GATINEAU — Amid a number of broadcast licence approvals on Tuesday, the CRTC has renewed Northern Lights Entertainment’s broadcasting licences for two Iqaluit radio stations on a short-term basis, and issued accompanying mandatory orders requiring the stations comply with their obligations to file annual returns.
Northern Lights operates the predominantly English-language commercial radio stations CKGC-FM Iqaluit and CKIQ-FM Iqaluit. The two stations have been non-compliant in the past regarding the filing of annual returns, which is a regulatory requirement set out in section 9(2) of the Radio Regulations, 1986.
When considering the licence renewal application for Northern Lights’ stations, the CRTC noted the company had still not filed missing annual returns for the 2010-2011 through 2016-2017 broadcast years. In addition, although Northern Lights filed the stations’ annual returns on time for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 broadcast years, some documentation was missing from the returns, which the company later submitted on May 22, 2020.
Given Northern Lights’ recurring non-compliance with its requirement to file annual returns, the Commission said in its decision today it would renew the licences for CKGC-FM and CKIQ-FM for two years, from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2022, to allow for an earlier review of Northern Lights’ compliance with its regulatory requirements.
In addition, the Commission issued mandatory orders for both stations to comply during the short-term licence term with the following requirement set out in section 9(2) of the regulations: “On or before November 30 of each year, the licensee shall submit to the Commission a statement of accounts, on the annual return of broadcasting licensee form, for the year ending on the previous August 31.”
The Commission has also included a condition of licence that the two stations file all missing annual returns, from the 2010-2011 broadcast year and onward, by November 30, 2020.
