MONTREAL — Despite opposition from Conservative MPs, the heritage committee has voted to keep the beleaguered Canadian Television Fund alive and ‘as is.’

The standing committee’s report — released earlier this week and drafted in large part by NDP heritage critic Charlie Angus — says the CTF’s structure should stay as it is, with all of its cash going to independent producers and 37% destined for the CBC/SRC.

‘What we want to ensure is that there is a payment system in place so that independent TV productions get made. The fund does work,’ Angus tells Playback Daily.

The outspoken MP for Timmins-James Bay is the only NDPer on the 11-member committee, which also includes four Conservatives, four Liberals and two Bloc Québécois members. While the Tories voted against his report’s recommendations, the other members were onside.

The Tories and Heritage Minister Bev Oda have said little about the recent crisis at CTF, though Oda has expressed support for the upcoming review of the fund by the CRTC.

Normally, heritage committee reports aren’t made public until they go before Parliament, but the Harper government wanted to release these recommendations to the media. ‘I think they will probably come forward with a minority report disagreeing with what we have to say,’ says Angus.

The report condemns Shaw Communications and Videotron for withholding monthly payments to the fund — a short-lived rebellion that brought about the heritage hearings last month — and says stiffer rules are needed so they don’t do it again. ‘They really destabilized the industry. We need to change the CRTC rules so there won’t be unilateral withdrawals,’ says Angus.

The committee also recommends that any findings the CRTC makes during its review of the CTF must be put forward for public hearings. Angus says he’s ‘uncomfortable’ with the CRTC’s closed-door approach. ‘The CTF is a child of Heritage. It’s Parliamentarians who should be deciding its future,’ he says.

Angus believes that if these recommendations are put into place by the government, the CTF’s future will be assured.