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Peters (Pierre De Gaspé Beaubien) takes up the story of the meeting with Fox (Francis): "Finally we had dinner and said to the minister, look, you've got to help us. We're going to go out of business and we have worked very hard to get this far. You've got what you want and it hasn't cost the government any money. If you want it to cost the government money, just carry on with what you're doing. We're not asking you for money. All we want you to do is meet with the CRTC and get these applications going. That turned it around. The applications started to be approved and it started to snowball."

Earlier, in October, it had been announced that Short was stepping down as president. The board accepted his resignation with regret. His successor was André Bureau, from de Gaspe Beaubien's Télémédia. Around the same time, Hougen announced that he would be relinquishing his role as chief executive officer. It was no longer practical for someone living in the North to run the day-to-day affairs of the company. Bureau would take on that responsibility, too.

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The year 1982 had started with a good omen - a cheque for $187, from the cable system in the rural Quebec town of Havre St. Pierre. It was the first payment for service ever received by Cancom. But in July 1982, as the first fiscal year neared an end, the number of subscribers was 13,000 short of the projected 42,000. Nineteen cable systems representing 20,000 subscribers were awaiting licences. Meanwhile, the Cancom operations department based in Ottawa was trying to handle calls around the clock with a staff of two. In the west Cancom had only three sales representatives covering four provinces and the North.

The vice president in charge of sales, John Barnes, hit the road to sell Cancom services. In Moosonee (population 975) at the southern tip of James Bay, he returned to his motel after a day spent pitching satellite television to the local people. It was the only motel in town. "There wasn't a telephone in the room and certainly no television set, but I was told there was a common room at the end of the hall," Barnes said later. When he walked into the room and set eyes on the battered old television, he knew Cancom was on the right road. "There was a sign on the set. It said: Please Do Not Kick the Television — There Is Only One Channel"

Cancom decided it needed to add the three U.S. commercial networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) and one non-commercial network (PBS) to its package. Since the signals were available to 90 per cent of Canadians, it was clearly unfair to deny access to the other 10 per cent living in small and remote communities. The government was reluctant to appear to be promoting the extension of American television in Canada, but in April 1983, the CRTC gave Cancom the go-ahead to distribute the three-plus- one package, plus VOCM FM radio from St. John's, Newfoundland.

One of the biggest problems Cancom had to overcome in the early years was its relationship with cable operators. "They always felt that Cancom was ripping them off, and the fact that we were losing all this money was of little consequence to them," Nickerson recalled. "They just felt that Cancom was charging them too much, and then when Cancom started to make money they felt that they were really being ripped off, having forgotten about all those prior losses.

" Back in December 1979, Hougen had approached the Canadian Communication Association CCTA about joining him in the satellite project. The CCTA invited him to speak at a board luncheon but Hougen says his ideas were criticised and even ridiculed.

On May 13, 1986, the extent to which the relationship had changed was symbolized at the Hotel Vancouver when the CCTA added Hougen to its Honour List.

In his acceptance speech Hougen said: "I think the cable industry at times considered Cancom the enemy - at other times a friend and associate. As a small cable operator myself, I always knew we were partners in progress. Today, with this presentation, I know that we have finally united in a common purpose to bring greater choice to Canadians everywhere."

André Bureau from de Gaspe Beaubien's Télémédia took over as president in January 1983. Despite the problems he felt the company had a better assessment of the market and there was potential for very profitable growth. An influx of new cash was becoming imperative, however, and in February the board discussed the idea of taking the company public

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André Bureau from de Gaspe Beaubien's Télémédia from took over as president in January 1983. Despite the problems he felt the company had a better assessment of the market and there was potential for very profitable growth. An influx of new cash was becoming imperative, however, and in February the board discussed the idea of taking the company public. Debt had reached a point where the bank was insisting that the partners chip in more of their own cash. An internal document called the situation "precarious." It wasn't clear how much longer the partners would - or could - continue to dip into their own pockets. Hougen had more than $5 million of his own money on the line (???). "If the company had failed, it would have gone a long way and maybe totally wiped me out, I don't know. But I was very vulnerable," he recalls.

Hougen held 28 per cent of Cancom's shares at the outset. "I had arranged for the initial launch but when we ran over, our friendly bankers would phone up and say we think a couple more million would be appropriate in equity. That got difficult. (But) I participated on every call." By the end of 1983, however, his holdings had dropped to four per cent as he sold shares to meet his commitments to the company. Peters de Gaspe Beaubien bought some of Hougen's shares and became the largest shareholder and chairman.