country.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17903 The AAA format which they are proposing has been in existence in the United States for a little over a decade in a large‑scale way. It has allowed performers that don't necessarily operate in the under‑16 category of music to flourish and have very strong careers, both in terms of record sales and in terms of just radio play and impact in their concerts.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17904 Without that kind of exposure, even in the world of Internet, even in the world of streaming radio, even in the world of satellite radio, it is very, very important for artists to be able to feel that their music is put out there; that they have an opportunity to reach out and have an audience reach back towards them.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17905 The AAA format in the United States currently is responsible, I would say, for the flourishing of Arcade Fire, The New Pornographers, Feist, when she first started out, Sarah McLachlan. All of these are Canadian artists. All of these I feel, if there was not the AAA format in the United States, would not have a career now.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17906 There has been absolutely no support for artists that do not fall into a certain ‑‑ and I use the term "mainstream", but mainstream is relative because whatever is popular becomes mainstream. But in this case mainstream being urban, dance music, hip‑hop.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17907 If you don't have that kind of music in your repertoire, it becomes very, very difficult to have a career because radio formats have become so tight as compared with the late 60s and early 70s when radio was much more free‑form and the broadcaster in whatever hour they were broadcasting had a lot more leeway as to what kind of music they played. And that is not the case these days.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17908 So it is very important to, I think, create a strong artistic community within this country to allow a format that is perhaps a little more broad in its demographic, a little more mature in its listening and enables artists that truly excel in this country all the way back to Neil Young, to Leonard Cohen, to Joni Mitchell, this is the kind of music that this country has produced on an extraordinary basis.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17909 So that is probably the main reason why I am supporting this application.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17910 The Pattison Broadcast Group is another reason why I'm supporting this application, because I believe that the record of Jim Pattison and his group of companies has been one of commitment and a certain strength over the years in establishing ties to the community, staying with the format, staying with the business and really reaching out in a way that is quite unusual to a broader base than just what perhaps would be his own personal interest.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17911 I have met Jimmy on two occasions. I spent 45 minutes singing while he played the piano on his yacht. I did quite a good version of Bye‑Bye Blackbird and he plays it very well.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17912 I also know Glen Clark very well, who works for Jim in a very high capacity. Although, as many people have speculated between their relationship that they don't exactly seem like people that would fit in with each other's business and political points of view, it has been a very, very successful relationship. And Jim Pattison has proven to me, partly through that, that his idea of business is one that transcends what we would normally think of as political or ethical or certain points of view lines. He is very, very ‑‑ a very, very committed person and quite extraordinary.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17913 The Music B.C. Fund, the monies that they propose to help artists in B.C. is also something that I think is very, very, very needed in a community which is very expensive to live in, in a community that is in some ways forcing their artists out through the price of real estate, through the price of just walking down the street in the city.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17914 So it is very important that there is also a financial component that actually helps artists in this market area to not just live, but to flourish and be able to push their music to a much larger audience, allowing them to make a living.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17915 That is my intervention or intervening for now. Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17916 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17917 Commissioner Menzies will lead the questions. Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17918 COMMISSIONER MENZIES: Thank you. Good morning.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17919 Mr. Stewart, I would just like to know your views on how in particular or specifically would approval of this application assist the charity that you represent?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17920 MR. STEWART: Well, I think I would be less than being straightforward if I didn't tell you that if Mr. Pattison had more stations, I would be certainly pursuing more radiothons to raise money for needy children. And based on his track record, I would feel very comfortable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17921 COMMISSIONER MENZIES: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17922 Mr. Porteous, I am curious to know the situation you described regarding formats becoming tighter or more strictly defined and having less leeway as opposed to what you described as a previous era when there was more free‑form in terms of decision‑making.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17923 Can you help me understand a little bit more about how that evolved?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17924 MR. PORTEOUS: Well, Vancouver in particular had a radio station ‑‑ and I believe it is still CFUN, which is 1410. I don't know if it is called CFUN any more.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17925 That radio station, and also CKLG‑FM, which is very famous now, where a group of broadcasters started to broadcast the music of bands from San Francisco, from New York, some European bands and were able to sort of instill their personalities through the music they played and also through kind of how they presented that music.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17926 Over the years, as radio stations became, I guess, much more of a lucrative business opportunity, you started to have programmers that would come in and recommend the songs that they felt should be played. So as that became the norm, which it actually is the norm, that a consultant would be hired and say for 25 stations these are the 40 songs you should be playing in the next two weeks and that's all you should be playing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17927 So it becomes very, very difficult for a new artist to break in, because although one would never want to use the word payola, that is precisely what it is.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17928 So to have a radio station that is committed to a format that is less explored to me means that there is going to be more opportunity.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17929 COMMISSIONER MENZIES: Just in general with the AAA format, what would prevent the same type of thing from happening in terms of that where you ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 17930 MR. PORTEOUS: Nothing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17931 COMMISSIONER MENZIES: Nothing?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17932 MR. PORTEOUS: No. I mean, once a format becomes popular and once that format starts earning money for its advertisers and the station owners, there is nothing that would stop the proliferation of consultants and programmers and all of that kind of thing. So one can only hope.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17933 I believe if you are in the beginning of a process in a format, I think there is such a thing as integrity and I actually believe that the Pattison Group has that kind of integrity.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17934 Now, whether it stays that way and whether formats become the norm, there is really not much you can do about that. It all becomes about business, to a large degree.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17935 COMMISSIONER MENZIES: What I'm hearing from that is that AAA is kind of a breakout from what has been happening.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17936 MR. PORTEOUS: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17937 COMMISSIONER MENZIES: But it would still be at risk in ‑‑ it would still be susceptible to the sort of strict formatting dependent on corporate culture.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17938 MR. PORTEOUS: Yes. But I don't think that is different for any format.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17939 COMMISSIONER MENZIES: Yes, right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17940 Thank you. That's all my questions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17941 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17942 Thank you very much for taking the time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17943 Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17944 Commissioner Cugini...?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17945 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Mr. Porteous, just a couple of questions for you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17946 MR. PORTEOUS: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17947 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: I am on a website right now that is wyckhamporteous.org ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 17948 MR. PORTEOUS: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17949 COMMISSIONER MENZIES: ‑‑ and I can see here the headline is "At Long Last... The UK Wait Is Over!" and that "Please Please Me" was released in the U.K. in July.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17950 MR. PORTEOUS: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17951 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: How much airplay do you get in Canada?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17952 MR. PORTEOUS: Right now?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17953 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17954 MR. PORTEOUS: I would say probably zero to three.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17955 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: How would you describe your music style?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17956 MR. PORTEOUS: I would describe it as actually music that is in a AAA kind of format; it's adult alternative.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17957 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: And no radio stations right now are playing "Please Please Me"?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17958 MR. PORTEOUS: To be fair, my new album is just being released March 18th, so ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 17959 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: That is "Please Please Me"?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17960 MR. PORTEOUS: "Please Please Me" and some other songs. So when I say nobody is playing it right now, that is not completely fair because it is just being released now. So hopefully other people will.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17961 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: So would you be considered an emerging artist in Canada?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17962 MR. PORTEOUS: If I am, I think there is something wrong with the category.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 17963 MR. PORTEOUS: Or maybe it's a compliment to how I look, I don't know.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 17964 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: I see you are playing Hughes Room on Tuesday night.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17965 MR. PORTEOUS: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17966 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: That should be fun.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17967 MR. PORTEOUS: Yes, it will be.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17968 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Yes, too bad I'm here. Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17969 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you for taking the time to participate in the proceedings.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17970 MR. PORTEOUS: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17971 THE SECRETARY: Now I would call Boyd Thomson, Christopher Gaze, Vancouver Multicultural Society, Carla Graebner, Nanaimo Magazine, CVI Centre for the Arts ‑‑ Nanaimo, Merv Unger and Gung Haggis Productions to come to the presentation table.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 1 \l 17972 THE SECRETARY: We will start with the presentation of Boyd Thomson.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17973 We will then start with Christopher Gaze.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17974 MR. GAZE: Hello.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17975 THE SECRETARY: Are you Mr. Christopher Gaze?
