Folks who usually catch Burnaby councillors on the tube had to jump online Monday night to catch the meeting.
That’s because Corus Entertainment and Shaw Communications closed their Shaw TV stations in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton on Aug. 15.
The company made the announcement in April, saying it was going to redirect $10 million to Global News. The hope is to reduce “duplication coverage” while pumping more money into local news coverage, according to a press release.
Mayor Derek Corrigan has been a strong opponent of the decision and told council chambers Monday he was disappointed.
“This access that people get to local cable to be able to see us doing public business is important to democracy. It’s important to the ability for people to know and understand what happens in their own community,” he said. “Replacing it with a feed by computer just isn’t enough.”
The mayor noted when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) gave out licences to broadcasters, part of the deal was that the companies had to provide local cable. He pointed to the local Shaw TV station in Burnaby that eventually closed.
“I’ve written to the CRTC and told them that’s not satisfactory to the City of Burnaby, that they have been giving up all of the things they promised us as a result of those cable licences being given out,” Corrigan said.
“To lose the ability to have local cable and to have these council meetings televised in people’s homes, is a loss for everybody. ... Even if you don’t watch, the opportunity to watch when you need to see what we’re doing is crucial.”
Corrigan, who has appeared before the CRTC twice on the issue, said he’ll continue to express the city’s concerns.
In the meantime, council meetings can be live streamed online at tinyurl.com/BBYWebcast. Meetings are archived for two years and are available for viewing the following morning around 11 a.m. When archiving, city staff time-stamp the meeting so people can skip to certain sections of the agenda.
