This week I and my colleagues from the National Campus and Community Association, in partnership with Canada's other community radio associations (ARCQ and ARC du Canada), appeared before the CRTC as part of their review of Commercial Radio Policy. This sort of review happens once every eight years, and sets the tone for the development of not just commercial radio, but the entire radio sector, over the coming decade.

This week's hearing is particularly interesting and important. It is the first review of radio since the beginning of what has been a general, though small, decline in radio listening, particularly among teenagers and youth. It is also a process that must react to a flurry of technological changes, not the least of which is the launch of satellite radio in Canada and the popularity of Apple's iPod.

We're here this week to talk about the future of community radio in Canada. Unlike many countires -- including Australia, the UK, France, and the US -- Canada has no national program or policy to support local community media. As much as I like the CBC, its centralized structure is only one model for non-commercial media. And unlike our current public broadcasting system, community media starts at the grassroots, embracing not just local communities but also political and artistic transglobal networks of shared interest.

A transcript of the NCRA presentation yesterday is already available, and you can take a look at all of the materials we submitted as part of the review of Comemrcial Radio.