LISTNUM 1 \l 17976 MR. GAZE: Hello, my name is Christopher Gaze, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17977 THE SECRETARY: Perfect. You have 10 minutes.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 17978 MR. GAZE: Thank you. I shall not need that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17979 My name is Christopher Gaze. I am the Artistic Director of a Shakespeare Festival here in Vancouver called Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17980 I wish to speak to the fact that our audience ‑‑ it is not purely just about Bard, as an ordinary citizen as well, but as far as the Shakespeare Festival is concerned there is a massive interest in what we do here in Vancouver. 87,000 people came to Bard last year. That was for different productions and that was every single ticket from beginning to end. So it is quite a phenomenon, frankly, in the arts.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17981 Our audience, as you would probably recognize, is the kind of audience that listens to CBC; not wholly, but certainly that would be the main part of it. It is very disturbing when you drive around the city or indeed at home ‑‑ and I have had this where we live for some years in Kitsilano ‑‑ in one portion of our home we cannot get CBC ‑‑ it is very odd ‑‑ on 690.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17982 So it is alarming when I think that there are a lot of people out there that may not be getting the message or the message is constantly an irritant to them when it fades in and out. CBC of course talks to its audience about many, many things and we are part of that, the Shakespeare Festival. So it is alarming that that message is not going out loud and clear.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17983 I understand that Vancouver and perhaps one other place in Canada is the only place that is still on the AM band and I don't understand that. We should be serviced the very best, as the rest of Canada is, with a clear CBC signal getting through to everyone.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17984 The CBC, one can argue and has been argued for so many years, is perhaps the glue that holds Canada together, that makes us unified and understand who we are from coast to coast. It is just too important for Canada that that signal should be interrupted in any way.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17985 So obviously I'm grateful that you have given me a few minutes to speak to you. I am passionate about this and you know very clearly what my message is.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17986 Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17987 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17988 We will now hear the presentation of Vancouver Multicultural Society.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17989 MR. UNGER: Actually, if I may, on behalf of my colleagues and I, we have a presentation and one will follow the other.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17990 My name is Merv Unger. I am a City councillor and Acting Mayor for the city of Nanaimo on Central Vancouver Island.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17991 If that is okay, I would like to proceed.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17992 THE SECRETARY: Yes, you may go ahead. You have 10 minutes.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 17993 MR. UNGER: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17994 I asked to make this presentation today because I strongly believe that a CBC FM station on Central Vancouver Island would be of benefit to all of our residents, businesses and local governments. The regional District of Nanaimo is the fastest‑growing regional District in British Columbia and the city of Nanaimo is the second fastest growing city in British Columbia.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17995 The trade area for Nanaimo on Central Vancouver Island, including the west coast of the island, is 348,000 people. The presence of an FM CBC station serving this population with a regional radio content goes without saying.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17996 Vancouver Island has changed visibly in the past decade, with an average 7 per cent population growth rate in our region. This growth continues. Our business sectors, artists and organizations, all of which make up our diverse communities, would support an on‑air outlet for information and dialogue.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17997 We have a very vibrant economy, high levels of growth and quality of life. Our city would benefit greatly by having a greater profile in the national dialogue.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17998 Nanaimo offers the largest retail shopping locations on Vancouver Island north of Victoria and, more to the point, our shopping malls are designated emergency shelters in the event of large‑scale community or natural catastrophe. Our city has invested in an emergency call alert system, but the presence of a single radio station to broadcast immediate information to our residents, disaster response teams and provincial emergency personnel would ensure an improved response all around and an associated reduction in loss of life.
LISTNUM 1 \l 17999 In closing, I want to thank you for listening to this very brief presentation and for inviting a response from the residents of Central Vancouver Island and Nanaimo, as well as elected officials from all of the Vancouver Island communities that have responded in writing to the potential of an FM station in Nanaimo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18000 We look forward to your favourable decision to grant this frequency application by the CBC.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18001 Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18002 I would like to now defer to Mr. George Hanson of the Nanaimo business community. Thank you.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 18003 MR. HANSON: My name is George Hanson and I live in the city of Nanaimo. I am here at the request of Leslie Lorenz of Nanaimo Magazine and the Chamber of Commerce who was not able to make it here today.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18004 Madam Chair and Commissioners, thank you for this opportunity to intervene.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18005 I am here representing Nanaimo business interests in support of the CBC application. I am Managing Director of the Downtown Nanaimo Partnership with a single mandate to revitalize downtown Nanaimo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18006 I am a long‑standing member of the Nanaimo Economic Development Group and an ex‑officio board member of the Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce. I am a member of the Advisory Council for the Malaspina Institute for Community Leadership and Innovation, a member of the Destination Nanaimo Marketing Advisory Committee, a member of the Safer Nanaimo Committee, cofounder of YES Nanaimo, which is a group of community stakeholders committed to supporting initiatives that contribute to the general wellbeing, social good and quality of life in Nanaimo. And I am the former President of the Business Improvement Areas of British Columbia.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18007 I am here representing the full range of these Nanaimo business interests.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18008 Business thrives in an environment of growth and to a large degree growth is a product of increased profile, market awareness and continual reinforcement of relevant information streamed to target audiences. Nanaimo is grossly underserved by radio because of limited access to radio programming that is relevant to the Vancouver Island marketplace.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18009 Because the Nanaimo region is not an important market to Vancouver, none of the content of the 30 existing Vancouver radio frequencies speaks to our needs or our issues. Therefore, no profile is given to the island and no market awareness is built to help drive the Nanaimo economy.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18010 Because the CBC signal from Victoria does not carry well to Nanaimo, or to the rest of Vancouver Island and coastal region for that matter, there is no real reason to develop content profiling Nanaimo as part of the CBC Victoria programming.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18011 So even though Nanaimo could get some profile and market awareness on CBC, we don't because the signal doesn't carry. Thus, as strange as this may seem in 2008, we in Nanaimo live in virtual radio isolation. We can't get our message out and we are bombarded by messages from elsewhere with no meaning to us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18012 We have three local stations, two commercial and one community station, that play their part and that incidentally support the CBC application. Otherwise, being only 34 kilometres from Vancouver, our airwaves are dominated by Vancouver commercial radio broadcasts. We hear all 30 Vancouver frequencies loud and clear, all of it irrelevant and none of it promoting the island economy.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18013 Ironically, the CBC broadcast from Victoria that would be relevant and would help profile our region can't be received by most people in our marketplace.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18014 It may be difficult to understand from a Vancouver‑centric perspective, and I say this as a former resident of Vancouver, but the Vancouver news has nothing to do with us. Our weather is so completely different from Vancouver because of the ocean and topographical influences that weather reports from Vancouver are often quite literally the exact opposite of the weather we are having in Nanaimo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18015 And the traffic jam on the Second Narrows Bridge, well, it has nothing to do with us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18016 Nanaimo and the rest of Vancouver Island north of Victoria has been changing and is changing at a phenomenal pace, and we are crying out for improved regional, national and international coverage and awareness.