Thank you for your wonderful encouragement and kind words. We apologize for the delay in responding to your e-mail. With the wrap up of the 2002 North American Indigenous Games, we have been focussing on launching an exciting new fall season which we know you will enjoy!
As a friend of APTN, you might be interested in Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Call for Submissions CRTC 2002-49. We are seeking favourable dial placement to ensure that APTN is widely available, visible, and accessible to Aboriginal viewers and all Canadians. We invite you to show your support by sending a letter to the CRTC requesting favourable dial placement for APTN. For more information, please refer to the message below from Acting C.O.O., Clayton Gordon.
Again thank you for contacting us, and please watch for our exciting new fall season starting October 28th.
Viewer Liaison ****************************************************************************
(On behalf of Clayton Gordon, C.O.O. of Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) ****************************************************************************
(The Word attachments can be opened by clicking the "read-only" button, and contain the same content as the following e-mail.)
September 26, 2002
Dear Friend,
I am writing to request a letter of support for Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) to become more widely available, visible, and accessible to Aboriginal viewers and all Canadians by positioning the service on a more favourable channel placement.
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) considers the actual availability of APTN to all Canadians is necessary and invites your comments on APTN channel placement.
The issue is easy to understand. Here it is. Most major cable operators have placed APTN, separate and apart from other basic service placements, so high up on the channel ladder that Aboriginal and Canadian audiences cannot find our service. If viewers have older TV sets they cannot even access APTN because the TV's cannot display higher channels. And, finally, most viewers rarely subscribe to scrambled pay TV or Pay-Per-View (PPV) channels and have little incentive to hunt for APTN situated in the higher double digits above PPV channels. An APTN study conducted in March 2002 revealed that in the general population groups, amongst non-viewers, 88% were unaware that they receive APTN as part of the basic service.
The impact of high channel placement is clearly a disadvantage to APTN and clearly a disservice to all Canadians who supported the network since our launch in 1999. It also compromises our ability to meet a key CRTC license objective which states that APTN "should be widely available throughout Canada in order to serve the diverse needs of the various Aboriginal communities, as well as other Canadians". We believe that APTN is not "widely available" or "accessible" even though the CRTC directed Class 1 & 2 BDU's (cable) and DTH (satellite) systems to distribute APTN as part of the basic service. In other words, all distributors are required by CRTC to carry APTN as a vital and necessary basic service to all Canadians. While all distributors have adhered to the CRTC requirement we believe that most distributors have not adhered to the spirit and intent of the requirement by placing APTN too high on the channel ladder. The CRTC is concerned that this practice is inconsistent with its objectives in ordering the mandatory distribution of APTN. We share that concern and believe that APTN high channel placement, in fact, actually works against the CRTC objective of requiring distributors to carry APTN which was intended to ensure APTN is, in reality, widely available, visible, and accessible to all Canadians.
APTN contributes significantly to the Canadian Broadcasting Act policy objectives that states "...the Canadian broadcasting system should through its programming and the employment opportunities arising out of its operations, serve the needs and interests, and reflect the circumstances and aspirations, of Canadian men, women and children, including equal rights, the linguistic duality and multicultural and multiracial nature of Canadian society and the special place of aboriginal peoples within that society,..."
Supporting APTN on a more favourable channel placement would ensure that our service is actually widely available, visible, and accessible to Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians. Your support will assist APTN in continuing to provide the vehicles for strengthening the cultural identity of Aboriginal peoples and providing a bridge of cultural understanding between Aboriginal Peoples and all Canadians.
The CRTC would now like to hear from you on this important issue and APTN is asking for your support. Aboriginal Peoples and Canadians have described APTN as "Canada's pride" and many of you have continued to support APTN since our launch. You deserve to receive easy access to APTN and it's programming on a more favourable channel placement. Now is the time to tell this to the CRTC.
