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Speech

Opening remarks

by Michel Arpin

Vice-Chairman, Broadcasting
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

to the public hearing in Gatineau, Quebec

Gatineau, Quebec

April 30, 2007

(CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this public hearing.

My name is Michel Arpin and I am the Vice-Chair of Broadcasting for the CRTC. I will be presiding over this hearing. Joining me on the panel are my colleagues Barbara Cram, Regional Commissioner for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and Andrée Noël, Regional Commissioner for Quebec.

The Commission team assisting us includes Hearing Manager Francine Laurier-Guy, who is also a Senior Radio Analyst; Valérie Lagacé, Legal Counsel; and Jade Roy, Hearing Secretary. Please speak with Ms. Roy if you have any questions with regard to hearing procedures.

Starting today, two different panels will review the appearing items presented in Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2007-3 and this one, which I am presiding, will examine the applications to renew the licences of several French-language commercial radio stations owned by Astral Media Radio Inc. This will be followed by applications for new FM and AM commercial radio stations to serve the Montreal market, as well as an application for a new digital television service in the Toronto market. Lastly, we will look at an application to renew the licence of radio station CKOD-FM Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.

Applications by Astral Media Radio Inc.

The panel will begin by considering the applications to renew the licences of several French-language commercial radio stations owned by Astral Media Radio Inc. All of these stations are being considered for renewal for the first time since they were purchased by Astral Media. Some were acquired from Radiomutuel Inc. in 2000, from Richard Desmarais and Jean-François Lebrun in 2001, and from Télémédia Communications Inc. in 2003. The others were acquired from Corus Entertainment Inc. as part of an exchange of radio assets.

The panel intends to discuss the following matters with Astral:

  • its commitments with respect to local programming, access to the airwaves, musical diversity and information; and
  • its commitments to support Canadian content development and emerging Canadian artists, further to the recent Commercial Radio Policy 2006 (the Policy).

Radio applications

We will then review five applications to operate a new FM commercial radio station in the Montreal market. They are competing technically for the use of the 106.3 MHz frequency. The applicants will be heard in the following order:

  • Yves Sauvé;
  • Canadian Hellenic Cable Radio Ltd.;
  • René Ferron;
  • Neeti P. Ray; and
  • International Harvesters for Christ Evangelistic Association Inc.

In addition, we will study three applications to operate a new AM commercial radio station in the Montreal market. The applicants will be heard in the following order:

  • S. S. TV Inc.;
  • Radio Humsafar Inc.; and
  • Gospel Media Communications.

We will study the proposals in light of the cultural, economic and social objectives defined in the Broadcasting Act and the regulations flowing from it.

The panel will base its decision on several criteria, including the state of competition and the diversity of editorial voices in the market, as well as the quality of the applications. It will also look at the ability of the market to support new radio stations, the financial resources of each applicant and proposed initiatives for Canadian content development.

Application by Lee David Weston

Next, the panel will consider an application by Lee David Weston for a licence to operate a community-based English-language digital television service in Toronto.

Renewal of CKOD-FM

Finally, we will look at the application by Radio Express Inc. to renew the licence of CKOD-FM Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. In August 2006, the Commission decided to renew the station's licence for a period of nine months due to the licensee's failure to comply with many of its obligations. The Commission also issued four mandatory orders requiring the licensee to comply with the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations) and its condition of licence related to the annual payment to third parties involved in Canadian talent development.

In the context of this hearing, the Commission will examine whether the licensee may have failed again to comply with section 9(2) of the Regulations regarding the submission of its annual report for the year ending 31 August 2006. The Commission expects the licensee to show cause as to why a new mandatory order should not be issued requiring it to comply with this requirement.

We also intend to discuss with the licensee all other measures taken, or those that could be taken, in order to address the concerns raised by this situation, including the imposition of conditions of licence.

Process

I will now invite the Hearing Secretary, Ms. Roy, to explain the procedures we will be following. Ms. Roy…

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This document is available in alternative format upon request.

Date Modified: 2007-04-30

 

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