OTTAWA – On Tuesday morning, the federal government will name former Telesat and Telus executive Ian Scott as chairman of the CRTC, Cartt.ca has learned. (Scott is pictured in a screen cap from cpac.ca during 2016's basic services objective hearing.)
As well, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada legal counsel Caroline Simard will be named vice-chair, broadcasting. Both will assume their new duties and begin their five-year terms in September.
CRTC senior legal counsel Christianne Laizner will also be named interim vice-chair telecom, effective immediately, filling the slot left open by Peter Menzies’ departure last week to…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has added two new members to its board of directors following its annual meeting of members held earlier this week in Montreal.
Lori DeGraw and Michael Schmalz succeed outgoing directors Cheryl Barker and Glenn Wong. They join current BoD chair Alain Cousineau and directors Alison Clayton, Guy Fournier, David McLennan, and Rob Scarth.
DeGraw is executive director of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance, and brings 25 years’ experience in the audiovisual industry plus extensive corporate governance experience to the role. She held the role of VP media operations at Blue Ant Media for 10…
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Creator community shares deep concerns about “devastating effects” of decisions
OTTAWA – Canada’s independent producers, performers and directors have petitioned Heritage Minister Joly to either set aside, or refer back, the CRTC’s group licence renewal decisions for large television broadcasters released last month.
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), and the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) submitted a joint petition to the Minister Thursday, underscoring their shared concerns about the Commission’s decision to lower the amount that Bell Media, Rogers Media and Corus Entertainment must spend on Programs of National Interest…
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TORONTO – The Writers Guild of Canada is appealing to Cabinet to reject the CRTC’s “potentially disastrous” broadcast policy changes and licence renewals announced last month.
WGC said Tuesday that that the Commission’s decision to reduce Bell Media’s and Corus Entertainment’s minimum spending requirements on programs of national interest (PNI) have “created deep concern in the Canadian screenwriting community” because they cut private broadcaster funding to Canadian programs by 40% which the Guild says could lead to over $200 million in reduced broadcaster spending on Canadian shows over a five-year licence term.
“We appeal to Heritage Minister Mélanie…
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OTTAWA – Aboriginal broadcaster Wawatay Native Communications Society wants the CRTC’s recent Aboriginal radio licences decision to be overturned, and that it be granted the FM licences for the Ottawa and Toronto markets instead.
The Commission's June 14 decision awarded the broadcasting licences in those markets to First Peoples Radio Inc., an affiliate of Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), for stations at 95.7 FM in Ottawa and 106.5 FM in Toronto.
But Wawatay said in a statement that it is the only broadcaster to have “consulted and received consent from Chiefs of Ontario and all representative Indigenous nations” for those licences.
"We have a letter…
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Rights, diversity and the need for a strong, sustainable Canadian production sector
LAST WEEK, HUNDREDS OF independent producers, broadcast executives, government officials and countless other industry stakeholders made their annual pilgrimage to the heart of the Rocky Mountains for the Banff World Media Festival.
Although this year’s conference was similar to previous years in many ways – projects were pitched, deals were made, and drinks flowed freely – this year’s event felt different. Over the course of the conference there seemed to be a collective realization that the future of our industry, which has been endlessly discussed at Banff for years,…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) not only applauded Heritage Minister Joly’s announcement of an independent advisory committee for appointments to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors, it offered a helping hand.
CMG, which represents a number of CBC staffers, wants a Board that includes employee representatives chosen by the public broadcaster's unions, a practice that it says has “proven invaluable” in other sectors and other countries.
“A committed and skilled Board of Directors, together with workers at CBC/Radio-Canada and all levels of management, owe the Canadian public nothing less – strong value in return for public investments including the…
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OTTAWA – Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has created an advisory committee tasked with compiling and submitting a list of potential candidates for the Board of Directors at CBC/Radio-Canada.
The independent, non-partisan committee, announced Tuesday, consists of experts in broadcasting and digital technology, representatives of cultural sectors from across Canada, Indigenous Peoples, official-language communities and youth, reads the announcement.
The committee, who will serve a six month term with the possibility of extension, will provide the Minister with the names of qualified candidates for each vacant position, as well as supplementary qualified candidates to create a pool to fill posts in the…
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OTTAWA – Canada has no plans to levy a new tax on Internet service providers, despite a recommendation from a House of Commons Heritage Committee report suggesting that such a tax could help to fund Canadian journalism.
Heritage Minister Joly and the Prime Minister made that clear after Thursday’s release of Disruption: Change and Churning in Canada's Media Landscape. The report is the result of year-long study on access to local and regional media and the impact of media consolidation and digitalization.
It offers 20 recommendations, including the creation of “a new government funding model that is platform agnostic and…
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GATINEAU – As Cartt.ca reported, Judith LaRocque has been appointed acting chair of the CRTC for the next four months effective immediately, Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly confirmed Monday.
LaRocque (pictured) recently filled in at the Commission as acting vice-chair of broadcasting from November 2016 to May 2017. In addition to "extensive experience in the broadcasting field", she has been Secretary to the Governor General, Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris.
This interim appointment will ensure the continuous and efficient operation of the CRTC, reads the news release, which also thanked former…
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