Speech
Opening remarks
by Andrée Wylie
Vice-Chair, Broadcasting
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
at the public hearing in Gatineau, Quebec
Gatineau, Quebec
March 21st, 2005
(CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)
Good morning and welcome to everyone. My name is Andrée Wylie. I am the
Vice-Chair, Broadcasting for the CRTC. I will be chairing this public
hearing. Joining me on the panel today are my colleagues, to my right,
Commissioner Barbara Cram, Regional Commissioner for Manitoba and
Saskatchewan and, to my left, Commissioner Andrée Noël, Commissioner for the
Quebec region.
Over the course of this hearing, we will be assisted by a number of
Commission staff, including, among others:
- Stephen Millington our Legal Counsel
- Len Katz, Executive Director, Telecom and
- Marc O’Sullivan, Executive Director, Broadcasting.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Mr. Millington if you have any
procedural questions with respect to the conduct of this hearing.
The purpose of this oral public hearing is to adjudicate a complaint by
Aliant Telecom against Bragg Communications regarding Bragg’s refusal to
accept Aliant’s advertising for its wireless services in Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island. Before we begin, I would like to say a few words about
the administration of this hearing.
This hearing, as you know, is less formal than traditional telecom
hearings and much narrower in scope.
Due to its expedited nature, interveners and the general public will not
participate in its oral phase.
The parties will be asked first to introduce the members of their
respective teams. The Applicant, followed by the Respondent, will have ten
minutes each for opening remarks. Following these remarks, the Applicant and
then the Respondent will be questioned on matters related to the
Application, first by the Commission, followed by the Applicant, then the
Respondent and ending with the Commission’s final questions.
The Commission will not entertain written final argument; rather, parties
will have an opportunity at the end of the hearing to make final oral
submissions.
The Notice of Public Hearing letter indicated that the parties must file
all documents with the Commission and serve them on the other parties prior
to the hearing. We are, therefore, not inclined to accept any additional
documents at this stage.
There is a verbatim transcript of this hearing being taken by the court
reporter. In order to ensure that the court reporter is able to produce an
accurate transcript, please make sure that your microphone is turned on when
speaking, simply by pushing the button under the microphone.
If you have any questions on how to obtain all or parts of this
transcript, please approach the court reporter at the end of the hearing.
We would like all of you to ensure that cell phones and pagers are turned
off at all times while you are in the hearing room.
As indicated in the Commission's Organization and Conduct letter of March
17, 2005, we plan to consider this Application, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.
We intend to issue a brief written decision by April 1.
We will now begin with the application by Aliant Telecom. We will begin
with opening remarks by the Applicant, who will have 10 minutes to make
their presentation. Before beginning their remarks, I would ask the
Applicant to introduce the members of their team.
Thank you very much.
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This document is available in alternative format upon request.
Date Modified: 2005-03-21 |
