4076 Mr. Secretary.

4077 MR. BURNSIDE: I have just been informed that intervenor no. 8, Mr.
Kuster, is now here. So I will back up a little bit and
call Paul Kuster, please.

--- Pause / Pause

4078 THE CHAIRPERSON: You may begin, Mr. Kuster.

INTERVENTION / INTERVENTION

4079 MR. KUSTER: Thank you for having me.

4080 I have a speech that I think you may have a copy of now, and you will
have to forgive me because I think there are a
couple of typos. I just sort of hacked this together at the last second. So
bear with me. I think most of it is all right, though.

4081 My name is Paul Kuster. I am currently employed at Global Television
in Calgary, where I have been working as a
broadcast journalist for the past seven years. Even though Calgary has been
my home for the past 11 years, I still call
Saskatchewan my true home.

4082 I am Cree from the Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation at Duck Lake,
but I grew up mostly in Regina.

4083 When I was a child in Regina I often felt the sting of prejudice on an
almost daily basis. The ignorance that pervaded the
city could be felt everywhere. I guess people felt that they could paint
aboriginals with the same brush based on what they would
see in the downtown core of the city.

4084 Sure there were the drunks and the poverty, and that's what many
people believed was the lot of all aboriginal people. But
of course that was never the case, and never will be. In fact, I believe
that Canadian society has grown in the sense that more
people are aware of our culture, our history, and our place in Canada.
There is still much to be learned and understood, but I
believe that we are at least on a better road than we were even ten years
ago.

4085 That is why I am here to speak to you today. I am throwing my support
behind Aboriginal Voices Radio or AVR. As I
mentioned earlier, I have been working in mainstream media for seven years.
As a result of that, I know how the media works
and operates. I know what stories make the lead on the six o'clock news or
what story is splashed on the front page of the
newspaper. Stories that are full of controversy and mayhem are in a very
weird sense "good news". Therefore, most stories with
aboriginal content tend to be slanted that way.

4086 But that medium is aimed at instant gratification. That's the way I
see it. You get it on the news for today's deadline and
throw it away as soon as the news goes off the air. There is often not
enough time to get to the heart of the real issue. Since
most news directors and managers are non-aboriginal, there is often very
little weight given to aboriginal stories. They are more
concerned with what matters to the greater population. Working in the
business as one of the few aboriginal reporters in the
entire country, this can be a frustrating experience. In short, the stories
that matter to our people have never been given the time
of day in mainstream media.

4087 Therefore, I see Aboriginal Voices Radio as a great opportunity. It is
a chance for our people to share what's important to
us with everyone. Indian country is a widespread, tight community. We like
to talk about and share what is new and important in
our communities, whether on the reserve or in the cities. A radio airwave
is a great way to get our stories out there. It can hit
many people at one time. And, most importantly, it is a venue where our
perspective can be shared with everyone. That in itself is
a great education tool. Someone listening to AVR who knows nothing about
our issues, our culture, our history, can learn a great
deal. Learning by listening can be a real eye-opener.

4088 If AVR is approved, it will also help aboriginal people who are
looking to make their mark in this world. At this particular
time, there is an incredibly small number of native people working in the
media. We need more. AVR would provide opportunities
that are otherwise practically non-existent. Careers could be forged for
aboriginal writers, musicians, playwrights and producers.
On the technical side, there are all kinds of opportunities that could lead
to long, sustainable careers.

4089 Having our people tell what's important to us and tell it our way I
believe is the only way to go. There are currently few all
aboriginal productions in Canada today. There are of course aboriginal
newspapers, a few TV programs, and some on-reserve
radio, but aside from that there is little else. AVR would be a most
welcome addition to an area that is desperately in need of
more aboriginal voices.

4090 The goings on over the past ten years have heightened awareness about
issues that are changing our Indian nations. Burnt
Church comes to mind, as do the stand offs we saw on the west coast and
Quebec. Often I meet non-aboriginal people who
want to learn more about why issues such as land claims and treaty rights
are so important to us. AVR could answer many of
those questions.

4091 People ask me why our culture is different and why we try to protect
it so much. AVR could answer those questions.
People ask me why elders and spiritual leaders are so important to us.
Well, I believe that AVR could answer those questions as
well.

4092 I have heard in the past people question that if Aboriginal
communities are given broadcast licenses, wouldn't that only serve
to widen the gap between "us and them"; that is: by having our own
programs, isn't that alienating aboriginal culture from
non-Aboriginal even more? Would the gap be that much more difficult to
bridge?

4093 All I can say is that we need that voice. The native people of this
country have been disenfranchised for too long. We too
have something to share. We too have something to offer. We have never had
that chance before, but that is changing. Slowly
but surely it is changing. Native people are coming to the fore on their
own initiative and I hope and believe that AVR will
continue that trend.

4094 I never went to broadcast school. I more or less stumbled into the
business. Therefore, I never really learned the rhetoric
and theory behind the media -- at least not in the traditional sense of a
classroom and lectures at a post secondary institution. But
I have learned a few things over the years.

4095 One of the most basic fundamentals of the media is to inform society
about what is happening in their world and why it
matters to them. That is why we have the tv news, that is why we have
newspapers, and that is why we have radio.

4096 Speaking of radio, talk radio has been a staple of Canadian culture.
But I find talk radio to be a medium that serves different
masters.

