June 12, 2024
Indigenous musicians should have a bigger part of Canadian airwaves.
A year ago, a group of First Nations artists and personalities publicly demanded a five per cent quota for music in Indigenous languages on commercial radio. A petition followed their demand last July.
This idea was previously raised during consultations on the development of a new Indigenous broadcasting policy, undertaken by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 2019.
About 1.8 million Canadians identify themselves as members of the First Nations (including Inuit and Métis), representing around 4.5 per cent of the population. Their numbers have been growing in recent years. A five per cent quota on the radio airwaves would reflect their demographic weight and help perpetuate the cultural contribution of Indigenous peoples.
Read More: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/june-2024/quota-songs-native-languages/