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Decision
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Ottawa, 31 March 1987
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Decision CRTC 87-279
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Ontario Region
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Pursuant to Public Notice CRTC 1987-11 dated 12 January 1987, the Commission approves, by condition of licence, the requests by the licensees listed in the appendix to this decision to be relieved from the requirement of section 9 of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 which makes it a priority to distribute the French-language educational television programming service operated by TVOntario ("La Chaîne française") on the basic band (channels 2 to 13).
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With respect to these particular communities, the Commission notes that TVOntario has not objected to the carriage of its programming service on a channel that is not part of the basic band, so long as it is distributed as part of the basic service.
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The Commission acknowledges the intervention submitted by the Association canadienne française de l'Ontario which maintains that approval of these applications would have the effect of [TRANSLATION]: "further limiting the number of people who could enjoy this new French-language service". The Association des francophones du nord-ouest de l'Ontario and the Accueil francophone de Thunder Bay also intervened with respect to the Thunder Bay undertaking, emphasizing that subscribers should not have to incur the expense of a converter in order to receive this service, and that the entire northwestern Ontario region should receive "La Chaîne française" over-the-air.
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The Commission notes that these concerns were also raised at the 23 September 1986 Public Hearing at which the Commission considered TVOntario's application for a licence for this French-language educational television network. In Decision CRTC 86-1176 dated 3 December 1986, the Commission addressed in detail guidelines for the distribution of the service and encouraged TVOntario to establish rebroadcasting transmitters wherever the francophone population is sufficiently large to warrant their construction. Moreover, it stipulated that Class 1 and 2 cable licensees wishing to distribute this signal "on a channel not on the basic band will have to apply ... [providing] reasons to justify such a request and evidence that TVOntario has no objection to the proposed means of distribution".
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In reply to the interventions, the licensees stated that the proposed distribution of "La Chaîne française" responds to the preference of a majority of subscribers who are opposed to the relocation of stations currently distributed on the basic band. Four of the licensees emphasized the low level of francophone population in their service areas. The Commission further notes that none of these communities has been designated by the Ontario government as priority in terms of basic band carriage of this service.
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With respect to its undertaking at Thunder Bay, Maclean-Hunter Limited emphasized that the establishment of a rebroadcaster in this market for the over-the-air reception of "La Chaîne française" is the responsibility of TVOntario and, in its view, its application "is in the best interests of the majority of our subscribers".
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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APPENDIX/ANNEXE
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Licensee/titulaire Location/Endroit Application No./
Nº de la demande
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Maclean-Hunter Limited, Ajax 863220000
operating under the name Guelph 863224200
of/faisant affaires sous Part of/secteur de London and/ 863223400
le nom de Maclean-Hunter et Lambeth
Cable TV Peterborough 863225900
St. Catharines 863221800
Sarnia, Brights Grove, Wyoming 863226700
and/et Petrolia and surrounding
area/et la région avoisinante
Thunder Bay 863222600
Wallaceburg 863227500
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Rogers Cable TV Limited Part of London/secteur de 863244000
London
Oshawa, Bowmanville and/et 863247300
Whitby and surrounding area/
et la région avoisinante
Newmarket, Bradford, Holland 863246500
Landing, River Drive Park
and/et Sharon
Brantford, Paris, Kitchener 863245700
and/et Stratford
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Classic Communications Ltd. Parts of the towns of/secteurs 863219200
des villes de Vaughan,
Richmond Hill, Markham and/et
Whitchurch-Stouffville
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Ex-Cen Cablevision Limited Exeter 863602900
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Airland Communications Strathroy 863603700
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Bluewater T.V. Cable Ltd. Clinton 863604500
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Grimsby Cable T.V. Limited Grimsby and/et Beamsville 863433900
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Halton-Triangle Investments Georgetown, Acton and/et Milton 863330700
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Cablenet Limited Kingston 863307500
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