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18017 Downtown Nanaimo, for instance, with 700 businesses, 5,300 employees, 4,300 residents and more than $200 million in commercial property assessments, is the regional focal point for provincial and federal government offices and is the largest business district on Vancouver Island outside of Victoria.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18018 We have more than $400 million worth of construction presently under way in our downtown alone and the Destination Nanaimo Marketing Committee, of which I am a member, is charged with guiding an annual budget of $1 million to attract tourism and commercial business to Nanaimo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18019 None of our issues, none of our events, none of our progress, none of our stories that might drive market awareness and build appeal, none of our challenges and successes, none of our community development or human interest stories ever make it to the airwaves. But we sure can tell you how far traffic is backed up on the Oak Street Bridge and which nightclub is humming in Surrey.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18020 With respect to the special interests promoted by the various Vancouver applicants, these represent niche markets within an already broadly served marketplace. Adding one more frequency to the pool of broadcasting in Vancouver would be a drop in the bucket, with no appreciable impact to the greater Vancouver general populace or marketplace.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18021 In contrast to this, awarding this one remaining FM frequency to the CBC would have enormous impact on the 348,000 people living on Vancouver Island in Nanaimo North. This is not a niche market; this is an entire regional population that is underserved.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18022 In addition to the 348,000 people that are living in Nanaimo and Vancouver Island North, we also have tens of millions of visitors that are coming to Vancouver Island, touring the Island and who do not have access to an adequate CBC signal while they are on the island.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18023 That is a huge part of our marketplace and a CBC station would serve them dramatically.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18024 In addition to the opportunity for increased regional profile through regular CBC news and other programming, combined with the potential for national and international exposure through the CBC network, we would have a measurable commercial benefit to our local businesses and regional economy. This one frequency, that would be a small addition to the Vancouver marketplace, would be an ocean of opportunity for Nanaimo and for the rest of Vancouver Island.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18025 Nanaimo and the rest of the Island region respectfully asks only that you help us come into the 21st century. We understand that the rest of the country, and other parts of the world even, enjoys the CBC.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18026 We only ask that we too receive the benefits of the national public radio towards which we all contribute.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18027 I am also aware that the CRTC has received a massive amount of written support for the CBC from the Nanaimo area. When you grant your approval for the CBC application, we will thank you for recognizing our clear need for a higher level of service.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18028 The Nanaimo business community supports you in a decision that will favour the CBC.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18029 Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18030 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18031 We will now hear from CVI Centre for the Arts.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 18032 MS TANG: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18033 In view of the two former presentations, I will focus primarily on the arts.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18034 Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you here at this public hearing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18035 My name is Camilla Tang. I am from Nanaimo and I strongly support the CBC application which will bring a much needed service to Nanaimo and other areas underserved by radio.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18036 With my extensive involvement in several arts organizations, I am here to represent our arts community as a whole. I am a former President of the Nanaimo Art Gallery, a Commissioner of the Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission of Nanaimo, as well as a member of the Cultural Committee, and I am presently the founding President of the Centre for the Arts ‑‑ Nanaimo, Chair of the Arts, Culture and Entertainment Committee of the Downtown Nanaimo Partnership, and Chair of the Organizing Committee of Nanaimo 2008 Cultural Capital of Canada Committee.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18037 I also Chair the Nanaimo Spirit Committee of the 2010 Legacies Now.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18038 We have a vibrant, productive and excellent arts and culture sector in Nanaimo and on the Island as a whole. Several national and international artists have come from Nanaimo and the area. Just two of note are Diana Krall and Ingrid Jensen.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18039 And we have one of the highest per capita of artists with a wide variety of disciplines living among us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18040 This leads to a constant rise of emerging artists, some already receiving international acclaim. Some of the names to watch: We have Shae Apland, baritone; Katy Bowen‑Roberts, singer and producer; Brendan Tang, a structural ceramic artist; and Jillian Vanstone with the National Ballet of Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18041 In 2007 four Nanaimo‑ites received Juno nominations. The Booker Award went to a local writer, and the Canadian ballroom dance champion, Zillion Wong, is from and still lives in Nanaimo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18042 Our local school jazz bands are among the highest winning bands in the National Music Fest Competition. They have spread the rumour that it is something in the water.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18043 We have a series of professionals festivals, the Nanaimo Art Galleries original works of Island artists, the Vancouver Island Symphony on the Harbour.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18044 We recently had a superb production of symphony and dance, which Zillion Wong was there, performing in Nanaimo and Comox to over 8,000 children and theatre audiences.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18045 We have the Nanaimo Blues Festival, with international, national and local performers, including First Nations; the Vancouver Island Children's Festival and the Children's Book Festival, and on and on I can go.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18046 Our professional theatre group does more than just good theatre. They have commissioned and performed several original works recalling our fascinating history.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18047 We have a series on the Dunsmuir's, "Brother 12", the show best left buried about the Chinese and the burning of Chinatown in Nanaimo; "The Concubines Children", we did the play script and the play based on that very successful book.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18048 And of course our colourful mayor, Frank Ney, are a few examples.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18049 Our Port Theatre is nationally recognized and we shall soon be opening a Class A museum with a dedicated Cosalish First Nations exhibit.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18050 All of this and the work this community will continue to do brought Nanaimo the distinction of being a cultural capital of Canada for 2008, and we shall be enjoying over 36 celebratory and legacy events throughout the year, showcasing a broad diversity of arts and cultures, including those of the Nanaimo First Nation, the Francophone and multicultural communities. That is on top of the many arts, culture and sports events usually occurring during the year.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18051 As a matter of fact, as an indication of the depth of cultural activity on the island, the designation of Cultural Capital of Canada has been won by three Island communities: Victoria in 2005, Comox Valley in 2007 and Nanaimo in 2008.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18052 But all this work and all this energy and all this creativity, which amounts to a cultural economy, is greatly diminished without the greater awareness outside of Nanaimo. Nanaimo and the Vancouver Island region has historically been underserved by radio with the calibre of programming which the CBC delivers. As one of the fastest‑growing regions, that is even more so.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18053 I commend the CBC for recognizing this deficiency and for their efforts to remedy it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18054 Nanaimo, because of its demographic and lifestyle, is a radio listening community. The CBC is recognized and respected for their support and encouragement of young and emerging artists, and with their presence in this region the CBC will give them a fairer opportunity to succeed.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18055 Yesterday I heard a comment made about arts other than music on the radio, and the comment was, "How do we get ballet on the radio? I do not know."
LISTNUM 1 \l 18056 Well, from the programming I have heard and enjoyed on CBC, this is exactly what CBC does. They get all the arts of disciplines across the airwaves: music, dance, theatre, visual artists, modern, classic, contemporary, new world, old world, everything, through their interviews, their profiling, reports on events, and they play music, too.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18057 As my son reminded me this morning, he said "Mom" ‑‑ he lives here in Vancouver now. He says, "Mom, Nanaimo is still only known for bathtub races and the Nanaimo bars, both the eating kind and the drinking kind."
