Jim Shaw is standing firm against Ottawa and the Canadian Television Fund and, in a statement released Sunday, repeated his calls for "fundamental change" to the funding of domestic TV, though he signaled a willingness to work on those changes with the minister of heritage and the CRTC.

"Both the minister and the chair of the CRTC have acknowledged that fundamental reform is necessary," says Shaw, softening his original stance somewhat. "We are willing to work with them to achieve that change."

The cable boss went on, however, to answer criticism raised by Bev Oda, the heritage minister, who in a statement last week came down on Shaw Communications for refusing to make its contributions to CTF. Oda noted that all cable and satellite providers must abide by CRTC regulations and called on the federal watchdog "to take appropriate actions to uphold the law."

Shaw fired back that his company, which late last year stopped writing its usual monthly cheques to CTF, is "not in contravention of the law or the CRTC regulations." CRTC regulations, which are not laws, require yearly contributions from satellite and cable operators, but say nothing about monthly payments, which have been requested by the CTF for the ongoing sustainability of the production industry.

Perhaps most tellingly, Shaw twice referred to CTF contributions as a "tax," which may indicate his larger, legal strategy. The CRTC recently lost a lengthy battle when a federal judge ruled that so-called Part Two fees paid by broadcasters to the commission were an illegal tax, in part because they were imposed by the CRTC and not Parliament.

It has been suggested by industry insiders that the fees imposed by the CRTC on cable and satellite operators to support the CTF could fall victim to the same argument.

Quebecor-owned Videotron, until recently Shaw's ally in the standoff with CTF, resumed payments to the fund last week, though it is still calling for an overhaul.

Jim Shaw and other Shaw Communications execs are due to appear before Parliament's heritage committee on Tuesday.

With files from Sean Davidson