Quebecor and Bell say CRTC shouldn't be able to force negotiations

By Ahmad Hathout MONTREAL - Lawyers for Quebecor’s Groupe TVA and Bell Canada said Tuesday the CRTC shouldn’t be able to force the two companies to come to an agreement on retransmission of discretionary television channels when one or both sides disagree on the terms. Just over two years ago, the CRTC said TVA must continue to provide its sports channel signal to Bell for retransmission under a provision in the law called the standstill rule, after TVA cut the signal during the NHL playoffs in April 2019 citing unfair economic terms of the agreement. That means, during commercial disputes,...