LISTNUM 1 \l 18058 But there is a lot more that we want the world to know about us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18059 I believe we not only need the existing programming of CBC but we also need the ability to get our news out to a broader audience, nationally and internationally. We need and deserve better coverage of the calibre and experience of the CBC and the addition of another commercial station will surely not meet our needs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18060 I understand that this may be the last FM radio frequency available in our region and consequently it is the last opportunity to correct this deficient service. So I urge you most strongly to approve the CBC application for the FM frequency to serve Nanaimo and the area, and we shall thank you deeply.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18061 Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18062 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18063 We will now hear the presentation of Gung Haggis Productions.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 18064 MR. WONG: Hello. My name is Todd Wong. I am President of Gung Haggis Productions, which is a small, little company that puts together Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18065 Yes, you can laugh about that, but again what I emphasize is that B.C.'s pioneering cultures were not English and French, our two official languages of Canada, but in B.C. our pioneers have been Scottish and Chinese. They built this province.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18066 Getting that story out is important. Guess what, some of its roots are right here in Nanaimo, because of the Dunsmuirs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18067 Robert Dunsmuir, one of our Premiers of British Columbia, was a coal baron. At one point he was the fourth richest man in North America.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18068 Who did he employ in his mines? Chinese labourers. And they didn't like each other sometimes, but now they do. They have inter‑married.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18069 This is one of the stories that CBC carries. This is what we share. When we talk about culture diversity, it is not little ethnic pockets across this land. But did you know that Nunavut, the new territory, actually has 11 different official languages?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18070 I was interviewed on The Current, speaking about should Canada have another third official language. These are some of the stories that bind us across this country as a nation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18071 One of the things I do in Vancouver here is as a community activist. I am also co‑President of the Asian‑Canadian Writers Workshop. I am President of the historic Joy Kogawa House, Director for the Canadian Club Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18072 How do we share our stories with Nanaimo? How do we share the stories of Nanaimo with the rest of Canada?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18073 My great, great grandfather, Reverend Chan Yu Tan, was a Chinese Methodist lay preacher in Nanaimo and he was the subject of a CBC Newsworld documentary that occurred last year, last summer. We went to Nanaimo to interview my grand‑aunt who grew up with her grandfather.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18074 How do we get these stories out? Having a CBC Bureau in Nanaimo would be a great start.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18075 The competition for radio space is very busy. There are a lot of applicants for commercial radio. I don't know if, you know, I would rather listen to another Rolling Stones song again or can I listen to Wayson Choy.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18076 What Camilla was saying, "Things Best Left Buried" was commissioned for our Nanaimo by the playwright Marty Wong who lives in Alberta. But to learn that Nanaimo once had one of the largest thriving Chinatowns in this country and was burned down to the ground, it's terrible.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18077 When she mentioned Denise Chong, she is one of my heroes. Did you know that she also used to work as a writer in Pierre Trudeau's office? But her story, "The Concubine's Children" was set in Nanaimo and they put on this play. And people from Vancouver, we got excited and we went over to see it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18078 How did we hear about it? Through CBC radio.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18079 There is another time when the Chinese‑Canadian Historical Society here, we started putting on history theatres. We went to Vancouver Museum to put one on. The next place we put one on, Nanaimo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18080 Why? There is a good strong history there.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18081 Also, Imogene Lim is one of the professors at Malaspina University College. My grand‑aunt came and I had my display about the Reverend Chan Legacy and she is looking at the pictures going, "That's my granddad. That's my mother. How did you get these pictures?"
LISTNUM 1 \l 18082 How did she get there? It was a good question, because one of her friends was listening to CBC radio and they heard our story on "North by Northwest" covering issues from across Canada ‑‑ sorry, from British Columbia, and she said, "Helen, we have to go see the show." That is how she heard about what was happening in Nanaimo. It was very important.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18083 Also, speaking there was Janice Wong. She is my cousin. She was also featured on the documentary "The Chan Legacy". And also there is a CBC documentary called "Journey to Lotus Land".
LISTNUM 1 \l 18084 Janice wrote a book called "CHOW Journeys from China to Canada: Memories of Food and Family". It is because her family also came from Nanaimo, and when she does book readings there, the community comes out and supports it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18085 How do we share the stories of Nanaimo? This is a really good way to do that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18086 I am fond of saying that meaningfulness is important to life and for radio listeners in Nanaimo and environs having a CBC Bureau, having CBC access makes a big, important step. There are people across this Canada, my friends, who have said to me, "Look, I'm mad about the CBC. We pay money, we are taxpayers, and we can't get it."
LISTNUM 1 \l 18087 Canada needs a strong national radio programming. The CRTC is important to make sure that happens.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18088 So we have to ask you to make sure that Canada and the CBC are fulfilling their mandate of being responsible to citizens across this country and not to leave Nanaimo, one of the fastest‑growing populations, out of the loop.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18089 Last year a man contacted me. He came from Nanaimo and he said, "I have heard about Gung Haggis Fat Choy. I would like to have a Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner in Nanaimo."
LISTNUM 1 \l 18090 Why? He is Scottish. He came from Scotland. His wife is Chinese. Their children are growing up both Chinese and Scottish and especially Canadian.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18091 We want to create more Canadian events in Nanaimo and to share what goes on back‑and‑forth. I think this is important.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18092 Rick Scott lives on Protection Island. Internationally known. He has created a wonderful CD called "The Five Elements" with Harry Wong, who is like the Raffi of Hong Kong. Imagine. CBC has played that. Rick Scott and Harry Wong came and performed at Gung Haggis Fat Choy when we had Shelagh Rogers, who now lives on Gabriola Island, as co‑host.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18093 This is Canadian culture being made, happening, and we don't get put on AAA radio format. I'm sorry, but CBC gives an opportunity to emerging artists of ballet, of everything, of writing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18094 Ruth Ozaki ‑‑ I have to show you this. You have read "My Year of Meats"? Well, maybe you don't all live in Vancouver. This was the one book that won Vancouver Choice for the Vancouver Public Library this past year. Ruth Ozaki lives on Cortes Island. We have a thriving writers community up and down the Island.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18095 Writers Festival. Wayson Choy gave a great talk this past summer. Wayson Choy lives in Toronto, but he grew up here in Vancouver and Governor General's Award Nominee, "All That Matters".
LISTNUM 1 \l 18096 We have to make things meaningful.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18097 Also, this past Tuesday was featured on the Global News television TV news. They are doing a week‑long story about what is important in B.C., what makes B.C. world‑class? They said cultural diversity.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18098 They interviewed me because I also run Dragonboat races, about Gung Haggis Fat Choy, our intercultural concept that CBC really gets.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18099 I have to ask you: Did you know that Nanaimo has one of the largest, fastest growing dragonboat races in this country? They are not just being known for bathtub races; they want to be also known about dragonboat races, because it is a way of bringing all the aspects, all the community, all the ethnic groups together.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18100 So to help this flourish, please support this petition, this proposal by the CBC for Gabriola Island, because CBC has enriched my life. Nanaimo stories have enriched my life, my stories about Nanaimo have enriched Nanaimo's life and this is important, I mean, how we can connect the small town, the small city stories from across the country. People relate to that, whether it is going to be in Gander, Newfoundland or Outlook, Saskatchewan. People can relate to these stories.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18101 Whenever I travel across Canada, when I have heard Peter Zosky when I have been driving across Idaho, I can feel proud about that. When I heard Shelagh Rogers, I was in salt Spring Island. It was during the CBC strike. It was so heartbreaking, but it was so familiar to hear Shelagh's voice.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18102 I have to tell you that when the CBC was on strike ‑‑ excuse me, when the CBC was locked out, because there is a big difference there ‑‑ people across this country were upset and we realized in Vancouver how much we lost because we couldn't access the CBC; arts communities, the non‑profit communities who really use the CBC to tell their stories.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18103 This is part of what holds this country together and shares us together. It is part of our nation building.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18104 Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18105 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, panel, for your truly heartfelt interventions. I can feel your passion is palpable and I appreciate that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18106 I think we are in a difficult spot. The problem with Vancouver and B.C. is the scarcity of spectrum. If we could, if we had all the frequencies, if the topography of our land were different, you know, everyone could get a licence; everyone could be on radio. But that is just not the reality.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18107 I think you have added to the debate today of we really are talking about the frequency 104.1 and why it should be used to ‑‑ is there a greater gain to use it to serve the sort of 100,000 versus adding to the diversity of music on the mainland where the population is a million?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18108 It is a difficult decision.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18109 Now, Mr. ‑‑ I wrote all your names down if I can find it. Mr. Gaze ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 18110 MR. GAZE: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18111 THE CHAIRPERSON: The CBC always attracts a lot of debate, and that's great. That's great for the country that people are engaged about our public broadcaster.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18112 We have interventions, yes, in support, but there were also a substantial number of interventions expressing concern and opposing and saying that if CBC is moved to the FM band that they will mow longer receive CBC.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18113 What do you think we should say to those interveners?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18114 MR. GAZE: I'm sorry, I don't think I understand.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18115 Why couldn't they get the other band on FM?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18116 THE CHAIRPERSON: Because of the topography. When CBC switches to the FM band ‑‑ now, this is what they are telling us ‑‑ they will no longer be ‑‑ the FM frequency is a line of sight and because of the topography the AM band is currently more efficient in covering all of the area. And when the AM band is switched off and CBC is reliant on the FM band, then because of their location, they will not receive coverage.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18117 MR. GAZE: Well, that's puzzling to me. I'm not really in a position to respond to that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18118 I believed that the FM band will be the cure‑all for everybody to get a good, clear signal of CBC. That was my understanding. I'm not an engineer.