Collins was before the CRTC May 1 as an intervenor on behalf of Vision TV, which is fighting to maintain its place on basic cable in Canada.
"As a community we contribute to the whole country," said Collins, noting he was speaking not just of the Catholic Church but other faith communities as well. "Having one channel on basic coverage is a way of recognizing that.
“It would be very easy for faith communities to be rolled over,” he said.
The cardinal said he hoped the government, in representing the whole of Canadian society, “would assure a place for people of faith.”
While CRTC Chairman Jean Pierre Blais told Collins the cable and satellite companies have said they would be unlikely to remove Vision from their basic package even if the mandatory designation were removed, Collins sought official assurance this would be the case.
“I don’t take a great deal of comfort in the assurances of those great corporations,” Collins said. “This is a national thing, something to do with Canada. I don’t want to rely on the favour of these immense companies.”
He pointed out that some of the cable operators own sports franchises and he fears they would get priority.
The archbishop of Toronto noted Vision TV, since its 1987 founding, has celebrated Canada’s great religious diversity.
“On any given day, you will find Christian programming alongside Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh shows, a reflection of the diversity of the faith communities present in our country.”
The cardinal stressed the importance of the Daily Mass Vision broadcasts six days a week for the ill, the aged and the disabled Catholics who cannot attend regular Church services. He pointed out many of Vision’s viewers who are 50 years old or older cannot afford to pay for package of specialty channels or the equipment needed for digital stations.
Blais asked whether the Catholic Church had considered offering a closed circuit option for people to watch Mass. Collins said this has been done in hospitals and other institutions, but the need for the daily Mass is found coast to coast.
One Free World International founder Rev. Majed El Shafie told the CRTC Vision was “an important part of my healing as a human being” as a refugee from religious persecution in Egypt, where he was tortured for converting from Islam to the Christian faith.
“Imagine if this channel existed in Pakistan or Afghanistan,” said El Shafie, whose ministry promotes religious freedom around the world and rescues people from persecution.
If Vision is taken off basic cable and people can’t find it or it becomes too expensive, the network will be “starved to death” and the religious community and minority communities “will be hurt,” he said.
How the CRTC handles Vision “will be a defining moment for setting the tone of public discourse,” he said. “It will have a profound impact on how we value our most fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Lorna Dueck, columnist, broadcaster and host of Context with Lorna Dueck, said “the mainstream media has too little openness” and religious communities have so little “access to free expression” in Canada.
“In my experience, Canadians want to see this unique offering” that looks at the faith dimension behind the headlines. The basic cable made it possible “to stumble across us through the power of their remote control,” she said.
There has been no announcement as to when a decision will come down.