ARCHIVED - Public Notice CRTC 2000-111

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	Public Notice CRTC 2000-111
	Ottawa, 3 August 2000
	Call for comments on proposed amendments to CRTC Rules of Procedure
	The CRTC Rules of Procedure now specify that a notice of an application for which the Commission proposes to hold a public hearing must be published in the Canada Gazette not less than 50 days before the date fixed for the public hearing to begin. The Commission is calling for comments on a proposal to amend the rules to reduce this minimum notice period from 50 days to 30 days. This shorter period would give the Commission more flexibility in dealing with applications in certain circumstances. Information about how to submit a comment on this matter is set out at the end of this notice.
1.	Section 19 of the Broadcasting Act (the Act) requires the Commission to publish a notice of any application for the issue, amendment or renewal of a licence (other than a licence to carry on a temporary network operation), and to publish a notice of any public hearing required to be held under section 18 of the Act. The Act does not, in either case, prescribe a minimum notice period.
2.	Section 4(2)(b)(i) of the CRTC Rules of Procedure (the Rules) provides that the notice of an application for which the Commission proposes to hold a public hearing, shall be published in the Canada Gazette not less than 50 days before the day fixed for the commencement of the public hearing.
3.	This 50-day minimum publication period is appropriate in many cases. In other cases, however, it has limited the flexibility and planning ability of the Commission. For example, this has been the case particularly with respect to applications for which appearance at an oral hearing is not required and for some ownership changes.
4.	Accordingly, the Commission sees benefit in reducing the minimum publication period prescribed in the Rules from 50 to 30 days.
5.	The change to a 30-day minimum publication period in the Rules would not prevent the Commission from providing a 50-day or longer publication period in the many cases where it is warranted by the particular application. In such cases, this longer period is required for the Commission, the applicant and interveners to adequately prepare for the hearing.
6.	However, a change to a shorter minimum prescribed publication period would enable the Commission to more closely tailor the notice period to the factors surrounding a particular application.
7.	Accordingly, the Commission proposes to amend section 4(2)(b) of the Rules by replacing the current text, which provides for a 50-day minimum publication period, with a 30-day minimum period, as set out in the appendix to this notice.
8.	Three consequential changes to the Rules are also necessary in light of the proposed shortening of the minimum publication period. Accordingly, the Commission also proposes:
	(1) to amend section 5 to require that the broadcast by the licensee of a notice of a public hearing take place by the 20th day before the hearing when the notice period is less than 50 days, but remain as it is now, that is by the 40th day before the hearing, when the notice period is 50 days or more;
	(2) to amend section 7, to specify that the Commission will not consider or deal with an application until 30 days have elapsed from the day on which notice has been published; and
	(3) to amend section 15, to require interventions to be filed and served at least 15 days before the day fixed for the commencement of the public hearing when the notice period is less than 40 days, but to remain at the current 20 days before the hearing when the notice period is 40 days or more.
9.	These consequential proposed amendments are set out in the appendix to this notice.
	Call for comments
10.	The Commission invites written comments on the proposed amendments to the Rules appended to this notice. The Commission will accept comments that it receives on or before 5 September 2000.
11.	The Commission will not formally acknowledge written comments. It will, however, fully consider all comments and they will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided that the procedures for filing set out below have been followed.
	Procedures for filing comments
12.	Interested parties can file their comments on paper or electronically. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary.
13.	The "hard copy" should be sent to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, K1A 0N2.
14.	Parties wishing to file electronic versions of their comments can do so by email or on diskette. The Commission email address is procedure@crtc.gc.ca .
15.	Electronic submissions should be in the HTML format. As an alternative, those making submissions may use "Microsoft Word" for text and "Microsoft Excel" for spreadsheets.
16.	Please number each paragraph of your submission. In addition, please enter the line *End of document* following the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that the document has not been damaged during transmission.
17.	The Commission will make comments filed in electronic form available on its web site at www.crtc.gc.ca in the official language and format in which they are submitted. This will make it easier for members of the public to consult the documents.
18.	The Commission also encourages interested parties to monitor the public examination file (and/or the Commission's web site) for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their comments.
	Examination of public comments and related documents at the following Commission offices during normal business hours
	Central Building Les Terrasses de la Chaudière 1 Promenade du Portage, Room G-5 Hull, Quebec K1A 0N2 Tel: (819) 997-2429 - TDD: 994-0423 Fax: (819) 994-0218
	Bank of Commerce Building 1809 Barrington Street Suite 1007 Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3K8 Tel: (902) 426-7997 - TDD: 426-6997 Fax: (902) 426-2721
	405 de Maisonneuve Blvd. East 2^nd Floor, Suite B2300 Montréal, Quebec H2L 4J5 Tel: (514) 283-6607 - TDD: 283-8316 Fax: (514) 283-3689
	55 St. Clair Avenue East Suite 624 Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2 Tel: (416) 952-9096 Fax: (416) 954-6343
	Kensington Building 275 Portage Avenue Suite 1810 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B3 Tel: (204) 983-6306 - TDD: 983-8274 Fax: (204) 983-6317
	Cornwall Professional Building 2125 - 11^th Avenue Room 103 Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3X3 Tel: (306) 780-3422 Fax: (306) 780-3319
	Suite 520 - 10405 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4 Tel: (780) 495-3224 Fax: (780) 495-3214
	530-580 Hornby Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3B6 Tel: (604) 666-2111 - TDD: 666-0778 Fax: (604) 666-8322
	Secretary General
	This document is available in alternative format upon request, and may also be examined at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca

