MONTREAL — While Quebec’s independent producers association supports Remstar’s new proposal to revive TQS, the CRTC wants the company to come up with a new and improved pitch by June 11.

At public licence renewal hearings in Quebec City and Montreal this week, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein told Remstar its programming ideas and financial plan were weak. ‘We have problems with your application,’ von Finckenstein said, adding that the commission grants broadcasting licences to those committed to ‘making Canadian expression flourish.’

Maxime Rémillard, who co-chairs Remstar Broadcasting with his brother Julien, said TQS’s financial problems make it hard for the network to fulfill its Canadian content obligations. The troubled French network, which has local stations across the province, lost $18 million last year and wants to eliminate 370 jobs. TQS wants the CRTC to transfer the licence from the network’s previous owners, Cogeco and CTV globemedia, and to renew it for the next seven years.

Remstar wants to get rid of local and regional news and attract young viewers with ‘interactive programming’ — making the Internet and social networking sites ‘allies rather than competitors,’ Rémillard told the federal regulator. Remstar also wants to program current affairs shows that comment on the news, rather than produce news coverage.

But the CRTC wasn’t impressed with Rémillard’s vision for TQS and submitted a two-page list of ‘clarifications’ Remstar must make, including a new proposal for regional and local news programming. The CRTC also asked Remstar to prove it’s got the equity to revive the network; it wants to have a look at Remstar’s books as well as the personal finances of the Rémillard brothers.

‘We were reassured by the CRTC’s reaction,’ says Chantale Larouche, president of the Fédération nationale des communications, the union representing TQS workers. ‘TQS wants to do news talk TV. But opinions are rarely neutral. They need to broadcast news that is in-depth and produced locally by journalists, so people can form their own opinions, not just hear the commentary of people such as Doc Mailloux.’

The Montreal daily La Presse recently reported that TQS plans to rehire two shock TV commentators who were let go from the network because of their controversial opinions: psychiatrist Pierre ‘Doc’ Mailloux, and Huntington Mayor Stéphane Gendron, who was barred last year after comments he made while a talk-show host.

But the APFTQ stands behind Remstar’s proposal. ‘We have some reservations but we support it,’ says spokeswoman Céline Pelletier. ‘We aren’t happy that they are getting rid of their news programming, but if the network disappears altogether it’s not good for the industry or the population as a whole. This licence is important.’ Pelletier added that TQS plans to continue to invest in entertainment and drama.

The CRTC has also asked TQS to demonstrate how it plans to fulfill its Canadian content obligations. The CRTC hearings resume June 10 in Gatineau.