Attached you will find a template letter of support which you can use as a guide. Or you can simply send your own comments about 'why a more favourable channel placement will ensure that APTN is widely available, visible, and truly accessible to Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians.'
The process is very simple. You can:
1 Write a letter and mail it to: Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa K1A 0N2.
2 Fax a letter to the CRTC at 819-994-0218
3 Email your comments to procedure@crtc.gc.ca
4 Share this request with any interested individuals or organizations
Please note that the comments will be accepted until Wednesday, October 16, 2002.
If you would like more information on the CRTC Public Notice, you can view the documents at:
If you have any additional questions or comments about our request for support please contact our Director of Marketing and Communications at 1-888-278-8862 X327, locally at 204-947-9331 X327, or by email at dpiapot@aptn.ca. Please also feel free to distribute this request for support to your circle of friends, family, elders, and youth.
APTN appreciates your encouragement and your support and we thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Clayton Gordon
Acting Chief Operating Officer
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN)
****************************************************************************
SAMPLE TEMPLATE LETTER
1. [date]
2. [your address]
[your city, province]
[your postal code]
3. Secretary General
CRTC
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0N2
4. By Fax: (819)-994-0218
5. Dear Secretary General:
6. Re: CRTC 2002-49
7. I am writing this letter in support of APTN to become more widely available, visible, and accessible to all Canadians by positioning the network on a more favourable channel placement.
8. I share the concern by the Canadian Radio-Television and Communications Commission (CRTC) that APTN is not, in reality, widely available throughout Canada in order to serve the diverse needs of the various Aboriginal communities and all Canadians because of the network's high channel placement in most regions of Canada.
9. APTN is Canada's pride and I deserve easy access to the network. I support APTN in strengthening Aboriginal Peoples cultures, languages, and identity and providing a bridge of understanding between Aboriginal Peoples and all Canadians. By ensuring that APTN is widely available the network can continue to contribute to building a unique national identity that all Canadians can be proud of.
10. [Insert your additional reasons for supporting favourable channel placement - please ensure that each paragraph is numbered as demonstrated below]. Those reasons may include:
11. - Increased awareness of APTN as a vital and necessary public service to my community and to all of Canada.
12. - More awareness leads to increased viewing by all audiences. Increased viewing audiences position the network to attract additional revenue for long term sustainability and allows APTN to leverage our marketing efforts in gaining new audiences.
13. - Canada's fastest growing population, Aboriginal youth, deserve to see themselves reflected, validated, and celebrated within the national Canadian broadcasting landscape.
14. - APTN is building an industry of television and new media professionals and is a major employer of young Aboriginal professionals.
15. - APTN connects youth with elders, families, and communities through our programming and enhances our cultural sovereignty.
16. - APTN is a recognized media institution and a world leader and model for Indigenous broadcasting sought after for our expertise in providing programming by, for, and about Aboriginal peoples on a national basis.
17. - APTN consistently exceeds Canadian content targets and is the number one network in Canada airing original Canadian programming by Aboriginal peoples.
18. I support APTN positioning on a more favourable channel placement and would like to thank the CRTC for providing me the opportunity to express my support.
19. [your name]
20. cc: APTN, fax: 204-946-5308
Dear Mr. Benwah,
Thank you for contacting the departmental library of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
I do not have anything specifically about those two communities (Note: Indian Head and St. George's Bay) in the library catalogue. The following titles are what I found in a search on Newfoundland and Mi'kmaq. Most are available for borrowing through interlibrary loan. You can find out more at your local public or university library.
CALL NO: E99 M6 W47
AUTHOR: Wetzel, Jerry.
MAIN TITLE: Freedom to live our own way in our own land / Jerry Wetzel, Pat Anderson, Douglas Sanders. --
PUBLISHER: Conne River, Nfld. : Ktaqamkuk Ilnui Saqimawoutie, 1980.
CALL NO: E99 M6 N38
AUTHOR: Newfoundland.
