Ottawa’s plan to tear down and rebuild the CTF has found another opponent, following complaints from a Montreal artists group that the proposed Canada Media Fund will leave independent producers out in the cold.

The Independent Media Arts Alliance, a network of some 50 artist-run centers, says the CMF is ‘jeopardizing the diversity’ of Canadian media by focusing on ratings and popular appeal.

The move, says IMAA, will distance the federal funder from the objectives of the Broadcasting Act, which calls for ‘varied and comprehensive’ programming and that offers ‘a reasonable opportunity for the public to be exposed to the expression of differing views on matters of public concern.’

IMAA also warns that opening the new fund to in-house productions by broadcasters stands to shut out independent producers. Other critics, including ACTRA and the Documentary Organization of Canada, have complained that the new model will hand too much money to the broadcasters, and too much power to the cable and satellite companies that will sit on its board.