By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC said it will not need additional financial resources to maintain a database of online services because the $10 million threshold to register for possible mandatory contributions to Canadian content will limit the number of services that need to sign up.
The regulator said in response to questions from Regina Conservative MP Andrew Scheer that it is expecting approximately 50 to 100 services to register basic information with it, including name, phone number, mailing and email addresses, what services they offer and out of where they are incorporated.
Scheer requested information related to the expected number of services that would need to register, the rationale of the database and the costs related to the registry, among other questions.
In response, the regulator said it “will not require new staff or new systems.
“The CRTC has existing staff, processes, and systems in place for registering broadcasting and telecommunications services that will also be used to register online broadcasting undertakings,” it said, adding there will be no incremental costs associated with operating the registry.
It also said there are no contracts in place regarding registration, nor do they have any planned.
The 50 to 100 services figure includes large domestic and non-Canadian broadcasting services. The deadline to register with the CRTC was late November and answers to Scheer’s questions were available on Friday.
The Conservatives have been pressing the CRTC, an administrative body that operates at arms-length of the government, and Canadian Heritage on communications between the two on aspects of the implementation of the Online Streaming Act. The Tories have accused the two of colluding on the legislation.
The CRTC has said that it shared information with the department but has not solicited comment or approval from them.
The regulator said in response to Scheer that it did not notify the minister of Heritage that it was going to create the registry before it released its decision to do so.
The CRTC is in its final week of a three-week hearing into whether it should require online streamers to make a base financial contribution toward Canadian content funds and, if so, how much that amount should be and to which CanCon funds the money should go.
