NOVEMBER 26, 2024 Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications INUIT BROADCASTING CORPORATION

PRESENTATION TO THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS -About IBC -The Past -Current Situation -Looking to the Future

ABOUT IBC

-IBC is the premiere television production company for all Inuit in Canada -In the past, IBC had 6 production centres across the North, housing and continuous training programs at all times (Iqaluit, Igloolik, Rankin Inlet, Baker Lake, Talojoak, Cambridge Bay) -IBC was one of the largest employer’s in the territory; providing good jobs, housing and extensive training opportunities -IBC was providing a crucial public service while creating economic development throughout the North

-IBC’s mandate is to broadcast programming from all regions of Inuit Nunangat (the Inuit homeland) and in all dialects of Inuktut -Inuit Nunangat makes up more than 40 percent of Canada's land area -This region is the most expensive place to travel to in Canada and has some of the highest costs for housing

THE PAST

The history of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation is a dramatic illustration of one such adaptation and exemplifies both the capacity for creative change that is part of the Inuit heritage and the challenge faced by Indigenous people in the new millennium as they attempt to maintain and promote their languages and cultures.

In the 1970’s it was clear to the Inuit leadership that television, with its capacity to flood every living room in the Arctic with images from the consumer-driven south, represented a unique and potentially devastating threat to a culture already reeling from the impact of trade, education and religion. When CBC introduced its Accelerated Coverage Plan (ACP) in 1975, the reaction from the Inuit community was swift and sharp. The ACP proposed to provide CBC television programming to all communities in Canada with populations of over 500.

Since the objective of the ACP was to make “Canadian” programming…that is, a mixture of southern Canadian and American…available to all, no consideration was given to local access, to programming in aboriginal languages, or to a community’s right to control the local airwaves. Programming depicting Southern attitudes, values and behaviours proliferated in the North throughout the mid-seventies.

Inuit and community leaders were quick to realize that this electronic tidal wave of alien images and information would lead to the deterioration of Inuit language and culture, and could disrupt the structures of traditional community life. Inuit have successfully adapted to technological innovation several times throughout their history. Neither firearms nor snowmobiles are indigenous to the North, but both have become central elements of contemporary Inuit hunting culture.

It was clear that television in the North was not going away; the challenge for Inuit was to find a way of adapting this technology to their own ends, using television as a vehicle for the protection of their language rather than as an agent of its destruction. The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation was created from the Inukshuk Project – a federally sponsored experiment in the late 1970’s. Rudimentary television production facilities were installed in 6 northern communities, and teams of newly recruited Inuit trainees began to learn the fundamentals of TV production.

In 1980 the Inukshuk Project began broadcasting The project demonstrated that Inuit could successfully manage complex broadcasting projects and adapt sophisticated communications technology to meet their needs. In 1981, the CRTC granted a network television license to the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation was formed. After an initial period of production and consolidation, IBC aired its first program on January 11, 1982, at midnight, a ninety-minute special introducing the new network. IBC then proposed the creation of a dedicated northern TV channel.

A consortium was formed consisting of 6 Aboriginal broadcasters, the NWT and Yukon governments, the National Aboriginal Communications Society and the CBC Northern Service. In January 1992, Television Northern Canada was launched – a truly northern pan-arctic channel. In June 1997 the TVNC Board of Directors voted to move forward towards the establishment of a national aboriginal television network. On September 1, 1999, the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN) signed on.

Since then, the amount of Inuit programming on APTN has declined and IBC has struggled year after year to continue to produce high-quality television programming in all regions in the Inuktut language. HISTORY

CURRENT SITUATION

-IBC’s funding from Canadian Heritage has steadily decreased since 1990 and with a 124.28 % inflation rate, IBC now receives less than they did in 1990 from Canadian Heritage - CURRENT SITUATION

-IBC’s funding from the Territory has also steadily decreased since 1990 CURRENT SITUATION

-Staff turnover -No housing available -No housing subsidies -Low wages -Lack of training -Lack of Inuktitut language skills -Travel costs -Results in lower quality programming and less programming -Competition for skilled Inuit staff - IBC can’t compete PROBLEMS CAUSED BY UNDERFUNDING

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

-Meeting with the Minister of Culture and Heritage on behalf of Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting Recipients -Increase in Core Funding reflecting inflation - If inflation was taken into consideration and IBC was receiving consistent funding since 1990, we should be receiving $4,428,555 per year from Canadian Heritage -Housing Subsidy and Northern Allowance - If IBC provided a $400 housing subsidy to all employees per year ($96,000) and the smallest Northern Allowance as per the NG ($256,000) it would cost $352,000 per year -Consistent Training Funding and Training Coordinator Position - IBC would conduct a 6- month training program every 3 years (475,000) for 12 new staff and hire a training coordinator to consistently train new and current staff (120,000 per year) -Travel Stipend/Funding - IBC requires a travel fund of $250,000 per year due to the high cost of travel in the North LOOKING AT THE FUTURE

-Broadcast IBC Archives (9000 hours) -New Children’s Programming -Brand New Shows -Qview Streaming Website -6-month Production Training Initiative for 30 Inuit youth -New partnerships with APTN Language and Uvagut TV to broadcast shows NEW INITIATIVES AND PARTNERSHIPS

Thank Y ou INUIT BROADCASTING CORPORATION