In the landscape of telecommunications, few institutions have left as profound a legacy as Nokia Bell Labs. As it marks its centennial anniversary, Bell Labs’ rich heritage of groundbreaking innovation continues to resonate strongly within Canada’s telecom evolution, significantly shaping its past and charting an ambitious course for the future. Let’s explore Bell Labs’ transformative history, Nokia’s contemporary contributions to Canada’s telecom landscape, and visionary innovations shaping the next century of connectivity.
A Legacy of Breakthroughs
From the invention of the transistor to the dawn of wireless networks, Bell Labs’ monumental contributions have laid the foundational stones…
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National public broadcaster CBC announced Monday it is marking National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day with original and special programming that showcases the perspectives and experiences of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
In honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day, CBC TV and CBC Gem will broadcast and stream a selection of Indigenous-led documentaries, films and series throughout the day and late night on Saturday, June 21.
Included in the lineup is Resonate: Songs of Resilience, which begins streaming June 21 on CBC Gem and CBC…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is expanding eligibility for the independent news fund by including Corus’s 15 Global stations into the fold.
Because Corus is a large media company vis-à-vis other eligible services – and would likely receive the majority of the funding – the CRTC said it is also instituting a funding cap of 45 per cent to any one entity to ensure the other recipients of the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF) are not adversely affected by its inclusion.
“The Commission notes that Corus plays an important role in producing and broadcasting locally reflective and locally relevant news and information…
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Quebecor Media subsidiary TVA Group announced Wednesday several layoffs, primarily in its television division, as the broadcaster faces an uncertain future due to ongoing financial challenges, the Montreal-based company said.
“TVA Group, like other private broadcasters, is operating in a steadily deteriorating business environment and continues to absorb substantial financial losses while competing on an uneven playing field,” Quebecor President and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau, who is the acting president and CEO of TVA Group, said in a press release.
“In this alarming situation, TVA Group is forced to cut some 30 jobs,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor executives said Wednesday that Radio-Canada, the French-language version of the CBC, should be made to step-up on producing children’s programming because it has become economically difficult to do so for private broadcasters.
The company’s vice president of public and regulatory affairs told the five-member CRTC panel in response to a question about how to sustain the delivery of children’s programming that the public broadcaster — which is already required by the CRTC to broadcast a certain number of hours of kids programming — should pick up where private broadcasters have failed.
“We hope the mandate of Radio-Canada will…
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By Connie Thiessen
CBC/Radio-Canada’s board of directors has announced it’s discontinuing executive performance bonuses, following an independent review.
The executive bonus structure, known as the Short-Term Incentive Plan, sparked outrage in late 2023 when the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released data indicating that in 2022, the CBC paid out more than $16 million in bonuses in the face of a looming $125 million budget shortfall. Catherine Tait, then president of the public broadcaster, went on to defend the bonus structure before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage saying that “like every other Crown Corporation” performance pay was a key part of the…
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Newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet was sworn in Tuesday morning in Rideau Hall, with Mélanie Joly becoming Minister of Industry and Steven Guilbeault staying in his role as Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity.
A one-time Minister of Canadian Heritage from Nov. 2015 to July 2018 in former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet, Joly most recently served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under both Carney and Trudeau. In addition to her new industry minister role, Joly is also Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. Her new appointment…
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Quebecor’s Freedom Mobile announced Wednesday it has signed a multi-year agreement to be the presenting sponsor of the Calgary Stampede’s nightly Grandstand Show.
Running all 10 nights of the Stampede from July 4-13, this year’s Grandstand Show will be headlined by Albertan country music singer-songwriter Carolyn Dawn Johnson, a 17-time Canadian Country Music Award winner. The show will also feature performers from the Young Canadians School of Performing Arts and the Grandstand Band, along with jaw-dropping stunt acts, a pyrotechnic display, a new drone show and the Stampede’s signature nightly fireworks finale.
“We are extremely proud to announce…
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Also marking Asian Heritage Month with special themed channel
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) last week announced two new documentaries from Yukon and British Columbia will be added to its streaming offerings on nfb.ca in May.
Starting May 16, filmmaker Jessica Hall’s short documentary Saturday explores the joyful, creative life of her sister, Katherine, who has an intellectual disability. The 13-minute film is “n inspiring tribute to a daughter and mother’s close and supportive relationship,” an NFB press release says. Saturday has been screened at a number of Canadian festivals, including the Available Light Film Festival in…
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Follows Pascale St-Onge pledge
By Ahmad Hathout
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday pledged $150 million to shore up the CBC/Radio-Canada and enshrine funding for the public broadcaster in the law if elected.
“Canada’s institutions and identity are under attack from foreign interference,” Carney said during a campaign stop in Montreal. “If elected, my government will take action to enshrine and protect and strengthen CBC/Radio-Canada for generations to come.
“We will not only increase CBC/Radio-Canada’s funding by $150 million, but we will also make this funding statutory, meaning Parliament as a whole will need to approve any future changes to its funding, not…
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