IQALUIT, Nunavut and YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories (August 8, 2013) – Speakers Hunter Tootoo and Jackie Jacobson today welcomed the decision of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to require mandatory carriage of the legislatures’ televised proceedings on the digital basic service of the direct-to-home satellite broadcasting distribution undertakings serving Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
In its decision of today, the CRTC announced that, “Citizens of the North will have better access to legislative debates as the service operated by the Legislative Assemblies of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories will be added to the basic service of satellite television subscribers in those two territories.”
Speaker Tootoo said, “Although cable television customers in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories have been able to watch the proceedings of their territorial legislature at work, residents who subscribe to satellite television services have not. The CRTC’s decision will ensure that significantly more Northerners have the choice to view this programming.”
In April of 2013, representatives from both territorial legislatures appeared before the CRTC on the occasion of its public hearing concerning the legislatures’ joint application for mandatory distribution. Copies of documentation concerning the Commission’s hearings and decision are available on its website at the following location: http://crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2013/r130808.htm.
Speaker Jacobson said, “Our legislatures have worked closely together on this initiative. I would like to express our appreciation to the many individuals and organizations from both Northern and Southern Canada who submitted formal interventions to the Commission in support of our application.”