By Greg O’Brien
CHATHAM, Ont. – Back in 2017, the official reason former Ontario CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan was finally removed from his position is because he met privately and “inappropriately” with a person who had applied for a radio station licence prior to the decision on a licence being officially announced.
Readers of Cartt.ca back then will remember the whole story was longer and much more complicated than that (and we’re not going to rehash it here), but today, independent ISP TekSavvy said it has filed additional evidence with the federal government showing CRTC chair Ian Scott met inappropriately with…
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OTTAWA – Bill C-10, the legislation to modernize the Broadcasting Act, passed the first reading in the Senate on Tuesday, June 22nd.
Then the debate on second reading started on Wednesday afternoon. Senate administration added a new motion that very same morning.
The Bill was introduced by Senator Dennis Dawson, seemingly on behalf of the Government as he read a speech supporting the Bill and answering questions from other Senators, some of them strongly opposing the Bill. “We were not expecting to get to second reading as of today and now that we are sitting next week, I hope we can…
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Indigenous media want to work together
By Bill Roberts
ON THE 25th ANNIVERSARY of National Indigenous Peoples Day, a day which recognizes and honours the heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding achievements of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples, the Banff World Media Fest held its inaugural International Indigenous Screen Summit, with a kick-off presentation which included Australia’s SBS, TG4 in Ireland, KNR Radio/TV Greenland, New Zealand’s Maori TV, Nunavut’s Uvagut TV, and was moderated by APTN CEO Monika Ille.
APTN was the first Indigenous television broadcaster the world and the general consensus was the need for Indigenous “narrative sovereignty” has never been…
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TORONTO — Monday morning, Canada’s national public broadcaster CBC announced a broadcast and streaming lineup of original series and special programming showcasing First Nations, Métis and Inuit experiences in recognition of National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21) and National Indigenous History Month (June).
Some of CBC’s special programming and editorial content includes the following:
National Indigenous Peoples Day — Monday, June 21, 2021
CBC Manitoba’s daily original news and current affairs programs will be led by Indigenous hosts, reporters and producers. Broadcast and guest host details are available here. Stream on CBC Gem and CBC Listen, visit Continue Reading
If it doesn’t pass and there’s no election, it will continue in the fall
By Bill Roberts
AT MOMENTS HE LOOKED a bit like that deer in the proverbial headlights.
Minister Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, was in virtual conversation with Prem Gill, CEO of Creative B.C. on Thursday at the virtual Banff World Media Fest.
It was also somewhat of a hot seat.
“Look, I’ve been minister for 20 months and 18 of those were under Covid… it’s been a steep learning curve,” shared Guilbeault as he acknowledged his baptism by flamethrower at the Ministry.
And with Bill C-10, “we’ve had 120 amendments…
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HALIFAX – Eastlink said today it will present a special day of programming on its local community stations on June 21st celebrating the cultures and contributions of our First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada, which will begin with a moment of recognition in honour of Canada’s residential school children.
“We are so pleased to share this meaningful and important programming in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day,” said Deborah Shaffner, CEO of Eastlink in the press release.
“We hope our viewers will be inspired by the beauty and resiliency of Canada’s Indigenous peoples and communities while taking the opportunity…
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By Bill Roberts
THE LAST TIME I REALLY thought hard about Netflix was back in 2017, when then-Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly drew back the curtain on a commitment by Netflix to spend $500 million over five years to make original Canadian screen content.
I think it was part of a Chateau Laurier “Creative Canada” roadmap reveal by Joly, and I don’t think the fawning has stopped since. But, since 2017 there sure has been some incredible programming on this streamer, and during our extended pandemic it remains a more pleasant alternative to divorce.
Ted Sarandos, co-CEO and chief content officer of Netflix…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a meeting hastily scheduled Wednesday afternoon for Wednesday afternoon and evening, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage held a four hour meeting on Bill C-10 with almost no notice. Yes, FOUR hours.
We looked at the committee’s web page at 2:30 this afternoon and found no meetings scheduled. It was set for 4:30, then 4:45 and when the chair of the committee, Liberal MP Scott Simms, appeared at 4:51, he seemed a little peeved (as were we). He said that he tries to give as much notice before meetings, but said the whips of the…
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CAB says Bill C-10 delays creating “domino effect” pushing back promised legislation to help news outlets
TORONTO and OTTAWA — News Media Canada, representing hundreds of print and digital news outlets in every province and territory, today issued an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling on the federal government to act immediately on its commitment to support local journalists.
The letter, signed by News Media Canada chair Jamie Irving, was published today by news organizations across the country, including The Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, The Hamilton Spectator, The National Post, Le Journal de Montréal, The Edmonton Journal and…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – A couple of hours before the House of Commons held a vote confirming the time which the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage can study Bill C-10 will now be limited, the committee held its Monday meeting and continued to spin its wheels.
Nominally, Monday’s meeting was scheduled as a return to clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, but the committee first voted unanimously against a Green Party amendment which was discussed for two hours last Friday, and then defeated an NDP motion to continue meetings into the summer.
That motion, by NDP member Heather MacPherson, proposed to hold…
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