GATINEAU – As Cartt.ca reported, Judith LaRocque has been appointed acting chair of the CRTC for the next four months effective immediately, Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly confirmed Monday.
LaRocque (pictured) recently filled in at the Commission as acting vice-chair of broadcasting from November 2016 to May 2017. In addition to "extensive experience in the broadcasting field", she has been Secretary to the Governor General, Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris.
This interim appointment will ensure the continuous and efficient operation of the CRTC, reads the news release, which also thanked former…
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GATINEAU – Outgoing CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais told Commission staff Friday that he did not seek to renew his term because his work there is done.
“I haven’t applied because I’ve done what I set out to do five years ago: to put the CRTC back on the path of building trust with Canadians and developing a world-class communication system with Canadians at its centre”, he said in a speech Friday morning.
Blais added that he kept a figurine of Merlin, the wizard featured in Arthurian legend, in his office for inspiration and to help him to stay focused on his vision.
“When…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has ordered Videotron to comply with its decision to no longer zero-rate its music streaming service Unlimited Music.
In a letter to Quebecor Media dated June 15, the Commission said that Videotron failed to demonstrate that there is substantial doubt as to the correctness of Telecom Decision 2017-105, which found that that Videotron violated subsection 27(2) of the Telecommunications Act by providing certain customers with access to Unlimited Music at no charge and not having it count against their data plans. Therefore, continues the letter, Videotron’s request to review and vary the decision is denied.
The…
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OTTAWA – Count the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) among those offering their stamp of approval to the CRTC’s revisions to the Wireless Code of Conduct.
CCTS, which administers the Code by using its provisions to resolve customer complaints, said that Thursday's update “clarifies certain Code provisions that were imprecise, modifies others to address changes in the wireless marketplace that have occurred since the Code was originally released, and is intended to give guidance to CCTS in administering the Code.”
“Based on our first review of this comprehensive decision, we are pleased that the CRTC chose to address the…
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OTTAWA – Calling locked phones and unlocking fees “a significant irritant” to Canadians, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains gave the thumbs up to Thursday's CRTC’s decision to do away with the practice.
“The decision will provide Canadians with more choice and make it easier for them to switch to other wireless service providers”, Bains said in a statement. “It will also encourage competition among providers, which could lead to lower prices for consumers.
"Our government is committed to protecting middle-class Canadians against the rising cost of wireless bills. We will continue to explore all possible options to ensure…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has banned locked devices and subsequent unlocking fees charged by wireless service providers as part of its review of Canada’s Wireless Code of Conduct.
The Commission said Thursday that effective December 1, 2017, all individual and small business wireless service customers will have the right to have their devices unlocked free of charge upon request, and that all newly purchased devices must be provided unlocked from that day forward. This will apply to all new, amended, or extended contracts.
As part of its planned three-year review of the Code, which included public opinion surveys and a four-day…
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AS OF THIS WRITING, it appears the next CRTC chair will be an interim one – someone who will keep the lights on and the bills paid through the summer, at least.
It could be vice-chair telecom Peter Menzies (although according to sources he’s made it known to associates and others he does not want the job), one of the other four remaining commissioners (Yves Dupras, Stephen Simpson, Chris MacDonald and Linda Vennard) or perhaps the recently departed interim vice-chair broadcasting Judith LaRocque will be asked to return for another six-month stint, except this time as interim chair.
This was not…
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OTTAWA – CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said something Tuesday that caught the eye of many in the telecom business – that he believes the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister is beginning to move away from a commitment to facilities’-based competition when it comes to the telecom and wireless industries.
In his speech to the Banff World Media Fest, a gathering of North American TV types, chairman Blais offered three ways to improve wireless competition in Canada after he departs his position on June 17. His second idea was “to mandate wholesale access for mobile virtual…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has awarded five new Type B Native FM radio station licences to three broadcasters seeking to serve the Indigenous communities of Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto.
The Commission said Wednesday that Northern Native Broadcasting will broadcast in Vancouver at 106.3 FM; Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta will operate a station in Edmonton at 89.3 FM and in Calgary at 88.1 FM; and that First Peoples Radio Inc. will operate a station in Ottawa at 95.7 FM and in Toronto at 106.5 FM.
These five new stations’ programming must reflect the communities they serve, include a large portion…
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TORONTO – ACTRA wasted no time in sending the next CRTC chair the message that it expects more love for Canadian performers.
Responding to media reports that Jean-Pierre Blais did not apply for a renewed term as chair of the Commission, ACTRA said that “it is time for change and a new direction at the CRTC.”
“The Commission was envisioned to regulate broadcast and telecommunications under their respective Acts as well as to protect Canadian culture”, reads a statement from ACTRA National executive director Stephen Waddell. “Under Blais’s leadership, the CRTC embraced an approach that undermined Canadian storytellers instead of protecting…
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