MONTREAL – Former CRTC chair and Astral Media president André Bureau succumbed to cancer on Friday, April 12. He was 83.
A lawyer and communications business executive, Bureau was the illustration of a generation of smart, ambitious and well-connected young French-Canadian men that emerged after the “Révolution Tranquille”.
Born in 1935, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, he studied Law at Université Laval in Québec City and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1959. He also received a doctorate in comparative law at the Sorbonne, in France, in 1960.
In private practice from 1960, he practiced in his home town, where Le Nouvelliste (the…
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OTTAWA – On February 26th, the Government of Canada proposed new CRTC Policy direction to put Canadians at the forefront of future telecommunications decisions, as Cartt.ca reported.
By law, this proposed Order must be put for comments for a period of 30 days after being published in the Canada Gazette. April 8th was the deadline for intervenors to make their comments known to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
(Ed note: By law, the federal government doesn’t have to listen to any of the recommendations, if it has already made up its mind,…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has laid out its 2020-2021 Forecast for the next two years under the headings of Telecommunications, Broadcasting and Consumer and public protection.
Designed to supplement the CRTC Departmental Plan 2019-2020, the Commission said that the publications are designed to help foster a predictable regulatory environment by providing advance public notice of its activities over the next two fiscal years, each running from April 1 to March 31.
Highlights from the forecast include:
Telecommunications
– Improve broadband internet access service across Canada
– Implement the regulatory framework for mobile wireless services
– Determine configurations and rates for disaggregated wholesale high-speed…
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MONTREAL – On Friday, in a ruling from the Bench, Justice Claude Champagne of the Québec Superior Court issued an injunction requiring Québecor to provide the signals of TVA Sports 1, TVA Sports 2 and TVA Sports 3 to Bell TV before 6 p.m. Québecor complied with the order, restoring French language NHL Playoff action for Bell subscribers.
However, Bell’s request to stop Québecor’s “Fair Value” advertising campaign was not granted, citing freedom of expression.
Pierre Karl Péladeau, in a scrum with reporters, said he was disappointed. He added “This injunction does not resolve the problem, which I have raised with…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has called TVA Group to an expedited hearing at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 17 over the company’s decision to yank its TVA Sports signal from Bell TV – and it warned the broadcaster the its sports channel’s broadcasting licence hangs in the balance.
Specifically, the Commission has called the company in to “consider whether TVA Group Inc. (TVA) is in violation or has violated section 15(1) of the Discretionary Services Regulations (the Regulations) by withdrawing TVA Sports’ signal from distribution by Bell Canada (Bell) and related undertakings or otherwise interfering with the signal in a…
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MONTREAL – Two weeks ago, Cartt.ca reported Québecor had complained to the CRTC alleging undue preference in Bell TV’s treatment of TVA Sports.
Tuesday, Bell filed its answer, saying it was not a valid complaint since, among other things, negotiations were under way to set affiliation agreements for the next few years.
Most complaints would not warrant coverage such as this but it comes at a time of heightened tension between Québecor and Bell that has resulted in Québecor pulling TVA Sports from Bell TV (despite repeated CRTC warnings not to do so), depriving Bell’s subscribers of French-language NHL…
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TORONTO – Nascent wireless provider dotmobile is one step closer to launch after receiving its first telecommunications license from the CRTC.
“The first license issued to us is called BITS – Basic International Telecommunications Services – which is needed to provide calling to the US. So, now we’ve got the go-ahead to connect our members to the rest of the world. Cart before the horse as far as licenses go, but hey – we’re one step closer!” reads a post by CXO Alex Bauman.
Bauman added that the company has registered for several licenses, including Wireless Service Provider and Proposed Full MVNO,…
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TORONTO – Senior lawyer and public policy professional Deborah Smith-Webber has joined Hall Webber LLP as the Toronto entertainment law firm looks to expand its practice.
Smith-Webber most recently served for ten years as senior specialist/advisor on culture policy with the Ontario government, where she led strategy and policy development on a legislative and regulatory portfolio that included free trade agreement negotiations, CRTC broadcasting proceedings, copyright reform, and Canadian culture policy toolkit modernization.
In her new role as strategic policy counsel, she will help organizations devise and execute effective policy, legislative, and regulatory advocacy strategies and initiatives at the intersection of…
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MONTREAL — Quebecor’s TVA is so fed up with how its all-sports channel is being treated by Bell that an executive confirmed it will defy a CRTC demand and pull TVA Sports from all Bell TV distribution systems at 7 p.m. Wednesday, just as the National Hockey League playoffs begin.
"We don't have confidence" in the CRTC process, said Groupe TVA COO Martin Picard in an interview. "We've already waited too long."
While the Commission has a dispute resolution process that uses final offer arbitration to impose new carriage contracts when asked to do so by one of the parties,…
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QUISPAMSIS, NB – Nominations are now closed and judging is underway for Tuned-in Canada: The CCSA Awards 2019.
Judges Greg O’Brien (president of FindTV, and editor & publisher of Cartt.ca), Suzanne Lamarre (lawyer, former CRTC commissioner, member of the Disciplinary Council of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and Télé-Québec's Board of Directors), Matthew Polka (president and CEO of the American Cable Association), and Joely Collins (producer, director and founder of Vancouver-based Million Faces Productions) are currently combining a shortlist of nominees in the public voting categories of:
– Best people: on-camera community channel personality– Best…
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