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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 14 February 1986
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Public Notice CRTC 1986-28
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Task Force on Broadcasting Policy - Consideration of Applications to Amend Canadian Content Requirements
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Related documents: Public Notice CRTC 1985-155 Task Force on Broadcasting Policy - Request to Defer Certain Broadcasting Issues
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In Public Notice CRTC 1985-155 dated 22 July 1985, the Commission outlined an exchange of correspondence with Mr. Florian Sauvageau and Mr. Gerald Caplan, co-chairmen of the Task Force on Broadcasting Policy, in which they requested the Commission to defer its consideration of certain issues until the Task Force had had an opportunity to submit its recommendations to the Minister of Communications, the Honourable Marcel Masse.
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The Commission agreed that such a deferral would be in the public interest even though this would cause delays in the processing of certain applications which had already been received. Among those items it agreed to postpone were applications from the general interest pay television networks and from one of the multilingual specialty networks to amend certain of their conditions of licence with respect to Canadian content.
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As noted in Public Notice CRTC 1985-155, the Task Force had been requested to submit its recommendations to the Minister by 15 January 1986. This deadline would have permitted the Commission to hold a public hearing on this matter and publish a decision prior to 1 July 1986, which is the start of the next six month Canadian content reporting period.
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The Commission has recently been advised that the Task Force will not make public its recommendations before March 1986.
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The Commission is concerned that further delays may be detrimental not only to the licensees involved but also to the general public and has decided, in consultation with the Task Force, to proceed with the hearing of these applications. A tentative public hearing date of 21 May 1986 has been set.
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The Commission requests First Choice Canadian Communications Corporation, Allarcom Pay Television Limited, Telelatino Network Inc. and Premier Choix: TVEC Inc. to complete or update the applications previously filed with the Commission no later than 14 March 1986.
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With respect to the other applications which have been deferred, namely those requesting authorization to provide a new children's, youth or family-oriented cable television service and those requesting authority for the Canada-wide carriage of existing Canadian stations, the Commission will commence consideration of these issues once the Task Force's report, which is due for March 1986, has been published.
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Copies of the correspondence on the above-noted matter are attached.
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Fernand Bélisle Secretary General
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