CBC works to fix technical problems in small communities
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Sanikiluaq (Mar 05/01) - For several weeks this year when residents of Sanikiliuq tried to watch CBC North, all they saw was a fuzzy screen.
The same thing happened when they turned on their radio. Instead of a friendly announcer's voice, they heard harsh static.
"Everybody misses Hockey Night in Canada and the news," said Brian Fleming, the hamlet's senior administrative officer.
Fleming said the frequency driving CBC into the community started failing intermittently before Christmas and has disappeared altogether.
Two CBC technicians went to the hamlet to restore radio service and partially restore television service Feb. 28 so that it was available through cable.
"We really don't have the expertise to fix it here," Fleming said. "We've been unplugging and plugging in a lot of things."
Although CBC owns most transmitters that brings programming to the Canadian homes, they do not own Sanikiluaq's. CBC does not own transmitters in communities that had less than 500 people in the late 1970s, when many transmitters were introduced in the North. About 10 communities are affected in the Eastern Arctic.
"It's been a bit problematic," said CBC area manager Pat Nagle in Iqaluit.
Most southern communities are serviced by transmitters in larger centres and do not experience a lack of broadcasting, explained Nagle.
"The North is special case in that sense," he added. "CBC has not been in a position to take over operations of these (community-owned) sites ... but are looking at it."
The Government of the Northwest Territories was responsible for the towers until about a year before division. Responsibility then fell to communities.
"The problem with community-owned sites is an ongoing one," Nagle said. "The communities don't have the expertise on site often to diagnose larger problems."
Nagle said CBC does sometimes fix things and provides help to communities on an informal basis. A spare CBC FM transmitter part was on its way to Sanikiluaq last week at the corporation's expense.
She added the corporation is currently speaking with the Government of Nunavut to "organize a systematic way of dealing with the difficulties."