MAIN TITLE: Assessment and analysis of the Micmac land claim in Newfoundland / Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. --
PUBLISHER: St. John's : Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1982.
AUTHOR: Speck, Frank G., 1881-1950.
MAIN TITLE: Beothuk and Micmac. --
PUBLISHER: New York : AMS Press, [1981]
CALL NO: E78 N72 S546
AUTHOR: Simon, Bill.
MAIN TITLE: An overview of the demographic and socio-economic conditions among Newfoundlands non-registered Micmac Indians / prepared by Bill Simon. --
PUBLISHER: [S.l.] : Atlantic Regional Office, Indian ∓ Inuit Affairs Branch,
CALL NO: MICRO FICHE
AUTHOR: Anger, D.C., 1954-
MAIN TITLE: Putting it back together [microform] : Micmac political identity in Newfoundland / by Dorothy C. Anger. --
PUBLISHER: Ottawa : National Library of Canada, 1985.
CALL NO: E99 M6 M535
MAIN TITLE: Micmac community self-government negotiations : a proposal submitted to the Self-Government Sector, Dept. of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Government of Canada. --
PUBLISHER: Benoits Cove-Bay of Island : Federation of Newfoundland Indians,
CALL NO: E99 M6 A532
AUTHOR: Anger, Dorothy C. (Dorothy Catherine), 1954-
MAIN TITLE: Research on Micmac's outside Conne River / Dorothy Anger.
PUBLISHER: [Ottawa] : Office of Native Claims, 1984.
CALL NO: E99 M6 M552
MAIN TITLE: The Micmacs of Conne River, Newfoundland : a background paper.
PUBLISHER: Conne River, Nfld. : [s.n.], 1979.
CALL NO: E99 M6 J33 1993
AUTHOR: Jackson, Doug, 1951-
MAIN TITLE: On the country : the Micmac of Newfoundland / Doug Jackson ; edited by Gerald Penney.
PUBLISHER: St. John's, Nfld. : H. Cuff, 1993.
CALL NO: E99 M6 L96
AUTHOR: Lyon, Noel, 1930-
MAIN TITLE: The Mikmaqs of Newfoundland : a report prepared for the Canadian Human Rights Commission / by Noel Lyon. --
PUBLISHER: Ottawa : Canadian Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Promotion
The following two items are held in the Claims and Historical Research Centre. If you wish to obtain copies, please contact Carla Frankow at frankowc@inac.gc.ca.
CALL NO: I.151
AUTHOR: Pastore, R. T.
MAIN TITLE: Micmac colonization of Newfoundland / R. T. Pastore.
PUBLISHER: [S.l. : s.n.], n.d.
| LOCATION | STATUS | ITEM-ID | COPY | UNITS |
| 1.CLAIMS/HISTORIC | RESE | NO Circulation | 1000420643 | 1 |
CALL NO: I.239
AUTHOR: Bartels, Dennis.
MAIN TITLE: Wabanaki occupation and settlement of Newfoundland / Dennis Bartels.
PUBLISHER: [S.l. : s.n.], 1978.
| LOCATION | STATUS | ITEM-ID | COPY | UNITS |
| 1.CLAIMS/HISTORIC | RESC | NO Circulation | 1000420730 | 1 |
In addition, Memorial University has put up a Heritage site on which you will find some historical information about the Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland: http://www.heritage.nf.ca/aboriginal/micmac.html
I hope that you find this information useful.
Sincerely,
Elise Chodat
Research Librarian
Departmental Library / Bibliothèque ministérielle
Corporate Information Management Directorate/Direction de la gestion de l'information ministérielle
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada/Affaires indiennes et du Nord Canada
Room/Pièce 1400, 10 Wellington, Hull (Québec) K1A 0H4
Tel/tél. (819) 997-0811 Fax/Téléc. (819) 953-5491
Copyright © 2002 Jasen Benwah
Thanks for Dropping By