Canadian Heritage has said that the Conservative government will decide how best to resolve the funding impasse facing the Canadian Television Fund. The CRTC is expected over the next two months to release its decision from CTF hearings, but in an unusual move, Heritage minister Josée Verner issued an Order in Council today asking the CRTC to report and make recommendations directly to her department on the CTF."Our government takes the need for change at the CTF seriously and values the CRTC's input," Heritage minister Josée Verner said in a statement.

The CTF has been under attack from two of Canada's largest BDUs - Shaw Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc. - which want out of the program. While the government is expected to decide whether the CTF will be split into separate streams for commercial TV and cultural-public policy programs, it's still within the CRTC's realm to decide technical issues, such as whether BDUs will pay into the fund on an annual or monthly basis.