Meeting of the CRTC-OLMC discussion group

September 23, 2024

List of participants

Agenda – Meeting of the OLMC-CRTC Discussion Group

23 September 2024, 13:00 – 16:00 (EDT)

1. Welcome: Vicky Eatrides, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission (5 minutes)
2. Remarks: Nathalie Théberge, Vice-Chairperson, Broadcasting of the Commission (10 minutes)
3. Remarks: Rachelle Frenette, Official Languages Champion at the CRTC (5 minutes)
4. Discussion: Roundtable to allow members to share their feedback on recent decisions affecting OLMCs and the processes followed to consult OLMCs (Scott Shortliffe, Executive Director, Broadcasting) (40 minutes)
   • Broadcasting Decision 2024-178 – CFED-FM Edmonton – Licence amendment
   • Broadcasting Decision 2024-165 – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – English - and French-language audio-visual services – Amendments to conditions of service relating to Canadian programming expenditures and expenditures on programs of national interest
   • Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2024-121 – The Path Forward – Supporting Canadian and Indigenous content through base contributions and Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2024-121-1 and Broadcasting Order 2024-194 – The Path Forward – Supporting Canadian and Indigenous content through base contributions – Finalization of conditions of service
5. Discussion: Roundtable for members to share their preliminary views on upcoming items in the CRTC's Regulatory plan to modernize Canada’s broadcasting framework, including: (Scott Shortliffe) (45 min)
6. Updates: Recent data in the broadcast sector Communications Market Report - Annual highlights of the broadcasting sector 2022-2023 and Open data (Isabelle Aris, Manager, Market Information; Tristan Supino, Analyst and Louis-Philippe Guay, Manager, Financial Analyst) (10 minutes)
7. Reminder: Participation in the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee's Emergency Services Working Group in relation to 9-1-1 service languages (Étienne Robelin, Manager, Emergency Services Policy, Telecommunications) (5 minutes)
8. Updates: Introduction by Scott Hutton, Vice-President, Consumer and Research, and the plans to develop a permanent official languages consultation group (Scott Hutton) (45 minutes)
9. Presentations by group members: Roundtable discussion to allow members to introduce themselves and share recent news or issues related to the communities they represent (15-20 minutes)
10. Closing remarks: Rachelle Frenette (5 minutes)

1. Welcome

• Welcome from the President and acknowledgment of the territory.

2. Remarks

• Introduction of Vice-Chairperson Nathalie Théberge and her background, before handing over to Commissioner Stéphanie Paquette and Commissioner Bram Abramson, representing Quebec and Ontario respectively.
• The Vice-Chairperson expressed the Commission's desire to engage with OLMCs and hear their views, and reminded us that as an administrative tribunal, there are restrictions on what the CRTC could discuss within this focus group.
• The Vice-Chairperson and Rachelle Frenette were the co-chairs of the meeting.

3. Remarks

• Note that the meeting was held in both official languages without the use of interpretation services, and that the members were encouraged to ask for clarification in the other language, which the staff would be able to translate.
• Request for approval of the amendment to the agenda, as proposed by the FCCF. Following unanimous approval of this modification by the participants of this meeting, the time allocated to item 5 has been reduced to one hour and additional time has been be allocated to item 8.
• Reminder that this is not the appropriate place to comment on ongoing proceedings before the Commission.
• Encouragement to intervene in upcoming processes, such as the Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2024-202.

4. Discussion

Contributions from: Carol Ann Pilon; Kenneth Hirsh; Kirwan Cox; Marie-Christine Morin; Nathalie Théberge; Rachelle Frenette; Scott Shortliffe; Serge Quinty and Simon Forgues.

• Introduction by Scott Shortliffe and NathalieThéberge: General discussions on recent Commission decisions and assessing the concerns of OLMC groups.

• Members' comments:
  • Acknowledgement and appreciation of the extra time granted during consultations with OLMC groups and in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2024-202.
  • Appreciation for doing things differently.
  • Appreciation for not launching a consultation process in the middle of summer or over the Christmas or New Year period.
  • Acknowledgment for the process leading to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2024-178, CFED-FM Edmonton – Licence amendment. Appreciation for the flexibility shown by the Commission in this decision, given that some stations are experiencing financial difficulties, particularly community radio stations.
  • Comment made on the need to update the community radio policy.
  • Request that a list be sent of decisions made by the Commission since the new Broadcasting Act came into force, so as to inform OLMC groups about how the Commission is equipped to make decisions.
  • Concerns about the data made available to OLMC groups, to enable them to be sufficiently equipped.
  • Concern about the analysis of “anticipated impacts” on OLMCs in these decisions and the fact that they do not essentially have the necessary data to demonstrate that an impact will materialize.
  • Concern over the interpretation of section 5.2 of the Broadcasting Act.
  • Concern about the "surprise" effect that certain decisions of the Commission may have on the OLMC groups.
  • Concerns about the Certified Independent Production Funds (CIPFs) and the lack of available information.
  • Concerns about Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2024-121 and Broadcasting Order CRTC 2024-194: for example, the use of CIPFs to support French-language OLMC production and the risk of having set up a quota, which could in practise lead to a reduction in funding.
  • Another question raised regarding minimum CIPFs spending and whether this should be treated as a 'ceiling' rather than a 'minimum' to be achieved, so that funds are not incentivized to increase their spending beyond this “ceiling”.
  • Questions about how to "correct" or "make adjustments" to Commissions’ decisions, particularly with regard to Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2024-121.
• Staff comments:
  • Note that the CIPFs quota is not a “ceiling” but a minimum to be reached. Confirmation that this concern was noted.
  • Note that certain analyses leading to the recommendations made to Commissioners are protected by deliberative secrecy, thus limiting the type of information surrounding the decision-making process that can be made public.
  • Assertion that Lens 41^{Footnote 1} was used by the Commission and that it allows them to focus on the OLMC issues when making decisions.
  • Reminder that concerns regarding the interpretation of section 5.2 of the Broadcasting Act can be submitted under the Notice of Consultation, which is still open.
  • Reminder that we must be vigilant regarding the comments made regarding the subjects discussed during opened proceedings.
  • Encouragement for members to submit formal interventions.
  • Assurance regarding Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2024-121 and clarification that there will always be the opportunity to "correct" possible errors or "make adjustments." 
  • Acknowledgment that the level of regulation is heavy for community and even commercial radio stations. Note that the staff are keen to hear the players' views and are open to have separate discussions.