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18119 THE CHAIRPERSON: All right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18120 MR. GAZE: But I am told that it will be very much better here in Vancouver. I can't speak for the rest of the province.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18121 THE CHAIRPERSON: All right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18122 Can I just follow up with one question first, Mr. Wong, and then I will get to you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18123 I just wanted to confirm that you were talking about difficulty of reception in Kitsilano.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18124 MR. GAZE: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18125 THE CHAIRPERSON: We are talking about in your case it is Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18126 MR. GAZE: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18127 THE CHAIRPERSON: All right, great.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18128 Sorry, Mr. Wong, you had something to add?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18129 MR. WONG: Well, part of the ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 18130 THE CHAIRPERSON: Your microphone, please.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18131 MR. WONG: Sorry. Microphone, here we go.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18132 Part of the proposal for CBC is also to install a radio transmitter on Gabriola Island. That will help improve the service and it is going to be much better reaching.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18133 So I think that answers the question.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18134 THE CHAIRPERSON: I think yesterday when the applicants came back, there is a lot of debate on what options are open and what options can be pursued, and then there is the question of what pockets will be left unserved if you switch to the FM or if you remain in AM.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18135 It is something that we have to sort through.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18136 Yes, Mr. Unger?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18137 MR. UNGER: Yes, if and when the CBC does move to FM in Vancouver, we would be one of those pockets that would not be served unless we get the frequency available from Gabriola Island, which is within five to seven kilometres from Nanaimo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18138 THE CHAIRPERSON: By the way, Mr. Unger, I agree with you. I have probably been to Nanaimo more often than I have been to Victoria, and my husband and I and our family often say that it is one of the best‑kept secrets. In terms of the vicinity to the amenities and what B.C. has to offer, it is a very attractive and vibrant community.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18139 MR. UNGER: And the secret is getting out.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18140 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes, I know.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18141 I think the truth of the matter, too, is every community, large or small, is important to the country and to CBC. Even I think in CBC's own studies they were referring to ‑‑ and I believe it was a cutoff point of about 100,000 in terms of when they were looking at the cities that they want to ‑‑ I'm not putting this right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18142 In their study of what they called "City of Consequence To Serve Now", Nanaimo is not quite there yet in terms of size.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18143 Why do you ‑‑ do you want to get one more kick at the cat of why you think this scarce frequency that we have should be dedicated to serve a small community rather than be of benefit to a larger community?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18144 MR. UNGER: Nanaimo, according to the latest census, is 80,000 population. However, within the regional District, which is scattered right around the Nanaimo and within very few miles, is close to 150,000 people.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18145 If we take the rest of Vancouver Island North of the Malahat into consideration, we are talking about a population of 348,000.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18146 So the figure for Nanaimo itself for the city limits would be under that, but when you take the Nanaimo region, which would be covered very well by a new signal, that would be well over the 150,000 mark and closer to the 350,000 mark.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18147 THE CHAIRPERSON: I think it was Mr. Hanson who mentioned the stations currently serving Nanaimo, and you said that the community station and then I believe Pattison has The Q! and then Rogers has THE OCEAN.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18148 Do those stations offer programming that are local to Nanaimo?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18149 MR. HANSON: Yes. I think the two commercial stations, for instance, certainly have local news and weather and sports and things like that. But, as we all know, public radio like CBC carries a whole range of informational programming that never makes it on commercial airwaves.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18150 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18151 MR. HANSON: Our CHLY, the Malaspina community station, certainly carries local programming as well. But a local community station obviously doesn't provide the profile to the community beyond the community, and for the full range and scope of what is going on in the community that is what the CBC station would carry.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18152 THE CHAIRPERSON: I don't know whether you had a chance to be here when CBC was presenting.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18153 MR. HANSON: No, I wasn't.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18154 THE CHAIRPERSON: All right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18155 Now, when we compared the program schedule of Vancouver and Victoria ‑‑ as you know, what CBC is proposing to do is to really replace the Vancouver programming that you will be getting with the Victoria programming by the 104.1 frequency.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18156 The programming from the Victoria station will still be regional, and we are talking about I believe it was about 28.5 hours of programming per week that would be different from the programming you currently receive from Vancouver. The main differences will be during the morning drive and the afternoon drive.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18157 MR. HANSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18158 THE CHAIRPERSON: So we are really replacing one regional program with another regional program.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18159 MR. HANSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18160 THE CHAIRPERSON: Do you have a comment on that?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18161 You are replacing ‑‑ about 90 to 100 hours programming per week would still be the same as what we get in Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18162 MR. HANSON: I think the significant difference there is that people that live on Vancouver Island relate as Islanders.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18163 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18164 MR. HANSON: So regional programming out of Victoria has significantly more relevance to the rest of the Island listeners than any programming out of Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18165 As my colleague Camilla Tang so eloquently said, we also see this as a critical stepping stone towards the future because of where we see the Island going. So the frequency and the tower give CBC Victoria the first step towards providing more programming in the Victoria agenda that has relevance beyond Victoria because there are people beyond Victoria that can actually listen to it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18166 Second, we are looking forward to them being able to put a Bureau together for Nanaimo eventually so that we would have a Nanaimo Bureau producing Nanaimo programming that could be shared on the airwaves of B.C. and across the country and internationally which gives, again, more profile to this growing dynamic community.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18167 So I think my comment is this isn't about 2008; this is about the next 30, 40, 50 years. And as we are growing on the island and the island economy are we going to continually be strapped to programming that isn't relevant to us, or are we going to open the door for the level of service in the Nanaimo and Vancouver Island region that we really need now and certainly will need even more in the future?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18168 THE CHAIRPERSON: Are you aware of the intervention by the Gabriola Radio Society?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18169 MR. HANSON: I am aware that they are hoping to be able to have a community station linked in somehow, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18170 THE CHAIRPERSON: Do you have a comment about that?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18171 MR. HANSON: Well, we are certainly supportive of community radio. There again, it serves an interesting niche in the community that isn't and probably never will be served by commercial radio.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18172 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18173 I will ask at this point if my colleagues have any questions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18174 Commissioner Williams, please.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18175 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Good morning, panellists, and welcome to our hearing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18176 I have a question particularly for the two gentlemen from Nanaimo, Mr. Unger and Mr. Hanson.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18177 In terms of transportation links, say the number of ferries coming in and out of Nanaimo, what is the primary destination? Where is the heaviest traffic run?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18178 MR. UNGER: Without having the information at hand ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 18179 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It doesn't have to be exact.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18180 MR. UNGER: ‑‑ the ferries run every two hours in both directions. It is one of the main links to the mainland from Vancouver and is the only link north of the Malahat for the B.C. Ferries System.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18181 The Nanaimo Airport is now in an expansion to lengthen the runway to the point that we will be able to accommodate 737 aircraft. We are the transportation hub of the Island north of the Malahat. That is one of the backbones of our economy.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18182 Many of the people who come on the ferries, during the summer, especially the tourist traffic, are headed to all parts of the island, especially the Pacific Rim National Park on the very far west side of the Island and Tofino and Ucluelet.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18183 The Comox Valley has really been vibrant in recent years and their link is with an airline direct flights to Calgary and Edmonton. So it is becoming a very, very important link to the mainland and to the Island.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18184 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes. So your primary connections are with the mainland or Vancouver, I guess Tsawwassen or Horseshoe Bay?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18185 MR. UNGER: That's correct.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18186 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How much of the visitors traffic that comes to your area comes from Victoria down the highway as opposed to coming in on these ferries?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18187 Would you say the ferries bring more people or the highway from Victoria?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18188 MR. UNGER: When it comes to the tourist traffic, we have been encouraging a circle route or a triangle where you can go from Vancouver to Nanaimo to Victoria and back. Because of the Victoria ferry connection, that makes it very easy. Or the reverse of course, going to Victoria first and then coming up Island and taking a different ferry and having different views.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18189 As having been born on the Prairies myself, that is akin to an ocean cruise which many people view that way on their first sailing between. So if you can go through all the islands on the Victoria route and then come back on the other route through Nanaimo, that makes for a very interesting, varied trip for anyone.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18190 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes, I have taken it many times, many of them. It just seems to me that the Horseshoe Bay ‑‑ well, the largest ferries, B.C. Ferries are putting their largest ferries on the Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo run. There must be a traffic reason for them doing that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18191 MR. UNGER: There is, and the new ferry, which will be going into service next month, the first of the three has been put on the Nanaimo run.