(Montreal) A few hours after the testimony, Monday, of Pierre Karl Péladeau before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on a new regulatory framework for foreign online broadcasters, the union of TVA Group employees criticizes Quebecor for using these employees as a shield on the front line of its battle for the deregulation of electronic media.
Mr. Péladeau, who is the president and CEO of Quebecor, asked the CRTC to lighten the outdated and archaic regulatory shackles, in his opinion, which slow down local companies for the benefit of American platforms, he said. he assures.
In a press release released Tuesday, the TVA Employees Union, affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), asserts that deregulation is not the solution. The union believes that without regulation, local news produced by regional stations would have disappeared from the screens a long time ago.
On November 2, 547 jobs were lost at the TVA Group. Over the past year, more than 600 jobs have been cut at the broadcaster. On this subject, Pierre Karl Péladeau declared Monday before the CRTC that these cuts were part of a plan essential to the survival of TVA, which is now pushed to its limits, according to him.
The president and CEO of Quebecor added that the Canadian media were exhausted and that democracy was at stake, while asking the CRTC to act quickly.
Steve Bargoné, coordinating advisor for the Communications sector of CUPE-Québec, believes that the CRTC must stay the course in its work aimed at integrating Web giants like Netflix and Disney+ into the regulations.