Claiming racism, harassment, wrongful dismissal and punitive damages
TORONTO – Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed a motion against the attorney general of Canada, the CRTC, Minister Mélanie Joly, the Governor-in-Council and various individuals, including former Commission chair Jean-Pierre Blais, for the sum of $8.4 million.
The 65-page statement of claim, filed with the Ontario Superior Court October 31st, retells much of the conflict between Shoan, who was hired as the CRTC’s Ontario Commissioner in June 2013, and various others including Blais, the chairman of the CRTC at the time, and former Heritage Ministers Shelly Glover and Joly.
Shoan was accused…
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TORONTO – Together, Tim Denton, Peter Menzies and Candice Molnar have overseen some of the biggest decisions the CRTC has made over the past decade as former CRTC commissioners. Wouldn’t it be something to get them all together for a candid conversation about what they thought they got right and wrong and what they really think of the Regulator’s role?
Even more so now given we are in the midst of a legislative review of the Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Radiocommunication Acts. Dream no longer, that’s exactly what transpired on the last day of the 2018 Canadian ISP Summit in Toronto…
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MONTREAL — Bell Media and Quebecor have had a "disagreement" that could end up in court over Bell's recent merger of Crave and The Movie Network.
In the meantime, Videotron has been left off the list of 39 TV providers that give TMN (now Crave) TV subscribers access to Crave online. Videotron is telling its subscribers that Bell is refusing to grant access to crave.ca, but Videotron is maintaining access to the TV channels' video-on-demand content on its platforms.
Bell, meanwhile, blames Videotron, and is suing the provider for damages including statutory damages of "not less than $100 million."
"In advance of…
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PIAC reiterates FairPlay opposition
OTTAWA – A representative of Canada’s Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright – an alliance of Canadian telecommunications providers including Bell, Rogers, Vidéotron and others – says while its members support a regime that rewards and protects creators, facilitates access to creative content, makes investment in technology and supports educational research, the removal of exceptions added to Canada’s Copyright Act in 2012 would put hundreds of millions of dollars at risk.
“ exceptions added to the Copyright Act in 2012 were necessary to eliminate uncertainty that would restrict or inhibit the development of new products and services,” Jay…
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TORONTO – The CRTC’s 2015 decision to move from an aggregated to disaggregated wholesale high-speed access service (HSA) model has ended up placing enormous cost increases on independent ISPs and will further limit competitiveness with a coming cap on Internet speeds, said Matt Stein, president of the Canadian Network Operators Consortium.
“Without changes to the disaggregated regime, our industry will be prevented from keeping prices sane, innovating, and delivering the improved customer relationship we’re known for,” Stein said in a keynote on Tuesday at the 2018 Canadian ISP Summit in Toronto. (He's pictured in a snap borrowed from Distributel's Twitter…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) is asking the CRTC to take another look at its three year old wholesale wireline services decision, saying that “key corrections” are necessary to truly provide greater competition for high-speed Internet services.
CNOC, which represents 35 independent telecommunications services providers that own or operate wireline and/or wireless networks, filed an application with the Commission on Wednesday that seeks a review and variance of TRP 2015-326 and TD 2016-379 to “address aspects of the Commission’s regulatory framework for wholesale high-speed access services that will inadvertently and substantially lessen and prevent competition in…
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OTTAWA – Last week Will Amos, the Liberal MP for Pontiac, Que. submitted a Private Member’s Bill asking the House of Commons to recognize the importance of reliable and accessible digital infrastructure to the economic development of rural regions and to the health and safety of Canadians.
He also asked the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology be instructed to undertake a comprehensive study on rural wireless infrastructure, focusing particularly on:
the underlying causes of, and prospective solutions to the gaps in wireless infrastructure deployment in rural Canada
the regulatory role of the CRTC
the fiscal and regulatory approaches to incentivize more…
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CRTC CHAIRMAN IAN SCOTT is most assuredly correct in his request for more power over the placement of electronic equipment, in the light of the approach of 5G technologies.
It is reassuring to see the Canadian regulator is showing signs of active engagement with how Canada will need to adapt to the requirements of 5G. It is also instructive to read how far in advance the European Union appears to be relative to us in comprehending what needs to be done.
5G is one of those annoying terms of technobabble which obfuscate their own significance….
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LAST WEEK, FIRST Peoples Radio (FPR) , a subsidiary of APTN, launched ELMNT FM, an urban radio brand entirely devoted to Indigenous Peoples – but also targeting a wider audiences (24 to 50 years old) who will be exposed to Aboriginal music, along with its mix of popular fare, too.
Dubbed “The Spirit of” Ottawa/Toronto, the Ottawa station will broadcast on 95.7 FM and the Toronto station will use 106.5 FM.
ELMNT FM offers its audience English and Indigenous-language spoken-word and musical programming. The local and national news and current affairs segments will feature content generated by APTN National News and…
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OTTAWA – Today, the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review (BTLR) panel announced it has extended the period in which it will receive written comments until January 11th, 2019, Cartt.ca has learned.
On Thursday, November 1st, at the 16th Annual Conference of the International Institute of Communications, held in Ottawa, the panel participated in a town hall with members in the Industry. At that forum, they heard from consumer groups that lack the resources of big companies needed some more time to fully participate in the review process. The deadline for written comments had been set on…
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