4097 There is one talk show host in this city that has a huge audience
every day. Aboriginal issues are given airtime on this
program, but it is often slanted and aimed at placing our people and the
issues important to us in a negative light. The host's
opinions I believe are often biased and almost a political advertisement
for what used to be known as the Reform Party. In a
sense, his comments reflect the red-neck attitudes that can be found here
in Alberta. Therefore, that particular radio show
becomes a rallying point for people who want to slam aboriginal people and
the issues that are important to us. AVR would, I
hope, level the playing field by putting forward our ideas and beliefs our
way.

4098 And who knows? Maybe one day a non-native listener may tune his dial
to AVR and discover a truth he didn't know
before. Or maybe he will hear a traditional native song and fall in love
with the music. Or maybe he will hear an elder talk about
her experiences growing up on a remote reserve when native people weren't
allowed the freedom to leave their land without
permission from an indian agent. Maybe they will hear a spiritual leader
tell a creation story. Maybe he will listen to a play written
by a talented playwright. Maybe he will hear the latest on treaty rights
and negotiations about logging or lobster fishing on the
daily news. Wouldn't he walk away with something he didn't know before and
perhaps a greater understanding about our people.

4099 And what about the native person sitting at home who hears AVR for the
first time; would they be impressed if they heard
a news report in Cree or Blackfoot? Would they like to hear an aboriginal
host and aboriginal talent on their radio? I believe that a
feeling of pride would come over them, and guaranteed they would quickly
become a repeat listener. The moccasin telegraph
would shift into overdrive and aboriginal people would be tuning into their
radios in their car, on the reserve, or in the city.

4100 Therefore, I support Aboriginal Voices Radio. I believe it is a great
initiative that will do well to bring our two peoples
together in a spirit of sharing and understanding.

4101 Perhaps that will and hopefully in the end, it will bring all of us
who live in this country a little bit closer together.

4102 That is my presentation for you.

4103 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr. Kuster.

4104 Commissioner Langford will lead the questioning of your intervention.

4105 MR. KUSTER: Okay.

4106 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Thank you.

4107 There is kind of a curiosity I had as I sat listening to you, because
one of the things we have heard over and over by the
applicants for this station and the supporters is that there just is
nothing now for aboriginal people in the city and there are a lot of
people who want something.

4108 What are you listening to now when you drive to work, when you turn on
your radio?

4109 MR. KUSTER: On the radio? Geez, just about anything and everything. I
like to flip over the dial.

4110 But you're right, there is just nothing really around here that deals
specifically with aboriginal content. I have heard different
stats, but it's anywhere from about 10,000 to 50,000 people living in the
city of Calgary that are of aboriginal ancestry. The work I
do, working in the media, I get to meet many of these people from all over.
That is the one thing I have been hearing since I got
into the business seven years ago is people wishing that there was more
content. That there was something out there for them to
listen to.

4111 There is I think a weekly program or a biweekly program on the local
university radio station, but that is pretty few and far
between. So there is just not really anything.

4112 At least on the reserves there are some radio stations. I believe the
Stoney people have started something. The people out
at Siksika, the Blackfoot nation, they have their own program. But for the
city of Calgary, which is reaching almost a million
people, there is a larger number of aboriginal people living within the
city boundaries and there is just nothing out there for them to
listen to and to hear what is going on in their communities or what is
happening across the country.

4113 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: You are in the industry now, in a somewhat
different aspect, but you are still there. You
are seeing the amount of money it takes to put this stuff up and running.

4114 MR. KUSTER: Yes.

4115 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: We had an intervention today from a Mr. Bert
Crowfoot. One of his worries was there
just wasn't the money there, there wasn't the financing, and that he didn't
want to see the station get started and then fail for lack
of money.

4116 What is your sense of the commitment that could be drawn to this and
the financial commitment. I mean, everybody is in
favour of it, but will they vote with their cheque books? Will there be
money there?

4117 MR. KUSTER: Personally, yes, that's the tough question. But I think
there is money out there and I think there is the
sponsors or whoever it is that handles that side of the business. Of course
I don't work on that side, but I understand television
and film and I know what it takes to put a production together.

4118 But I believe if the content is worthy enough, somebody eventually
will come up with the necessary funding, with the
necessary resources. I think that what they are trying to do, because --
well, frankly it hasn't been done before. I am confident
that they will be able to handle that business side of it, because the
people who are running that, I know some of them and I know
how competent they are.

4119 I think that if they get the right message across, I think there is
going to be the right partnerships drawn up to keep it going,
not just get it off the ground for the first year but to keep it
sustainable. I look at something like the Aboriginal Peoples Television
Network. They have had their struggles getting up on the air, but they are
doing it and they are starting to develop some
programming now that wasn't there, say, six months ago, a year ago. More
and more people, at least the people I'm talking to,
more and more people are becoming aware of it and are starting to watch it
and watch it with interest.

4120 I think, well, you know, if they can get off the ground, even though
shaky as it is, well, I think a radio station, a radio
program or a place with radio content, I believe that they can do it. They
just have to sell it to the right people. I am not too
worried about it being a two-year deal. I sure as heck hope it doesn't
become that, but I'm confident they can fly with this thing
for a long time.

4121 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Thanks very much.

4122 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr. Kuster. There are no further questions.

4123 MR. KUSTER: Okay.

4124 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thanks.
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