	JUS-601905
	Notice is hereby given that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, pursuant to section 21 of the Broadcasting Act^a, proposes to make the annexed Rules Amending the CRTC Rules of Procedure.
	Licensees and other interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Rules within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to the Secretary General, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2.
	Hull, Quebec, 3 August, 2000
	_____________________________ ^a S.C. 1991, c. 11

	JUS-601905 (SOR/DORS)
	The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, pursuant to section 21 of the Broadcasting Act^a, hereby makes the annexed Rules Amending the CRTC Rules of Procedure.
	Hull, Quebec, 3 August, 2000
	_____________________________ ^a S.C. 1991, c. 11

	JUS-601905 (SOR/DORS)
	RULES AMENDING THE CRTC RULES OF PROCEDURE
	amendments
	*1. The portion of paragraph 4(2)(b) of the CRTC Rules of Procedure¹* before subparagraph (ii) is replaced by the following:**
	(b) publish a notice of the application, in such form as may be prescribed by the Commission,
	(i) in the Canada Gazette not less than 30 days before the day fixed for the commencement of the public hearing, and
	2. (1) Subsection 5(1) of the Rules is replaced by the following:
	5. (1) Subject to subsections (1.1), (2) and (3), if the Commission proposes to hold a public hearing in respect of an application that was filed either by a licensee who holds a licence for the area in respect of which the application was filed or by any person in respect of the broadcasting undertaking of a licensee, the licensee shall, at their own expense, broadcast, over their own facilities, if any, within the area normally served or to be served by the broadcasting undertaking to which the public hearing relates, a notice of the public hearing stating
	(a) the day fixed for the commencement of the public hearing;
	(b) the nature of the matters to be heard at the public hearing; and
	(c) the rights of all persons in respect of the public hearing, including the time for filing an intervention.
	(1.1) The notice referred to in subsection (1) shall be broadcast as follows:
	(a) if the notice relates to a notice of an application that is published under subparagraph 4(2)(b)(i) 50 days or more before the day fixed for the commencement of the public hearing, at least four times during the period that begins on the date of publication of the notice of application and ends on the day that is 40 days before the day fixed for the commencement of the public hearing; and
	(b) if the notice relates to a notice of an application that is published under subparagraph 4(2)(b)(i) less than 50 days before the day fixed for the commencement of the public hearing, at least four times during the period that begins on the date of publication of the notice of application and ends on the day that is 20 days before the day fixed for the commencement of the public hearing.
	(2) Subsection 5(3) of the Rules is replaced by the following:
	(3) Where the Commission determines that broadcasts of a notice of a public hearing are not necessary, it may, in lieu of those broadcasts, require the applicant to serve on those persons that appear to have an interest in the application a notice of the public hearing stating the information set out in paragraphs (1)(a) to (c).
	3. Section 7 of the Rules is replaced by the following:
	7. No application shall be considered or dealt with by the Commission until 30 days have elapsed after the day on which a notice of the application has been published under subparagraph 4(2)(b)(i).
	4. Section 15 of the Rules is replaced by the following:
	15. Unless the Commission or the notice of an application published under subparagraph 4(2)(b)(i) directs otherwise, an intervention shall be filed and served
	(a) if the notice of the application is published 40 days or more before the day fixed in that notice for the commencement of the public hearing, at least 20 days before that day; and
	(b) if the notice of the application is published less than 40 days before the day fixed in that notice for the commencement of the public hearing, at least 15 days before that day.
	coming into force
	5. These Rules come into force on the day on which they are registered.
	^{_________________________________________________} ¹ C.R.C., c. 375

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ARCHIVED - Public Notice CRTC 2000-111

This page has been archived on the Web