OTTAWA – CRTC commissioner Dr. Linda Vennard broke the Conflict of Interest Act by accepting flowers and chocolates on her birthday from a radio broadcaster, says the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.
According to a report by Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson, Vennard, then the newly appointed commissioner for Alberta and the Northwest Territories, received the gifts from representatives of Multicultural Broadcasting Corporation Inc. and Asia Broadcasting Corporation Inc., CRTC-licensed companies operating two radio stations commercially branded as RED FM, including one in Calgary. The gifts had been sent to her at the…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – There’s still time to let the CRTC know what you think of its Wireless Code of Conduct.
The Commission opened its online discussion forum Tuesday and encouraged Canadians to share their views on how the Wireless Code is helping to address issues with their wireless services. The forum, which will be open through September 26, is part of the CRTC’s planned three year review that also includes a public hearing in Gatineau starting February 6, 2017.
The Wireless Code came into effect December 2, 2013 in an effort to make it easier for consumers and small businesses to…
Continue Reading
Without a major regulatory change, the traditional TV industry here faces a chilling future
IF THE CRTC DOESN’T, at long last, review the 1999 New Media Exemption Order, the Canadian TV industry as we know it may well perish in the next five years, at the cost of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs – all while production of Canadian content shrivels to whatever the CBC makes.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission reached a compromise deal with the subscription TV titans in the States over the American regulator’s so-called push to “unlock the…
Continue Reading
OVER THE SUMMER, our shirt-challenged prime minister and national rock band reminded us that we stand unique in the world. As a country, we caught a glimpse of ourselves in the mirror. Turns out we’re not just sexy: Canadians are passionate about being Canadian. And yes, the Broadcasting Act is part of that.
With dark clouds looming over much of the world, Canadians are taking stock of who we are through the invisible web of culture. It lets us explore ideas and values, and dream our collective future. Culture connects our communities in all our glorious diversities.
Television has a vital…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Concerns over “allegations of systemic and overt racism” within the CRTC have prompted two community organizations to petition Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to reinstate former Ontario CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan.
In a letter dated September 6 that was also copied to Governor General David Johnston and CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais, the Community Media Advocacy Centre and Urban Alliance on Race Relations noted that in the Commission’s 48 year history, only two of 103 first-time appointments have been granted to visible minorities, and that no visible minority or Indigenous person has ever been appointed to serve…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – A Federal Court judge ruled against former Ontario CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan in dismissing a motion in which Shoan sought a stay in the Governor-in-Council’s June decision to remove him from his position, upon which we have reported extensively.
This decision was released Friday after a court hearing in Ottawa which took place Tuesday, September 6.
Soon after Shoan was informed by Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly that he was having his appointment rescinded, Shoan filed for a judicial review of that decision as well as for an immediate stay of the Order-in-Council…
Continue Reading
Time for government to speed up appointments
GATINEAU – CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais quietly asked the federal government for help during last week’s public hearing into skinny basic cable and flexible channel packaging. Simply, he needs more commissioners.
After the opening statements by Vidéotron (which was a group dominated by women and all of whom are bilingual Francophones, headed up by CEO Manon Brouillette), Blais, speaking in French, said he was “jealous” of the diversity looking back at him. The CRTC commissioners beside Blais were B.C. and Yukon commissioner Stephen Simpson and Atlantic Region and Nunavut commissioner Christopher MacDonald.
However, it has…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – CTV Two Atlantic may now be included as part of the basic television service to subscribers in the Atlantic provinces.
The CRTC said Thursday that the move, an exception to sections 16.1 and 45.1 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, recognizes that CTV Two Atlantic was licensed as a satellite-to-cable service mandated to provide regional programming.
“CTV Two Atlantic has a standard requirement to broadcast at least seven hours of local programming each broadcast week”, reads the decision. “Authorizing the inclusion of CTV Two Atlantic as part of the basic service would therefore allow all subscribers in the Atlantic provinces to…
Continue Reading
Says BDUs fight comparison tools
GATINEAU – That some broadcast distributors say their bundling programs are very much like loyalty points is wrong, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) told the CRTC on the second day of a hearing into flexible channel packaging (read our coverage from day one here).
The organization, which filed joint submissions in the proceeding with the Consumers Association of Canada (CAC), argued that because TV providers are treated like common carriers under the BDU regulations, the rules say they can’t unjustly discriminate against a certain class of customers. This is…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – It took more than a few hours but some sparks did fly at the CRTC’s flexible channel packaging hearing on Wednesday when commissioner Christopher MacDonald (right) questioned Bell on the timing of a company press release a day earlier which promised the company would offer Fibe TV service separate from its internet offering.
Cynics might have highlighted the coincidence of a Bell announcement, the day before the hearing kicked off, he noted, asking Bell “why now” when only four months ago the company suggested it was a monumental task to make a basic Fibe…
Continue Reading
