By Ahmad Hathout
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) said it intends to move forward with a legal challenge it filed last June objecting to a CRTC decision granting regulatory relief to Corus.
The Federal Court of Appeal handed down a notice of status review on Tuesday alerting the CMPA that more than 180 days has elapsed since the organization filed its notice of application, yet it still hasn’t put forward a request for a hearing date or a proof of service showing it filed its supporting affidavits and applicant’s record.
The court is now asking the CMPA to file, within 30 days of this notice, “reasons why the proceeding should not be dismissed for delay. The representations shall include a justification for the delay and a proposed timetable for the completion of the steps necessary to advance the proceeding in an expeditious manner.”
The CMPA told Cartt on Thursday that it is going to be moving forward on the matter without elaborating on the delay.
The organization is alleging Corus has failed to fulfill its obligations to independent productions, and that the CRTC, as a result, should not have temporarily reduced some its Canadian content spending requirements from 8.5 to 5 per cent on an extraordinary basis to deal with its worsening financial situation.
Since the CMPA’s filing of the notice of application, the parties have been filing letters and motions, including on the scope of the documentation, confidentiality issues and extensions of time, according to the case summary.