5. Discussion

Contributions from: Carol Ann Pilon; Kirwan Cox; Nathalie Théberge; Rachelle Frenette; Scott Shortliffe; Simon Forgues; Stéphanie Paquette and Vicky Eatrides.

• Introduction by Scott Shortliffe:
  • Presentation on the fact that certain OLMC groups had raised concerns about how the Commission would define Canadian content, during workshops organized with members of the audiovisual industry in Canada concerning the Commission's definition of Canadian content.
  • Reminder that the initial consultation at these workshops was informal, in order to determine the issues to be put forward in the notice of consultation.
  • Reminder that there will be a consultation and a public hearing shortly.

• Members' comments:
  • Concern that IPSOS may not have understood the concerns of OLMC groups.
  • Question regarding the cultural aspect of Canadian content.
  • Concern about spoken-word content and the pressure on small players, particularly community radio stations and their reduced capacity for local spoken-word production.
  • Comment regarding possible requirements on broadcasting undertakings to support the creation of Canadian content following the conclusion of the related proceedings, as provided for in the CRTC's Regulatory Plan to Modernize Canada's Broadcasting Framework.
  • Concern about the role of this round table, given the limits of the items to be discussed.
• Staff comments:
  • A reminder that it was not possible to go into detail on all forthcoming events during this discussion.
  • Assertion that discussions within this group were already yielding a lot of useful feedback.
  • Assertion that there is also a sense of urgency within the Commission regarding the implementation of the amendments to the Broadcasting Act.
  • Assertion that staff are doing their best to speed things up and that senior management is seeking to increase the number of resources.

6. Updates

Contributions from: Carol Ann Pilon; Barry Rooke; Louis-Philippe Guay; Marie-Christine Morin; Nathalie Théberge; Simon Levasseur; Scott Hutton.

• Presentation of the staff:
  • Presentation on how new data can be found on the CRTC website.
  • Assertion that staff is always ready to listen to members' needs and are open to seeing how it can improve if further data is requested.
  • Assertion that the team would be able to discuss outside this meeting with interested members, if there are any questions.
• Members' comments:
  • Appreciation of the new section 3 in the report.
  • Request for additional data to be made available.
• Staff comments:
  • Note that confidentiality issues need to be taken into account when sharing more disaggregated data.

7. Reminder

Contribution from Étienne Robelin

• Presentation:
  • Presentation of the issue that arose following calls made in French to 9-1-1 that were answered in English.
  • Explanation that to prevent this from happening again, the Commission has asked the Emergency Services Working Group to provide a report on possible solutions by February 2025. This report will be made public and open to comments.

8. Updates

Contributions from: Carol Ann Pilon; Kirwan Cox; Manon Henrie Cadieux; Marie-Christine Morin; Nathalie Théberge; Rachelle Frenette; Scott Hutton; Serge Quinty and Vicky Eatrides.

• Introduction:
  • Presentation of the Commission's intention to create a permanent internal group that will enable better information sharing with OLMC groups before, during and after public processes.
  • Note that the purpose of this item is to obtain feedback on what the Commission can put in place and on the role of the current group.
  • Clarification that consultation practices will be examined as part of Broadcasting Consultation Notice CRTC 2024-202 and that staff here attempts to clarify its role regarding how to engage with OLMCs and on questions relating to official languages.
  • Note that these are preliminary stages.
• Members' comments:
  • Concern about compliance with section 5.2 of the Broadcasting Act.
  • Comment and suggestion on the possibility of having a group similar to what was done for the Indigenous Relations Team.
  • Reminder of the proposal submitted in October 2023 for the reorganization of the Discussion Group. As of the date of this meeting, there has been no written response from the CRTC to this proposal.
  • Request to consider having a co-chair at meetings, who would come from one of the OLMC groups, as requested in the October 2023 proposal.
  • Concern that an internal group would replace the current discussion group.
  • Requests that staff's proposal for the creation of an in-house group be submitted in writing by 15 October 2024, to avoid any confusion. 
• Staff comments:
  • Reminder that any comments regarding the interpretation of section 5.2 of the Broadcasting Act could be submitted in the context of the Notice of Consultation currently open (Notice of Consultation 2024-202).
  • Clarification that the open forum on the consultation process with OLMC groups would allow members to express their concerns regarding the consultation process.
  • Clarification that the project to create an internal group explains an intention to devote more resources to issues surrounding OLMCs.
  • Note that it would not be possible to replicate what was done with the Indigenous Relations Team in this context. These two groups are different in nature.
  • Note that there is an internal resource issue to be taken into account with regard to the creation of this new internal group.
  • Agreement to provide, in writing, more detailed information on the creation of the internal group.

9. Presentations by group members

• No comments from members.

10. Closing remarks

• Closing remarks by Rachelle Frenette, Vicky Eatrides and Nathalie Théberge.
• Note that the minutes would be sent to members for comment.
• Note that there is no timetable yet for the next meeting and invitation to members to submit proposals for dates and venues. 

Date modified:

2024-12-18