By Greg O’Brien
“Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” – Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, speaking to president Richard Nixon in 1969 on Canada-U.S. relations
I THOUGHT AGAIN OF THIS famous-if-you’re-a-Canadian quote after the latest American media mega-merger which will see Discovery and WarnerMedia become one.
Naturally, this particular twitch has many worried this particular elephant will now (along with other pachyderms like Netflix and Disney+ and Amazon) simply roll over,…
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Says facilities-based is best
By Ken Kelley
TORONTO – When CRTC Chairperson and CEO Ian Scott looks back on all that has transpired in the last 15 months, he is especially proud of the way Canada’s ISPs rose to the unprecedented technological demands and other challenges posed by the pandemic. Speaking yesterday during a virtual event hosted by Canadian Club Toronto, Scott told Android Central’s Shruti Shekar industry players both big and small deserved a proverbial tip of the hat.
“Both large and small players navigated network management during an incredibly transformative period without a lot of disruption,” he told Shekar. “The…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – After three meetings that interrupted the clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-10, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage got back to work Wednesday afternoon but did not advance at a pace that would suggest that the bill will get out of committee anytime soon.
The amendment discussed today was proposed by the government and announced previously by Minister Guilbeault. It was supposed to correct the impression that the removal of Section 4.1 was an attack on the freedom of expression, the impression that the CRTC would be given power to somehow regulate user generated content. The amendment,…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC today denied an application by Xplornet to review and vary the Commission’s 2019 decision which created the Internet Code, specifically regarding the policy covering the conditions under which Internet service providers can disconnect customers.
In the Internet Code (Telecom Regulatory Policy 2019-269), the disconnection conditions set out by the Commission say an ISP can disconnect customers who fail to pay a past-due account only if the amount owing exceeds $50 and if the account has been past due for more than two months.
During the proceeding which resulted in the Internet Code, the Commission initially drafted…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Lawyers for Quebecor’s Groupe TVA and Bell Canada said Tuesday the CRTC shouldn’t be able to force the two companies to come to an agreement on retransmission of discretionary television channels when one or both sides disagree on the terms.
Just over two years ago, the CRTC said TVA must continue to provide its sports channel signal to Bell for retransmission under a provision in the law called the standstill rule, after TVA cut the signal during the NHL playoffs in April 2019 citing unfair economic terms of the agreement. That means, during commercial disputes,…
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Association says consensus was achieved
By Steve Faguy
GATINEAU – The Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ submission to the CRTC’s commercial radio policy has exposed a long-standing rift between large and small broadcasters, and one of them is speaking up to say the CAB’s comments do not represent them.
Leclerc Communication, which owns two radio stations in Quebec City and one in Montreal, owes its very existence to the CRTC’s Common Ownership Policy, which sets limits on how many stations in one market a company can own. When Cogeco bought Corus’s Quebec radio stations in 2011, it was forced to divest two stations…
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Company challenges CRTC on decision not to indulge passive infrastructure debate; seamless roaming
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – When the CRTC asked for comments for its review of the wireless industry—with eyes trained on whether it would force negotiations on access to big wireless networks—a parallel issue emerged in the submissions: How will the regulator deal with the emerging friction between cellcos and local officials when it comes to equipment attachments on municipal infrastructure?
Apparently, not at all. Mid last month, in its decision to force the big three carriers to lease wireless network capacity to regional carriers, the Regulator said…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – During its May 10th meeting, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Committee all agreed to invite the Ministers of Canadian Heritage and Justice to its next meeting, once a revised Charter statement on Bill C-10’s conformity with the Canadian Charter of Rights would be produced, and to suspend the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill until that happened.
Well, the Charter statement was produced, it said the partly examined C-10 is just fine, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage showed up for questioning on Friday. However, the Minister of Justice, David Lametti turned down his…
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By Greg O’Brien
MONTREAL and OXFORD, N.S. – Should the Competition Bureau decide Freedom Mobile must be sold as a condition of Rogers Communications being able to purchase Shaw Communications, count Eastlink founder John Bragg and Quebecor Inc. CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau as interested.
During his company’s first quarter conference call with financial analysts today, Péladeau said the Commission’s new wireless policies, coupled with the potential for Freedom Mobile coming on the market, could mean conditions are right for the company to move beyond its home province.
“We’re pleased with the CRTC decision allowing facilities-based MVNOs, as it confirms the importance…
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WINNIPEG – Indigenous broadcaster APTN announced Julie Grenier (above) will succeed Jocelyn Formsma as chair of the company’s board of directors.
Formsma will continue to serve as a board member.
Grenier is from Kuujjuaq, a small community in Nunavik, northern Quebec, says the APTN release. She is the director general of Taqramiut Nipingat Inc. (TNI), a regional television and radio producer in Nunavik and a founding member society of APTN.
“Over the course of her six years on APTN’s board of directors, she served as vice-chair and secretary, and appeared in front of the CRTC under the TNI banner to support APTN’s…
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