By Howard Law
HERITAGE MINISTER PABLO RODRIGUEZ has promised a CRTC policy directive to implement Bill C-11’s broad mandate to sweep foreign streaming platforms into our national program to create, fund and promote Canadian content.
C-11 has now passed second reading in the House of Commons and is on its way to the Heritage Committee for amendments and further debate. It’s time for the minister to table a draft directive.
What should be in it?
The minister has said he’s receptive to strengthening the definition of Canadian content, currently codified by the CRTC, the Canada Media Fund, and the Heritage tax credit…
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By Dru Oja Jay, Amélie Hinse and Cathy Edwards
CANADA’S COMMUNITY TV stations understand that the federal government’s revisions to the Broadcasting Act represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the challenges of the past two decades: the CRTC’s regulatory capture, the collapse of local news media in smaller markets, and a steady decline in confidence in institutions.
Canada once had a thriving network of cable-managed community TV stations. In the ’80s and ’90s, over 300 studios across the country supported volunteer-driven broadcasting. These stations taught a generation about media production, developing world-famous Canadian talent from Dan Ackroyd to Tom Green to…
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CRTC called out for “vague”, “unenforceable” safeguards
OTTAWA – Telus, Bell, Independent Broadcast Group (IBG), and the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance Inc. (CCSA) have each filed separate comments in support of the National Pensioners Federation and Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (NPF-PIAC) petition to the Governor-In-Council, asking for the CRTC’s recent decision to approve Rogers Communications’ acquisition of Shaw Communications’ broadcasting assets to be set aside or referred back to the Commission.
(Cartt.ca obtained copies of the submissions from PIAC and Bell.)
Whittled down to its core, the argument put forth in NPF-PIAC’s petition and the submissions made in support of…
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By Monica Auer
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is asking Canadians to trust the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to implement new legislation about electronic communications.
The CRTC is now responsible for implementing Canada’s Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts, Canada’s ‘Anti-Spam’ law as well as parts of the Canada Elections Act and the 2019 Accessible Canada Act: the government is proposing through Bills C-11 and C-18 to give the Commission more powers over Canadian and foreign Internet broadcasters as well as Canada’s news media, along with new authority to levy administrative monetary penalties for non-compliance with the CRTC’s requirements.
In February the government assured…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – The executive committee of the City of Toronto has recommended for consideration this week that city council nix two recommendations related to the city’s role in the building of a high-speed broadband network, but the city says the project will continue.
City council will review on May 11 the executive committee’s suggestion – on the advice of the chief technology officer – that the city delete two recommendations, which refer to the so-called ConnectTO project as a “municipal broadband network” (MBN).
The city told Cartt.ca this is not a drawback on the project.
“This does not suspend or…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – After a victory in Federal Court in February 2022, Québecor is requesting the CRTC remove an exemption from a small broadcasting distribution undertaking (BDU) and strike its name from the list of exempted undertakings for having acted in contravention of the Broadcasting Act.
After noticing various hotels in the region of Québec City were cancelling their subscriptions, Québecor sent technicians to rent rooms in some of these hotels in 2020. They were able to determine the hotels were receiving TVA and TVA Sports through a third party.
The provider, Coopérative de câblodistribution Hill Valley, was not…
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GATINEAU – TekSavvy is asking the CRTC to update the approval processes for competitor tariff filings, which it says are causing a widening gap between when new service speeds are offered at retail by incumbent carriers and when wholesale competitors gain access to those same speeds.
“Because of the tariff application process currently in place, competitors are left to wait for Commission approval for access to new service speeds,” a Part 1 application from TekSavvy posted to the CRTC’s website last week says.
“Meanwhile, incumbent carriers immediately begin offering the new speeds to their retail customers, insulated from any wholesale competition,…
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Officially filed application to Competition Tribunal seeking to block the merger
GATINEAU – The Competition Bureau has filed applications to prevent Rogers Communications from acquiring Shaw Communications, in part due to its findings that competition has already taken a hit since the announcement of the proposed merger.
“Following an extensive investigation, the Bureau determined that competition between Rogers and Shaw has already declined,” a press release says. “The Bureau’s position is that if the proposed merger is allowed to proceed, that harm will continue and may worsen.”
The investigation found before the merger was announced, “Shaw planned to enter new wireless…
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By Brad Danks
THE GOVERNMENT’S BILL C-11, the Online Streaming Act, is now making its way through the House of Commons. The legislation has its share of critics, many of whom fear its intent or the role it gives to the CRTC to regulate the Internet. They fear something they currently have will be lost. I think this fear is unfounded. Those of us in the more traditional broadcasting industry understand that this legislation is critical to ensure that the Canadian audio-visual sector evolves to meet the threats and benefit from the opportunities present in the online streaming environment.
Let’s be clear…
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TORONTO – Early Saturday morning, Rogers Communications issued a press release saying it was notified that the Commissioner of Competition will file applications to the Competition Tribunal opposing the company’s proposed $26 billion purchase of Shaw Communications.
Despite that, the two companies said in the release they remain committed to the deal and they are engaged in sale process for full divestiture of Freedom Mobile to maintain strong fourth carrier. Both Xplornet and Quebecor are rumoured to be in negotiations to buy Shaw’s wireless assets.
“Rogers and Shaw remain committed to the transaction, which is in the best interests of Canada…
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