Its crucial role is to ensure that broadcast behaviour meets standards, that concentration of ownership yields benefits to the broadcasting system, and to monitor the impact of new technologies in the national interest. There are substantial threats to Canada's culture from present and planned trade agreements. These threats require continuing vigilance. Some private sector players are arguing for further relaxation to justify their moves into foreign markets. Letting go of Canadian control would be a terrifying miscalculation for the Canadian broadcasting system.
Further concentration is inevitable.
Soon, six or seven organizations will control everything - horizontal and vertical integration in the interest of efficiency. Nudging the specialty channels into a more substantive Canadian programming role Media critics may not have noticed, but the specialty channels are not pulling their weight in Canadian content. They're not villains, but they need to be nudged into doing more for Canada. So should American specialty services authorized for distribution in Canada. Making sure that Canadian multi-media initiatives have strong Canadian content elements Convergence makes this more important than ever before.