COMMUNITY MEDIA’S LOW-COST participatory model has the potential to address both the crisis in local news and information, and the proliferation of fake news. Yet this sector has been relegated to a sidebar in discussions to reform Canada’s broadcasting system.
When Paul Manly of the Green Party and others recently put forward an amendment to clarify that community media Is not-for-profit, it was rejected by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
The concern raised was that giving recognition to “not-for-profit” community broadcasting might somehow imperil giant for-profit cable and satellite corporations.
The 1991 Broadcast Act recognizes three distinct elements: private, public…
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GATINEAU — Having been denied access to a multi-dwelling unit (MDU) building currently under construction in Saint John, N.B., and therefore unable to offer services to incoming residents, Rogers Communications is asking the CRTC to order the developer to grant it access to the building, on a expedited basis.
In a Part 1 application filed May 6th and posted on the Commission’s website today, Rogers says Iron Gate Developments and its owner, Stephen Brittain, refuse to provide Rogers with access to a property known as Telegraph Square, located at 29 Canterbury Street in Saint John.
Rogers says in its application it…
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Second Charter review stalled by Conservative filibustering
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Fraught by fears of stifling constitutionally protected freedoms, Bill C-10 could undergo a second review to ensure that the proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Act are compliant with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
At the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Friday, Liberal member Anthony Housefather presented a motion that would ask Justice Minister David Lametti “to provide a revised Charter statement on Bill C-10, as soon as possible, focusing on whether the committee’s changes to the bill related to programs uploaded by users of social…
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By Steve Faguy
RIVIÈRE-DU-LOUP – Canada’s public broadcaster has cut ties with its last privately-owned affiliate TV station.
CKRT-DT, based in Rivière-du-Loup, Que., learned last year that Radio-Canada was not renewing its affiliation agreement past Aug. 31, 2021. Owner Télé Inter-Rives, which also owns affiliate stations for both TVA and Noovo in eastern Quebec, says it has no other source of programming for the station and will therefore shut it down — along with its six rebroadcasting transmitters — and return its licence to the CRTC.
“Over the last year, we have been able to discuss with Radio-Canada about this unilateral decision,”…
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Resumption of clause-by-clause consideration met by stalling tactics
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a quickly scheduled evening meeting the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage resumed its review of the content of individual sections of Bill C-10, which aims to amend the Broadcasting Act.
Right away the committee went back to the discussion over whether the amended bill complies with the Charter of Rights.
The first hour featured an overlong speech (a classic filibuster) from Conservative MP Rachel Harder, about the importance of the Charter of Rights compliance for the bill being studied. She may have a point, but the stalling tactic angered…
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MONTREAL and WINNIPEG – The Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, said this week it “deplores” the delay of the clause-by-clause study of Bill C-10 to amend the Broadcasting Act.
The coalition which includes creative associations such as ADISQ, ACTRA, CMPA, SOCAN and WGC, among others, “urges all members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage committee to agree to resume the study of the bill promptly,” reads its press release.
“Without a rapid resumption of this work, the entire fate of Bill C-10 is at stake. And without the immediate implementation of this bill, the entire Canadian cultural…
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MONTREAL – In a motion filed on Wednesday in Québec’s Superior Court, Bell Canada alleges wireless competitor Videotron neglected to ensure its subscribers were not roaming permanently on Bell’s network when travelling outside Videotron’s home territory.
CRTC Decision 2020-48, issued in February 2020 following a complaint filed by Videotron, said Bell Mobility was not to suspend wholesale roaming services offered to Videotron subscribers.
During a dispute between the two, the record of that proceeding shows Videotron had been in violation of a CRTC Policy regarding permanent roaming, where it had customers who never left the Bell network. Despite this, the…
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Rural areas need a single, open access, network
By Joe Hickey
IN A WORLD WHERE many causes are highly politicized, rural broadband access is a cause just about everyone can get behind. With it, Canada can improve rural access to education, healthcare, and economic growth. This is especially important in the wake of COVID-19, which put a glaring spotlight on the digital divide, and made it all the rage to support rural broadband access.
Even major urban telcos seem to be getting on board, with Rogers Communications promising a $1 billion rural broadband fund in its recent proposal to…
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By Brad Danks and Luc Perreault
AS WE WRITE, BILL C-10, An Act to Amend the Broadcasting Act, is stalled in committee at clause-by-clause review. Conservative members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage are asking the bill to be suspended pending a Charter analysis from the Department of Justice and an appearance from the Ministers of Justice and Canadian Heritage.
They say that an amendment made to the bill – removing a social media exclusion in proposed section 4.1 – is a substantial change and Canadians’ freedom of expression is at stake.
The Liberals say they are prepared to request a…
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By Howard Law
UNTIL LAST WEEK, PARLIAMENT’S Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage was plodding through the clause-by-clause review of Bill C-10 with no tasty headlines. Perhaps the bill’s revamp of the Broadcasting Act, which would sweep in Netflix, isn’t controversial anymore.
Of course, federal political partisanship is inevitable, as Canadian as bad weather.
And so, we now have the Conservatives’ faux controversy over free expression on social media platforms. In an e-mail blast from CPC MPs across the country, they made their case:
“Recently, the Liberal government introduced Bill C-10 – a bill that would regulate social media websites like Facebook, YouTube, and…
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