On Monday morning, it was Pierre Karl Péladeau’s turn to issue a heartfelt call to the CRTC that was just as impressive as the one the previous day from defender Marc-Antoine Dequoy.
• Also read: TVA is in its “last fortifications,” Péladeau warns the CRTC
• Also read: “Keep your English!” – Dequoy, completely unleashed after the Alouettes’ triumph
The Gray Cup game was barely over when Dequoy, with a microphone stuck in his face, exploded like a grenade being pulled. Eyes moist, throat tight with emotion and anger, the Alouettes player expelled in one fell swoop all the frustrations that had been building up since the start of the Canadian Football League season.
“Keep it, your English!”, his heartfelt cry, has traveled the country and, thanks to the Internet, which multiplies the power of television, is echoed in the most remote corners of the planet. The day after that win, Dequoy felt the need to apologize for “going a little wrong.” Was it really necessary?
Most Quebecers understood very well the reasons why he had “blown up a little” his boat. He is by no means the first among us to be unhinged by ignorance and contempt for French. Last week in Toronto, it was shocking to hear the national anthem sung only in English during the Eastern final between the Argonauts and the Alouettes. This was all the more unacceptable because we are now careful – and I wholeheartedly agree – to spare the feelings of First Nations people by acknowledging their presence and contribution to the land at every opportunity.
On Sunday night in Hamilton during this 110th Gray Cup final, the national anthem was sung in both official languages, but as far as I know that was pretty much all we heard and saw from the French. Luckily, there were signs of support from the Quebecers who traveled to attend the game!
PIERRE KARL PÉLADEAU IN THE CRTC
Amazing coincidence: It was Pierre Karl Péladeau, new owner of the Montreal Alouettes and CEO of Quebecor, who appeared first at the CRTC hearing on modernizing broadcasting law yesterday. His words were less emotional than those of the Alouettes defender, but no less impactful.
Private general broadcasters are piling up deficits, with 80% of Canadian advertising ($11 billion) now found on the digital giants that have no obligations. Canadian cable providers, which pay a percentage of their revenue to produce original programming, continue to lose subscribers, losing about a quarter of their subscribers over the past seven years. In Quebec, as in Canada, the number of households subscribing to online platforms now exceeds the number of those subscribing to a cable television service.
The PKP’s cry comes from the heart
In early November, Pierre Karl Péladeau announced the last chance restructuring plan for TVA. As we know, this will result in 547 job losses. That’s almost a third of the current workforce. PKP ended its appearance at the CRTC by saying that “Canadian companies can no longer wait for the end of the long process of implementing the new broadcasting law.” Like several other television station owners, Pierre Karl Péladeau no longer believes that the state and that CRTC will be able to force the digital giants to make a significant contribution to our broadcasting system. This is a very bad omen.