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18192 The second new one, which has left the shipyard already on its way to Vancouver Island, will be serving the Nanaimo Duke Point to Tsawwassen run.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18193 And the third one that is being built right now will be serving Victoria‑Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18194 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So two‑thirds of the ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 18195 MR. UNGER: Two of the new ones are coming to Nanaimo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18196 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Two of the new three will be servicing a route from Vancouver essentially to Nanaimo?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18197 MR. UNGER: That's correct.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18198 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's in terms of tourism.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18199 I imagine there are people that commute between the centres. Would more people commute to Vancouver or to Victoria?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18200 MR. HANSON: I think there certainly are more people commuting to Victoria than to Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18201 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: All right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18202 MR. HANSON: Although we are seeing ‑‑ I mean, Nanaimo has become so attractive because of its central location that we are seeing more and more people going in every direction.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18203 Just as an anecdotal example, for instance, in 2006 there were 90,000 float plane passengers between Nanaimo and Vancouver and in 2007 there are 160,000.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18204 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes. That is the next question I was going to actually, following up on these transportation links.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18205 MR. HANSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18206 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So do you have the same sort of transportation link with air to Victoria with that same traffic level?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18207 MR. HANSON: It is actually being worked on right now. That is one of the odd things on Vancouver Island is that there is no north‑south airplane service; it is all east‑west.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18208 But the vehicular traffic between Victoria and points north has been growing dramatically over the last decade.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18209 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: With the bulk of the people coming to the Island coming from the mainland or Vancouver, I would like to explore a little more why you feel you have a stronger connection with Victoria than Vancouver and if you would be basically just switching a CBC signal from Vancouver for one from Victoria and then you say, "Well, perhaps we can get a Nanaimo Bureau."
LISTNUM 1 \l 18210 Well, could you not get a Nanaimo Bureau from CBC Vancouver? Like CBC is CBC.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18211 Could you answer questions in that area?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18212 MR. HANSON: Again, I think the Island‑centricity of sort of the psychology of the Island culture is something unto itself. I don't have my B.C. history all in front of me, but in some respects Vancouver Island is barely part of British Columbia in the minds of people that are on the Island and that culture, it does tend to be more Island‑centric.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18213 I think part of it also is that the sheer massive size of Vancouver is daunting to the Islanders from the standpoint of being able to get their voice in edgewise. So a Bureau coverage coming out of Victoria has the sense, just because of the matching in population ‑‑ the Island population is about the same as the Greater Victoria population ‑‑ that there is a sense of evenness there relative to the potential for coverage and expansion of our story.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18214 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Mr. Unger...?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18215 MR. UNGER: Yes. I believe, too, that it's a two‑way street. An Upper Island influence can improve the programming for Victoria as well and for the Victoria listenership give them a broader range of programming when they hear the material from Up Island.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18216 This is another thing we are looking at, is feeding into the Victoria market rather than just receiving and going even beyond the Victoria market. By having a CBC connection in Nanaimo we would be able to, in some programming, feed the national scene as well and get right across Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18217 But I think it is important to look at not what Victoria will feed to us, but just as important what the Victoria market will get as a result of the Up Island being able to connect into it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18218 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So from a City of Nanaimo perspective, then, you see a bigger opportunity of marketing Nanaimo to Victoria rather than the much larger Vancouver?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18219 MR. UNGER: I don't think it makes really that much difference. I think it is a matter of technical ability, as well, for the CBC as opposed to ‑‑ however, I think the opportunity to get programming on a Victoria transmission or Victoria studio would be greater because of the larger amount of input in the Vancouver market, where they have more organizations and local Vancouver community events.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18220 And being able to get into the programming in Vancouver would be more difficult than to get into the Victoria programming from our standpoint.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18221 MR. HANSON: Can I speak to that as well?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18222 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Mr. Hanson...?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18223 MR. HANSON: Yes. I think there are two things here, too.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18224 From the standpoint of our destination marketing for ongoing regular business in Nanaimo, Victoria is a much stronger market for us than Vancouver is, just again because we are on the Island and the convenience and people in Victoria think about coming Up Island in a way that people in the Lower Mainland don't think about because of the water barrier.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18225 I think the other thing to say is that I don't have any statistics in front of me, but it would be ‑‑ I think it is a jump in assumption to assume that the millions of people trafficking through Nanaimo on B.C. Ferries are coming from Vancouver, because huge numbers of those, they are not people from Vancouver; they are people that are coming to the Island via Vancouver from other places.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18226 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh, I agree. I agree with that, but they may have been listening to CBC in Vancouver on their way there, I guess is what I'm saying ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 18227 MR. HANSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18228 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: ‑‑ not waiting until they got there to see if they could find CBC Victoria.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18229 MR. HANSON: Sure.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18230 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes...?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18231 MS TANG: Yes, I would like to contribute something from the arts as well.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18232 The kind of work that is produced, a lot of it being original in Nanaimo, is also of great interest to Victoria. Our Children's Festival also performs in Victoria because there is no other Children's Festival on the Island.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18233 Our symphony, the work our symphony is doing; our theatre, as I said, with the Dunsmuirs. The Dunsmuir family built Craigdarroch Castle and Hatley Park.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18234 The connections, they are more relevant in Victoria, hence they cover our work. And so we will get better coverage and be able to feed our stories more frequently than if it was the Vancouver market.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18235 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18236 Our Chair, Chair del Val, was talking to you about if CBC was granted this application in its entirety and they removed the AM channel, that many listeners on Vancouver Island and in the marine community would suffer. So a large percentage of our interventions dealt with that issue, mainly because the 690 AM band, as she was explaining through the topography, can reach the northern tip of Vancouver Island with little difficulty, whereas an FM is kind of confined to a very smaller area.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18237 So part of the price, I guess, if that was awarded and you got what you wanted, is many of your neighbours north of you would no longer have that service.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18238 MR. UNGER: Again, that is a technical question. However, my understanding is that there would be repeaters in the various communities to bring that signal to other communities as well, all the way up the Island right to the northern tip and even going as far as Powell River, which is on the mainland, but more connected to the Island than anywhere else.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18239 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: All right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18240 I appreciate your answers. I have attended Bard on the Beach. It is a wonderful event and I will see if I can find, what is it, Gung Ho ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 18241 MR. WONG: Gung Haggis Fat Choy.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18242 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes, I will see if I can attend that next year. Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18243 MR. WONG: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18244 THE CHAIRPERSON: Before I forget, I just wanted to make a comment and then I have another question for Mr. Unger.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18245 I actually remember in the 70s, late 70s or early 80s, bringing the first Dragonboat Festival to Vancouver because I was on the Chinese Cultural Centre Board then. I also remember the first time I saw in the papers on Gung Haggis Fat Choy, on how clever I thought that was. So, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18246 Mr. Unger, just coming back to the point of Gabriola Island, we don't expect interveners to read what we have to read. Now, Gabriola Island did intervene against CBC and one of the reasons is that basically they also want the 104.1 frequency. They basically want to reserve it in the event that their community station gets going.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18247 So that brings me back to the point where you were saying that we are really hoping ‑‑ and I think CBC is hoping and we are all hoping ‑‑ that there would be sufficient funds to establish a Bureau for CBC in Victoria. But the reality is that we don't know. We don't know when or whether that could happen.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18248 So if you are building for 30 or 40 years out ‑‑ I agree we should always think to the future ‑‑ how fair is it too sort of reserve the use of a scarce resource for something that may or may not happen down the road versus dedicating the use of that resource to where we know there is an immediate need?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18249 MR. HANSON: I am a little bit confused, because you said Mr. Unger but you have been looking at me and I am Mr. Hanson.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18250 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Hanson, yes, I'm sorry. I'm very sorry, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18251 MR. HANSON: All right.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 18252 MR. HANSON: A difficult question, obviously. I think we have to think in broad terms. While I am certainly supportive of community radio, community radio, put in the context of an improved, broadened CBC opportunity in the mid‑Island region, it is an apples and oranges question.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18253 I personally couldn't support another local community radio station over the opportunity to get our story out nationally, internationally and regionally.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18254 So that is my simple answer.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18255 But if it was a question between another local station ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 18256 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18257 MR. HANSON: ‑‑ and more content from Vancouver...
