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James A."Pete" McGarvey 399 Harmon Road, Orillia, Ontario, L3V 2TU Phone/Fax: (715)326-6938 e-mail: petemcg@bconnex.net CTRC Hull, Quebec. November 8,1999 Re: STAR RAY TV APPLICATION 1. I have read with great interest Mr. Jan Pachul's application to provide citizen- access TV service to the East Toronto community and I applaud his initiative. As a Canadian broadcaster for the past 54 years, I'm especially interested in the pledge or "one hundred percent Canadian content" and the commitment to air programing of specific interest to a specific community. Many years ago this is precisely how radio stations in scores of towns and small cities established and maintained their viability. They were indeed the authentic voice of ordinary Canadians. Mr. Pachul's promise to air local sports, citizens forums and council sessions fills a gap in the all commercial Toronto TV universe. 2. Particularly commendable is the commitment to develop technologies to better enable the hearing-impaired to enjoy the station's programming. Earlier in this decade it was my privilege to work with the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association in the preparation of a national study which produced some alarming statistics on the distresses experienced by people thus handicapped. Mr. Pachul's reference to the importance of this survey is commendable. I would hope from Star Ray's experiments might come technical guidelines useful to broadcasters everywhere to better serve this sizeable but neglected part or their potential audience. Respectfully, James A."Pete" McGarvey |