Opportunity exists for APTN

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Now the mad rush begins. The CRTC has listened to the implications of Television Northern Canada and added the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network to basic cable packages across the country, effective this September.

We wish Abraham Tagalik and his colleagues all the luck in the world as they put the programming packages together through the spring and summer in preparation for the historic day when television shows for, by and about Indigenous people will hit the air.

There may be those out there who'll criticize the CRTC's decision but, frankly, we can't imagine why.

Look at it this way. There's English-language programming and French-language programming for the two supposed founding cultures of what is now called Canada. But the myth that those two European peoples discovered this land is easy to perpetrate only if the original peoples are marginalized and invisible.

For the most part - despite North of 60, The Rez, etc. - that's the way it's been so far, in the south at least. APTN will (we hope) signal the end of tokenism and cultural colonialism by simply showing every person in this country that there are firmly established, ancient societies in existence in every corner of this land that have withstood the very best and most ingeniously creative attempts to destroy them. And we're betting that even the most intolerant, Indian-hating old so-and-so out there is going to find that there are some remarkable people in Indian Country.

The mainstream is about to get to know a lot of Aboriginal people and that's going to make it that much harder to just fall back into racist hate and stereotype.

It's easy to hate or dismiss the invisible man. When he's in your face and doing something that's darned interesting, he becomes someone to pay attention to and even admire.

Since few non-Native people get to regularly travel to and stay in First Nations communities, APTN will be their tour guide.

Television is a powerful tool. It can easily be used to create manipulative, phony, glitzy, insubstantial - yet mesmerizing - images, but it can also tell a story in a way that is so accessible and compelling that nothing else comes close.

We hope APTN takes the high road. We really hope APTN gets ambitious and gets to work on dealing with the unique and compelling stories about Indigenous politics and society.

We really, really hope that the people at APTN will not shy away from controversy in order to protect their budgets and their popularity with the powers that be.

You've got a chance to be leaders in Canada and in the world, folks.

Go get 'em!