3854 As I said earlier, we will backtrack a little bit and we will call
Intervention No. 7, Richard Agecoutay, who is representing
the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Aboriginal Arts Program.

3855 You may proceed when you are ready.

INTERVENTION / INTERVENTION

3856 MR. AGECOUTAY: Greetings and thanks for allowing me to
speak on behalf
of the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network.

3857 My name is Richard Agecoutay. I'm a Soto Assiniboine
Cree, originally
from southern Saskatchewan. I have been living in
Alberta now for about seven and a half years.

3858 My background is in the cultural industries. I spent a
number of years
in radio and television and theatre. I last worked in
Calgary at the A-Channel, as a news cameraman, an editor and
associate
producer. I know very well there are challenges of
being an aboriginal person working in mainstream television
industry and
radio.

3859 I'm here to address and support the application by the
Aboriginal
Voices Radio Network on two levels: first, personally; and,
secondly, as the program production co-ordinator for the
Aboriginal Arts
Program at the Banff Centre.

3860 Aboriginal peoples throughout the Americas have always
had a strong
tradition regarding the spoken word. Our oral
traditions have enabled us to survive and continue to survive
in an
ever-changing political, social and spiritual environment. The
sacred stories of our ancestors were first passed down by
word of mouth.
These stories have woven a strong and vibrant fabric
that sustains us in our endeavours to persevere as a unique
people with
unique cultures.

3861 It is only logical that we, as aboriginal peoples here
in Canada, have
an entity such as the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network
that supports our voice using the technology of radio.

3862 Not only would the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network
provide this with
an opportunity to latch onto the remaining cultural
vestiges of our ancestral cultures, but as well it will
bridge the
traditional with the contemporary.

3863 Our contemporary perspectives will be reflected in the
programming
schedule by AVRN in areas such as: news, talk radio,
politics, contemporary culture and entertainment.

3864 AVNR will also provide a continuum for our traditional
languages by
providing an opportunity for the preservation and
dissemination of these languages on the airwaves throughout
Canada. These
traditional elements will be parallaxed with new and
fresh works by writers, poets, playwrights, journalists and
storytellers
alike.

3865 Most immediate, the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network will
impact the
wealth of our aboriginal recording artists throughout
Turtle Island. No longer will our artists be marginalized by
the mainstream
commercial attitudes of today's radio stations. The
Aboriginal Voices Radio Network will lend validity to so many
artists that
toil away in obscurity. By supporting and giving airplay
to these artists, AVRN will allow our collective spirit to
take flight and
soar freely.

3866 Secondly, as a worker in the cultural industry -- I just
have to go
through my notes -- we are happy that AVRN will be
allowing an opportunity for our cultural workers, aboriginal
cultural
workers, to work within this industry.

3867 As you know, aside from relevant programming, AVRN will
provide
employment, and this will aid in the area of community
economic development within our society. As you already know,
the cultural
industries in mainstream Canada are responsible for
many employment opportunities as well as huge economic
spinoffs. Areas such
as television and film, for instance, provide
thousands of jobs and many, many millions of dollars that
stimulate the
Canadian economy. Yet within these industries again we
are grossly under-represented.

3868 Having a national aboriginal radio network would be an
early step in
the right direction addressing these inequalities. Not
only will it provide jobs but it will stimulate the creation
of new works
and offer a platform for artists to share their work. AVNR
will also provide an avenue to market these new cultural works.

3869 At the Aboriginal Arts Program at the Banff Centre, we
have an
aboriginal dance program, a screenwriting program,
aboriginal women's voices program, a curatorial program. All
these programs
will fit nicely into content for the Aboriginal Voices
Radio Network.

3870 We toil hard, many hours at the Banff Centre. We are
understaffed, as
many aboriginal institutions across Canada are. We
are fighting for the voice of our people. Our culture is
strong. We are
looking to continue to see our voices being shared and to
build communities across Canada. This is done through the
arts. The arts is
one of the most powerful places where our people
can work and pass on our ideas about our culture and to
continue to pass on
these so our future children can have pride and
become an aboriginal person.

3871 With that, I am proud and happy to support AVRN, on a
personal level
as well as from the Aboriginal Arts Program at the
Banff Centre.

3872 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr. Agecoutay.

3873 Commissioner Langford, do you have questions?

3874 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Thanks very much.

3875 Just a couple of questions, and it may be on an area of
this
application you are not familiar with, and if it is, well,
you're not.

3876 Were you here this morning when we heard from a Mr. Bert
Crowfoot who
was opposing this application?

3877 MR. AGECOUTAY: I was in transit, but I have been briefed
by Bert
Crowfoot --

3878 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: You have been briefed.

3879 He went on in some detail and I can't hope to put it all
in one
caption, but I think, trying as hard as I could to be fair, to
categorize what he had to say it was something like this,
that he saw the
need for such an application being granted in Calgary for
a voice for the aboriginal people on the radio in Calgary but
thought that,
at this particular time, the application was premature,
that it was underfunded and would, in a sense, be really not
a local voice
but a repeat of the Toronto station, which in fact didn't
yet exist: it has been licensed, but hadn't got it up and
running.

3880 I think what he was saying was that there are some good,
strong local
voices here already, that the time would come for an
application such as Mr. Farmer's but the time was not now.

3881 Do you have any views on that intervention?

3882 MR. AGECOUTAY: Well, I'm not about to begin to speak
Bert Crowfoot's
mind, but in my own personal view, any voice
of aboriginal people, wherever it comes from is important.

3883 We currently are working on a streaming project at the
Banff Centre
for aboriginal people. I currently listen to American
Indian radio on satellite. That is so far removed from the
area of Banff,
yet I am drawn to listen to it because any news in Indian
country is news to anyone throughout Turtle Island.

3884 Yes, in this region there are people that can represent
the Alberta
region, but the national network will just offer an avenue
for those people to tap into, to share the resources that are
coming out of
the national network, as well as develop regional
programming. Radio is a medium that is quite cheap and
accessible for our
people to access.

3885 What we are trying to do at the Aboriginal Arts Program
at the Banff
Centre is to develop audiostreaming for our people
because most band offices now -- well, most homes -- not most
homes but
most band offices have the capability of streaming
audio and they can access and develop their own radio
programming on the
Internet. I know the CRTC is not licensing the
Internet. That is one of the reasons why we are going that
route because we
do things with artists and artists have a different
mindset and think outside of the box. I know that term is
overused.

3886 On a personal level, I feel that any aboriginal news or
music coming
from anywhere is definitely -- it can have a place
alongside of regional.

3887 I will go back to the Eros example. They play artists
from all over
the world, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sadie Buck. Sadie Buck
has cut a CD at our programming and I hear it played by
American stations.
Our artistic groups are so small and marginalized
outside of the mainstream media that we tend to play what is
recognizable
all across Turtle Island, all the new bands that are
coming up, all the old established artists are being played
on almost every
major aboriginal radio network in the States and local
ones in Canada.

3888 I don't see a national network being a threat to the
local programming
because it will only offer, hopefully, more resources,
but at least an avenue for local people to get their voice
out onto a
national network. Because we come from such many diverse
areas, it is important to hear social, economic, political
and spiritual
issues that are happening throughout the country. That way
we can share and it develops our community. It offers us a
platform to
understand the reality of our brothers and sisters
throughout Turtle Island.

3889 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Thanks very much.

3890 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Mr. Agecoutay. Those are all
our questions.
Turtle Island Native Network
Aboriginal News & Information
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