LISTNUM 1 \l 18258 THE CHAIRPERSON: You see, that is exactly the difficulty. You have Gabriola Island, then you have Nanaimo, then you have Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18259 MR. HANSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18260 THE CHAIRPERSON: You know, it is almost like a stepped analogy of the problem.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18261 MR. HANSON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18262 THE CHAIRPERSON: Do my colleagues have any other questions? No.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18263 We really appreciate your time in intervening, as I hope that you can tell that we take all the interventions very seriously as you have taken the time and we are grateful.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18264 Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18265 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18266 I would now ask MuddCats, Stonegrill and Pacific Audio Visual Institute to come to the presentation table.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 1 \l 18267 THE SECRETARY: We will just take a short five‑minute break.
‑‑‑ Upon recessing at 0951 / Suspension à 0951
‑‑‑ Upon resuming at 1010 / Reprise à 1010
LISTNUM 1 \l 18268 THE SECRETARY: Please take a seat.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18269 We will start with the presentation of MuddCats.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18270 Please introduce yourself and you have 10 minutes.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 18271 MR. PIGGIN: Hello, my name is Dave Piggin. I play with a band called the MuddCats and I am from Kamloops, British Columbia.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18272 I respect the privilege of coming to speak to you today and I'm very excited. I would like to thank Frank Torres and Ed Torres and the people in their team for giving me this opportunity to speak to you. I have the greatest respect for what is happening here today.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18273 I have three items that I have handed to Jade.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18274 One is the CD from our ‑‑ this is original blues CD. I have a yellow booklet, pamphlet from The Yale, which is a local blues club, seven days a week blues in Vancouver. I also have a general gist of what I am going to say written out on this document here for reference.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18275 I am going to read right straight from it. This is separate and different from what I wrote in my letter of intervention which for public purposes was sent to you. Okay? I'm not trying to repeat.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18276 Emerging Canadian blues artists do not get radio play on commercial radio in Canada. We do get some play on College/University Radio Stations where they are prepared to take risks and be innovative.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18277 The purpose of my being here today is to witness to you my experience as an emerging blues artist on behalf of myself and Brad Davis and the applicant. Brad Davis is my co‑author and he lives in Kamloops with me. He is originally from South Carolina.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18278 In doing this, I'm speaking for many blues artists who are not here today and, by the way, sent me e‑mails of encouragement and excitement, hoping that I will be successful in talking to you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18279 My experience is directly related to the interior of British Columbia and, to some extent, the Vancouver scene.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18280 The natural progression for somebody like myself would be to come from Kamloops and tried to get my stuff played in places like The Yale or the Fairview or the Cottage Bistro Club here in Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18281 In terms of our CD, in 2005 Brad and I opened for Sue Foley in Kamloops at a Blues Network event. Sue Foley is a Canadian guitar player and she is a real wizard. She plays way better than I do. Due to the success of this event, Brad and I decided to do an original blues CD. We worked on the CD writing for about eight months and released the CD.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18282 I actually got the dates wrong on there. It should not be 2008.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18283 Our CD was well received in Kamloops and in Kamloops where there is about 80,000 people, I have sold personally 1,000 CDs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18284 In terms of radio play, the X92.5 radio station, a University radio station ‑‑ which, by the way, just increase their power a few days ago ‑‑ managed by Brant Zwicker, was an excellent supporter and did a one‑hour show with live interviews to promote our CD. They also include us on their playlist and we get played at that radio station.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18285 He has connections where he has helped us get played on other university stations occasionally.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18286 After hearing our CD, Peter Olsen and Tim Tyler, who, by the way, are DJs in Kamloops, are big blues fans and on Radio NL in Kamloops started a new program called "Home Grown" as a result of hearing our CD and solicited CDs from local artists which were featured in a one‑hour program.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18287 Peter told us that our CD was the best CD to date to come out of Kamloops, and we are going to support our CD. We also received strong support from CIFM 98.3 in Kamloops from Stan Bailey and Henry Small.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18288 Henry small, you might recall, is from Prism.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18289 They interviewed us and played our CD in the morning shows and at 5 o'clock in prime time for us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18290 Brant Zwicker also has shown support for us. He has a syndicated blues show that goes throughout Canada. That blues show is syndicated from Kamloops and recorded in Kamloops, and it is called "At The Crossroad". Because of it, we are able to be played on Brant Zwicker's show, and our CD has been played on 70 stations in Canada ‑‑ more than 70 actually.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18291 Radio play outside of Kamloops other than on the syndication show is non‑existent.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18292 An interesting thing is we got an e‑mail one time from a radio station in Croatia and we were number two in 2005, I think in July, in Croatia and we can't get played in Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18293 A person in my office where I work, he is a forester from Croatia and he said in Croatia that station would be probably broadcasting between 500 and 1,000 kilometres radius: totally different than what we would experience here.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18294 The following is a brief list of comments and points for your information and review.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18295 Our CD is a professional quality CD. It is complete with a 16‑page booklet, recipes. In fact, one of the recipes is "Catfish Bites", which is one of Brad's grandfather's recipes from South Carolina, so it is handed down from generations.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18296 It was recorded to a high standard, including a 16‑page booklet, lyrics, recipes and a meaningful prose. I have given you copies here so you can review it, not because I am paying you off, but at my expense. This is my evidence so that you can listen to it and see if you think it is radio worthy.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18297 I would like to point out that the producer of our CD also produced a CD from Kamloops for a Christian CD and won a Juno for it. So the quality is here in Kamloops and in Vancouver.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18298 Our blues CD is not played on commercial radio in Vancouver or any other location on the Lower Mainland. We could not get past the Secretary to the Music Director. Usually we are told: "We do not play blues, we do not play local CDs and we are not interested in hearing or playing original music, let alone original blues."
