Speech
Opening remarks
by Andrée Wylie
Vice-Chairperson, Broadcasting
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
at the public hearing in Gatineau, Quebec
Gatineau, Quebec
June 7th, 2004
(CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)
Good day ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this public hearing.
My name is Andrée Wylie and I am the Vice-Chairperson of Broadcasting for the
CRTC. I will be chairing this hearing. Joining me on the panel are my colleagues,
David Colville, Vice-Chairman of Telecommunications and Regional Commissioner for
the Atlantic Region, Ronald Williams, Regional Commissioner for Alberta and the
Northwest Territories, as well as Commissioners Joan Pennefather and Jean-Marc
Demers.
The Commission team working with us notably includes Mike Amodeo, Hearing Team
Leader, Sylvie Jones, Legal Counsel and Pierre LeBel, Hearing Secretary. Please
don't hesitate to speak with them if you have any questions about hearing
procedures.
At this hearing, we will be studying some radio licence renewal applications,
the licence renewal application from CKEY-FM Fort Erie as well as two competing
applications to operate new FM radio stations.
Radio renewals
We will begin by looking at the first nine items in Broadcasting Notice of
Public Hearing CRTC
2004-3. These applications for licence renewal deal in particular with
business agreements entered into or contemplated between broadcasters in the same
markets, specifically, local management agreements or local sales agreements.
The panel intends to study the appropriateness of these business agreements or
arrangements while ensuring that the broadcasters involved continue to offer
diversity in programming and to preserve the independence of news sources. In
particular, we will be studying existing or proposed agreements for the Thunder
Bay, Charlottetown, Sudbury and Halifax markets.
We will also be looking at the possibility of putting in place mechanisms or
safeguards in order to promote the diversity of voices and to ensure that
licensees continue to meet their regulatory obligations. To this effect, the
Commission could impose conditions of licence in accordance with section 11.1 of
the Radio Regulations, 1986 in order to permit licensees to operate their
stations consistent with the terms of certain business agreements.
CJRN 710 Inc.
We will then look at the application for the licence renewal of CKEY-FM Fort
Erie and its transmitter in St. Catharines.
In response to the initial publication of a notice of this application in
2002, the Commission received an intervention alleging that CKEY-FM's programming
originated from a studio in Buffalo, New York. The Commission then questioned the
licensee, CJRN 710 Inc., and republished the application in 2003. In response, it
received new interventions alleging that the station's programming had an
American orientation and was dependent on an American broadcaster.
The Commission then reviewed the new information that had been provided by the
licensee as well as excerpts from the programming broadcast by CKEY-FM. During
the course of this hearing, the panel intends to discuss with the licensee its
compliance with the station's condition of licence with regard to advertising and
local programming.
We also intend to discuss with the applicant its compliance with certain
requirements of the Radio Regulations, 1986 with regard to program logs, music
lists, and the broadcasting of Canadian musical selections. Finally, the panel
will examine the issue of the licensee's control of the company or its
programming.
Competing applications for Port Elgin
Finally, we will look at the application presented by Brian Cooper and Daniel
McCarthy to operate a new English-language commercial FM radio station in
Kincardine, as well as transmitters in Goderich and Port Elgin, Ontario.
We will follow that with the application from Bayshore Broadcasting
Corporation to operate a new English-language commercial FM radio station in Port
Elgin.
These two applications are competing for the use of frequency 97.9 in Port
Elgin.
Procedures
We expect this hearing to take three days. We will begin each day at 9:00 a.m.
and finish at 5:00 p.m. We will let you know as soon as possible of any changes
to the schedule.
I would ask you to turn off your cell phones and beepers while you are in the
hearing room as they are an unwelcome distraction for participants and
Commissioners. We are counting on your cooperation in this regard at all times.
Before beginning the hearing, I invite the Secretary, Mr. Pierre LeBel, to
explain the procedures that we will be following. Mr. LeBel .
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This document is available in alternative format upon request.
Date Modified: 2004-06-07 |
