11:15am ET | Charmaine Borg, NDP, MP for Terrebonne-Blainville
12:15pm ET | Moses Znaimer, founder and guiding light – MZ Media

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GUEST – Charmaine Borg, NDP, MP for Terrebonne-Blainville

TOPIC – Anti-Spam Legislation

INFO – New Democrats call out Conservative inaction on digital and privacy file. Borg to Conservatives: You’re falling asleep at the digital switch

Following the release of a study by the Privacy Commissioner revealing data leakages by six of Canada’s most popular websites, New Democrat Digital Affairs Critic Charmaine Borg (Terrebonne-Blainville) is calling on the Conservative government to catch up with new digital realities.

“Since the Conservatives took power in 2006, they have done nothing concrete to keep Canadian privacy law up-to-date with the digital realities of the 21st Century. Studies show Canadians are losing confidence in the protection of their personal information online,” said Borg.

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which protects online privacy with respect to personal information, is subject to a 5 year statutory review that should have started in 2011. The government is dragging its heels in calling the review. Meanwhile Bill C-12 presents outdated recommendations – several generations old in digital terms -from the 2006 PIPEDA review.

“Growth in the digital economy is inseparable from user confidence that personal information is secure on the internet, whether on social media sites, doing banking or shopping online. The Conservatives have not taken this issue seriously and now we see serious leakages of personal information as tracking technologies become increasingly sophisticated,” said Borg.

Anti-spam legislation, adopted by the House of Commons in 2010, still hasn’t come into effect as Canadians’ inboxes continue to be clogged by unsolicited emails.
“I will continue to press this government on their digital delay until we see some real action to protect the personal information of Canadians,” said Borg.

–ndp.ca

 

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GUEST – Moses Znaimer, founder and guiding light – MZ Media

TOPIC –VisionTV Launches “PROTECT YOUR VISION”- National Campaign to Keep Multi-faith, Multi-Cultural Channel in 10 Million Homes on basic cable and satellite
NOTE – *Deadline for Interventions is February 20, 2013

INFO – 25 years ago, the CRTC determined that Canadians should have wide access to a national specialty channel where the religions and races could meet. A good and inspired idea; now even more important in a society besieged by daily news of sectarian violence.

Today, VisionTV remains Canada’s exclusive broadcaster for interfaith dialogue, and the world’s only national multi-faith and multi-cultural specialty television service. The channel is available in 10 million households across Canada on basic cable and satellite service for only 12 cents a month per subscriber. This consumer-friendly rate is the lowest cost per channel on basic cable and satellite.

Now, new CRTC rules allow cable and satellite providers to drop VisionTV from their most affordable “basic” packages. In response, the channel is launching PROTECT YOUR VISION, a campaign calling on Canadians to help support its application to the CRTC for continued distribution on basic cable and satellite services. The deadline for public intervention is February 20, 2013. CRTC hearings will begin April 23 in Gatineau, QC.

An overwhelming 85% of Canadians concur that VisionTV should continue to be included in the basic package of channels- 2012 Goldfarb Intelligence Marketing Study

In 2010, media pioneer Moses Znaimer acquired VisionTV, adding to his multi-media company uniquely devoted to the 45plus, now a massive 15.1 million Canadians. Attracted to the channel by its older viewership – 85 percent of VisionTV viewers are 45plus; 57 percent are 65plus – Moses has programmed VisionTV for, and about, this demographic traditionally overlooked by mainstream television.

Relocating VisionTV to a discretionary package will make the channel both more difficult to find and more expensive to a population that is less likely to be able to afford premium pricing and whose reliable access to “faith at home” is increasingly important as they age.

In fact, VisionTV provides airtime and national distribution to 70-90 ethno-cultural communities including Canadian and US-based Christian ministries, South Asian religious groups including Muslim, Hindu and Sikh faiths, as well as Buddhist, Jewish, and non-denominational groups. These programs are only available on VisionTV.

An overwhelming 83 percent of Canadians think that a TV channel focused on multi-faith and multi-cultural issues should be available to all citizens. – 2012 Goldfarb Intelligence Marketing Study

For Canadian producers, VisionTV represents arguably the biggest buyer or commissioner of original documentaries celebrating a variety of religious holidays and holy days and deal with important spiritual, moral, ethical, and social issues and values. The channel has invested close to $40 million in the past seven years, triggering close to $110 million in independent production budgets.

For Canadian advertisers, VisionTV delivers 3 million+ weekly viewers 45plus at one of the most affordable advertising commercial rates in the industry. Should the new CRTC rules adversely affect VisionTV’s “basic” carriage status, they will lose an essential low cost instrument to reach, and speak to, the new centre of Canada’s demographic gravity.

Full details on VisionTV’s application and sample letters of support are available at the newly launched website ProtectYourVision.ca or by calling the PROTECT YOUR VISION toll-free hotline 1-888-321-2567.

The campaign will also consist of TV, print, radio and online announcements encouraging Canadians to write letters of support to the CRTC, local MPs, and cable and satellite providers. Given the close relationship between ZoomerMedia and CARP, Canada’s most influential advocacy organization for aging Canadians, outreach is planned to the 300,000 CARP members across Canada who are experienced in getting critical conversations started in their respective communities.

Letters of support to the CRTC for VisionTV’s application should be addressed to:

Mr. John Traversy , Secretary General, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ,
1 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau, Quebec J8X 4B1
Re: 2012-0712-6: Application by Zoomermedia Inc., to obtain a mandatory distribution order under section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act for Vision TV – Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2013-19. / cc. [email protected] / CRTC fax: 819-994-0218.