LISTNUM 1 \l 18299 In one case talking to a DJ, they would give him an opportunity to seek alternate employment if he played our stuff.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18300 Our CD is played in blues clubs. A friend of mine from Kelowna, a drummer, was at The Yale in Vancouver on Granville and Drake a few weeks ago and when he walked in the door, our CD was playing on the house stereo. The same friend was in Moe's Blues in Vernon, another blues place in the interior, a week later he walked in the door and our CD was again playing on the house stereo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18301 Most commercial radio have a set format and do not vary from that format. They are not prepared to take risks with our new blues music.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18302 Salmon Arm Radio would not play our CD because it was programmed along with many other stations in the Okanagan and the Kootenay region. I think they said 20 stations or something, but plus 10 anyway. The DJ thought the CD was very good, wanted to know where we were playing and when we were playing in Salmon Arm because he was going to come and see us. We played there and he came down to see our thing, but he still couldn't play our CD and he liked their music.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18303 In Vernon Station they would not take original artists, especially since we were from the Thompson region and they were the Okanagan, and they won't play things except from the Okanagan.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18304 Kelowna Radio Station had a set format and would not vary from that format. They would not play our CD, even though we were playing at the local Blue Gater Club, which is a very well‑known blues establishment in Kelowna.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18305 To give you a sense of an aside thing that came up to my mind having breakfast this morning, there is a lack of diversity in the music that is being played on commercial radio. My friend has a 14‑year‑old daughter and the minute she gets in my truck, she turns the radio on, hits the channels until she finds something she likes. If she doesn't, the next thing she does is put her iPod on.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18306 I think we have no diversity in the radio and it is being preprogrammed for one location for a big chunk of the province, and it is not including blues.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18307 If CDs are not played on the radio, the record stores will not carry my CD. Very fortunately, there is a great organization called Play Entertainment, a small chain, and they will carry our CD. I can't get it into HMV and I can't get it into A&B Sound and I can't get it into anything else.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18308 So commercial radio stations have the reputation for not taking risks. They play it safe and they protect income and listeners. In fact, the listener base may be weakening because they are not prepared to step out of their format, as I commented about my 14‑year‑old friend.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18309 Without radio play, income for me from SOCAN is minimal and the income accrues to other international artists and talent and not to people in Canada. We are now focusing our attention on download formats such as iTunes, Napster and Rhapsody where we have a worldwide download capability and have an opportunity to make up for the lack of radio play in Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18310 Right now we are getting downloaded in the U.K. and in the United States. Since we did it like last fall and there is a couple, three‑month delay before you find out, I don't know where else we are being downloaded at the moment. But we can get printouts if you wanted to know for your purposes at some other date.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18311 That's why in the stuff I gave Jade I also gave business cards.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18312 If our music is not played, we will not receive royalties. If our music is not played, it will not be picked up under a mechanical licence by another artist which creates revenue for me.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18313 If our music is not heard, it will not be tracked to a movie or other media. Again, income is lost.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18314 A perfect example is I was talking to a guy down at a SOCAN event and he did a song that was recorded and played to the Highlander episode ‑‑ Highlander at that time I believe was produced here ‑‑ and he gets paid for the fact that they are using his song. He gets paid again when it is tracked to the movie. He gets paid again when it is played.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18315 Six years later after that one was syndicated worldwide, he is still getting revenue.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18316 We do not rely on grants or subsidies. We did our CD with our own lunch money.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18317 THE SECRETARY: I'm sorry, can you please conclude. Your 10 minutes is over.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18318 MR. PIGGIN: Okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18319 In conclusion, original Canadian blues is a vibrant part of the Vancouver culture and is not represented in the commercial radio. Canadian blues artists do not have a significant voice in terms of radio play. This creates a systemic barrier to Canadian artists and prevents the growth of a viable economic opportunity for original Canadian blues.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18320 I recommend the Frank Torres application be accepted so that emerging blues artists can have a place to showcase their creative talents, and I recommend that the Frank Torres application be accepted so that new economic opportunities can be made available to emerging Canadian blues artist.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18321 Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18322 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18323 Now we will hear the presentation of Pacific Audio Visual Institute.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18324 Please introduce yourself and you have 10 minutes.
INTERVENTION
LISTNUM 1 \l 18325 MR. LAVIN: My name is Tom Lavin and I am the Director of Pacific Audio Visual Institute which is a private post‑secondary college licensed and accredited under PCTIA of the province here.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18326 I have also been involved in communication, having started the first private Internet provider service in Western Canada. I took that company public and subsequently went on to CEO of several other public companies.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18327 My position here is to support the Torres Brothers' application for a blues radio station by virtue of the fact that I am also the leader of the Powder Blues Band, which is a Canadian band for the last 30 years that has won the Juno Award in Canada and has won the W.C. Handy Award in the United States, has headlined the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and so on and so forth.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18328 I am one of a handful of blues artists from Canada that sold in excess of a million records.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18329 Anecdotally, statistics will often not prove the viability of blues. I will give you a brief example.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18330 When I first recorded the first Powder Blues album in 1979 and I took it to all the record companies that were headquartered in Toronto at the time, I was told by them all blues didn't sell. And one record company, CBS at the time, actually undertook a marketing study. They spent a lot of money and some time and they came back with the results that my record might sell 5,000 copies if they were willing to invest about half a million.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18331 So I sold a record out of the back of my station wagon and once it had achieved Gold status of 50,000 copies in Vancouver alone, all the Canadian record companies came back to me and said, "You probably need some help distributing."
LISTNUM 1 \l 18332 That album has gone on to sell more than a million copies and I have been through several record companies, watched their demise, and the band continues on.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18333 What they call a weekend warrior, I also have a one‑month‑old new son, so I don't tour nearly as much as I used to.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18334 The way I see it is you have the responsibility of figuring out who you want to give airwaves to and blues may be to your mind somewhat of a marginal music. I am here to explain that maybe that is not the case.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18335 I have toured continually across Canada for 30 years and there are probably 40 to 50 major blues festivals in Canada. By "major", I mean the Windsor Blues Festival can sometimes draw upwards of 100,000 people; the Blues Festival in Ottawa over a period of days similarly. And we have a number of them here in the Lower Mainland and in the outreaches.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18336 It is viable and there is a lot of ‑‑ there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of Canadian blues artists.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18337 So we have to look at: Is there a market? Will people listen to this? Is it worth giving 1000 watts 89.3 to a format that is blues? Is there viability here?
LISTNUM 1 \l 18338 It is interesting to note that the only live music venue in the Lower Mainland that operates seven nights a week is a blues venue. Now, any of us here in this room can mention dozens of subgroups of music and certainly we will have reggae artists from time to time or country artists or classical artists, but this is few and far between.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18339 My point is that there is a very roots oriented support for the blues and it is being severely under‑represented locally.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18340 In fact, most blues artists like myself or Colin James or Jeff Healey have to achieve recognition outside of Canada in order to be recognized here.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18341 So absolutely in order to meet Canadian content, we have more than enough fine, world‑class blues artists that aren't receiving airplay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18342 Is there a market viability? You know what, that is going to come down to programming, music programming and it is going to come down to smart station management, and I am not here with the facts as to whether the people who have this application have that sort of expertise. But if it is managed properly and it is programmed properly, absolutely, there is no question of its viability.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18343 Is there a cultural imperative for it? I think there is. I think that the blues is the basis for all of Western music; that it is really necessary if we are going to continue to generate quality artists ‑‑ and Canada does that in a wonderfully disproportionate measure to most other of the forward thinking nations. Our young artists have to be exposed to the roots.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18344 It is impossible to study calculus without studying geometry. And all of jazz and all of fusion and all of Western pop music is based on blues, and it is an entry point. People's ears develop over time. It is an evolutionary process.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18345 To have a blues station here is wonderful. Personally, I have to try to get an ultra receiver and received 88.1 NPR, National Public Radio from Seattle, Tacoma which plays blues and jazz because we don't have anything that represents it here.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18346 Occasionally there has been a licence who has been granted to a "jazz station" but it is usually elevator music and it fails quickly and they change format.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18347 I think that if you grant this application for primarily a blues ‑‑ and I use that in the widest sense of the word, blues incorporating and including swing and jazz and bebop and all the other so important intellectual products of Western music ‑‑ that it will absolutely be successful.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18348 I think that concludes my statements and I am happy to answer any questions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 18349 THE SECRETARY: Thank you.