Von Finckenstein rebuts Menzies
IN THE JULY 3 EDITION of the Report on Business, former vice-chair of telecom Peter Menzies wrote he believes Ottawa has given the CRTC conflicting directives which will result in a tough road for the current Commission chair, Ian Scott.
I see the issue differently. The federal government has actually issued two helpful directives.
First, the previous government under former Industry Minister Maxime Bernier issued a directive in 2006 putting the emphasis on competition and directing the CRTC, when regulating, to maximize competition in the telecom sector. Now, under ISED Minister Navdeep Bains, today’s…
Continue Reading
Lawyer Claire Anderson starts next month
GATINEAU – Yukon lawyer Claire Anderson has been hired as CRTC commissioner for British Columbia and Yukon, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced today.
She is the first Indigenous woman and first Yukon resident to be appointed as a CRTC commissioner and will fill a position which has been vacant since June 2018 when former commissioner Stephen Simpson left. While we don’t know her age, judging from her CV, she is likely one of the youngest ever hired, too. She starts August 26th.
Anderson (pictured in a photo from her LinkedIn profile) is a citizen of…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez has mostly been silent on the Canadian TV business since being appointed last July.
We know he’s met with a number of stakeholders during his year on the job (the first anniversary is July 18) and he did make a short appearance on stage at the Canadian Media Producers Association Prime Time gathering in February, but Rodriguez has spent his first year well out of the spotlights which seemed constantly on his predecessor Mélanie Joly.
Wednesday however, Rodriguez issued a statement outlining his thoughts far more definitively on the…
Continue Reading
Heritage Minister offers an enlightening tweet
OTTAWA – They heard directly from from 150 stakeholders and read through more than 2,000 interventions and today the Broadcast an Telecom Legislative Review panel released their summary of all of that.
It’s not too exhaustive, nor does it tie any points of view back to specific stakeholders (that can be found in the individual submissions which are all now online) but the report highlights the areas of tension identified in their consultations – and really, the same tensions fought over in the industry for…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has added two new members to its Board of Directors following its recent AGM in Montreal.
Barry Chapman and Gary Pizante succeed outgoing directors Dave McLennan and Rob Scarth, joining current directors Alain Cousineau; Alison Clayton; Lori DeGraw; Guy Fournier; and Michael Schmalz.
Chapman has over 30 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry at the executive level, extensive knowledge in regulatory affairs, mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategic and financial planning. He also brings extensive corporate governance experience, having sat on numerous boards. Chapman held the role of vice-president, regulatory affairs at Bell Canada…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Corriere Canadese has formally appealed to federal Cabinet the CRTC decision to grant a multilingual national multi-ethnic discretionary service with mandatory 9(1)(h) distribution to Rogers, as Cartt.ca had previously reported.
“In the Decision’s relegation and monopoly granted to a single corporate entity, to purportedly speak for all other linguistic and ‘ethnic’ Canadians, who are non-Anglo and non-Franco, the Decision violates the very essence of sections 2,7,15 and 27 of the Charter, as well as the underlying constitutional imperative to Federalism and Respect for Minorities as enunciated by the SCC, in…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – In its statutory review of the Copyright Act, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU) parted ways with its Canadian Heritage counterpart on issues regarding ownership of cinematographic works, the definition of “sound recording” in the legislation, and the radio-royalty exemption.
However, differences between both committees were also based on process, according to a news release INDU issued on Tuesday.
It said that since the committee presented its report to the House of Commons on June 3, “some stakeholders who participated in INDU’s proceedings have expressed regret that the committee…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Alicia Barin has been appointed as the CRTC’s regional member for Quebec, announced Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez this afternoon.
Her five-year term will begin August 11, 2019, the day after the term of current CRTC commissioner for Quebec, Yves Dupras, expires.
Barin has more than 20 years of experience in the Canadian media industry and was a key member of Astral Media's senior management team from 2003 to 2013. When she left the company in 2013 she was vice-president of strategic planning. Since then, she has been working in corporate affairs for AECO Project Management and Barin Architecture…
Continue Reading
BANFF – The federal government will help fund a new initiative designed to boost the number of women-owned and women-led businesses within the screen-based industries.
Announced on the opening day of the Banff World Media Fest, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Halifax MP Andy Fillmore said that almost $2 million will be directed to the Banff Television Festival Foundation for the Banff Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media.
According to the announcement, the investment will help at least 50 participants to grow their business, support 16 participants in starting a business, and result in 200…
Continue Reading
BANFF – Now celebrating its 40th year, the Banff World Media Festival (BWMF) has grown to become one of the world’s premier conferences and marketplace for leading edge content producers, media executives, and digital entrepreneurs.
More than 1,500 delegates and attendees from more than 20 countries gather in the jaw dropping movie-set vistas of Banff, Alberta to continue the tradition of playing an integral role developing Canada’s (and the world’s) screen industries… all the while contributing to exports and growing associated sectors such as music and independent production.
Billions of dollars worth of business deals have been started and/or closed here…
Continue Reading