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Broadcasting Circular CRTC 2006-5
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Ottawa, 1
December 2006 |
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To the licensees of
broadcasting undertakings and applicants of broadcasting licences |
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Guidelines
for the filing of confidential information to the Commission |
1.
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Section 20 of the CRTC Rules of
Procedure (the Rules) sets out a mechanism by which applicants may
request that specific types of material or information submitted in an
application be treated by the Commission as confidential where the
public interest will best be served by doing so. |
2.
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Specifically, section 20 of the Rules
states that: |
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The Commission may, at the request of an
applicant, if in the opinion of the Commission the public interest will
best be served by so doing, treat as confidential the following material
or information, if such material or information can be separated from
the application and is marked "Confidential", namely |
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a) financial statements of an applicant who
holds a licence; |
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b) evidence of the financial capacity of
any person participating in an application; and |
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c) the names of prospective employees of an
applicant. |
3.
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The onus is on the applicant to request
confidentiality for the information or material and to clearly
demonstrate that the public interest will best be served by treating the
information as confidential. Each request for confidentiality is
considered on a case-by-case basis. |
4.
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Applicants are reminded to submit all
applications through epass. Epass is a unique credential that allows
applicants to communicate securely with the Government of Canada. |
5.
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When submitting confidential documents to
the Commission, applicants must: |
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- ensure that documents are submitted in a separate electronic file
and must incorporate confidential in the name of the
file;
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- clearly identify the confidential documents by indicating
confidential on each page and file an abridged version of the
document;
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- ensure cover letters, emails and faxes include contains
confidential information in the body of the message;
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- click in the box beside contains confidential documents
in Cover Page – Step 1 of epass;
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- click in the box under confidential in Cover Page -
Step 2 of epass.
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6.
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These procedures ensure that Commission
staff processing the applications/documents are made aware that some or
all of the documents being filed contain confidential information. For
instructions on how to file applications using Epass, consult the CRTC
web site at
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/file.htm. |
7.
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Should the Commission deny a request for
confidentiality, it will advise the applicant and provide it with an
opportunity to withdraw the information. The Commission will also advise
the applicant, at that time, whether such withdrawal will result in the
application being deemed to be incomplete. |
8.
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Should a confidential document be posted on
the Commission’s web site, applicants are reminded that it is their
responsibility to advise the Commission’s Client Services Division
immediately by phone using the toll-free line at 1-877-249-2782 or TDD
line at 1-877-909-2782, in order to have the document removed. |
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Secretary General |
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This document is available in
alternative format upon request, and may also be examined in
PDF format
or in HTML at the following Internet site:
http://www.crtc.gc.ca |