OTTAWA – Commissioner of Official Languages Graham Fraser said Monday he is “extremely satisfied” with a recent Federal Court decision asking the CRTC to investigate CBC Windsor radio station CBEF.
The decision handed down on Tuesday, May 29 “puts an end to a dispute between my office and CBC/Radio-Canada that has gone on for far too long,” said Fraser in a press release issued Monday. “The Federal Court has acknowledged my authority to investigate complaints about CBC/Radio-Canada, including those regarding its national and regional programming. I expect that CBC/Radio-Canada will co-operate fully in investigations from this point forward.”
The Commissioner is pleased to see that under the Federal Court's ruling, the CRTC will have to take into account the impact of the CBC's 2009 budget cuts (to say nothing of the 2012 cuts) on the regional Francophone community when it reviews the application to renew the broadcasting licence for CBC/Radio-Canada and its French-language radio station in Windsor, Ontario. The CRTC will be holding public hearings on the issue in November 2012, and the Commissioner will consider whether to appear before the CRTC, according to the release.
"As the country's only public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada performs a vital function for the Francophone community in southwestern Ontario," noted Commissioner Fraser.
The suit against CBC/Radio-Canada was filed in Federal Court in August 2010 following an investigation by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. The investigation concluded that CBC/Radio-Canada had failed to fulfil its obligations under Part VII of the Official Languages Act by not consulting the Francophone community in southwestern Ontario or considering the repercussions that the radio station's closure would have on the community. CBC/Radio-Canada did not participate in the investigation.
