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Telecom Public Notice
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Ottawa, 16 June 1987
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Telecom Public Notice CRTC 1987-30
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REGULATIONS RESPECTING TELECOMMUNICATIONS FEES
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In An act to Amend the Railway Act, S.C. 1986-87, chap. 49, Parliament empowered the Commission to recover some or all of such costs as the Commission determines to be attributable to its responsibilities under the Railway Act, by making regulations that impose fees, levies or charges on any company within the meaning of section 320 of the Railway Act.
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In CRTC Telecom Public Notice 1986-75, dated 24 December 1986 (Public Notice 1986-75), the Commission announced that it proposed to enact regulations pursuant to the new s. 321.1. Specifically, the Commission proposed to calculate the fees to be paid by a company as a pro rata share based on gross revenues earned by the company from telecommunications services in the preceding fiscal year. The Commission also proposed to specify in the regulations the manner of calculating the rate of interest payable by a company in respect of any overdue fees.
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The Commission stated its intention to apply the regulations in respect of the Commission's fiscal year 1986, which commenced l April 1986. It estimated that the amount to be recovered for this period would be in the order of $6 million.
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Comments were filed, pursuant to procedures set out in Public Notice 1986-75, by the following: Bell Canada (Bell), British Columbia Telephone Company (B.C. Tel), Cantel Inc. (Cantel), CNCP Telecommunications (CNCP), Mr. F.M. Hewitt, NorthwesTel Inc. (NorthwesTel), Telesat Canada (Telesat) and Terra Nova Telecommunications (Terra Nova).
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After considering the submissions of parties, the Commission enacted regulations for the recovery of its costs. These regulations have been registered with the Clerk of the Privy Council to come into effect on 1 June 1987. A copy of the regulations was published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, 29 May 1987, SOR/87-304. A copy of the regulations is appended to this public notice.
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Fees levied pursuant to the regulations will fully recover the costs attributable to the discharge of the Commission's responsibilities under the Railway Act. Such recoverable costs include all costs for telecommunications, as distinct from broadcasting, and those administrative expenses and Other Costs incurred by the Commission in support of the discharge of its responsibilities under the Railway Act. The Commission is of the view that these costs should be not only open to scrutiny but also easily validated. The Commission has decided, therefore, to recover through a fee payable on 1 June of each year, beginning with 1987 the estimated costs for the Commission's most recently completed fiscal year as set out in the Expenditure Plan published in The Estimates of the Government of Canada.
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With regard to the method of determining which companies should be obliged to pay fees, the Commission has decided that fees will be payable by all companies which either file tariffs or tolls with the Commission or have received Commission approval not to file them. At the present time these are: Bell, Bell Cellular Inc., B.C. Tel, Cantel, CNCP, NorthwesTel, Telecom Leasing Canada (TLC) Ltd., Teleglobe Canada, Telesat and Terra Nova. The amount of fees to be paid by each shall be calculated as a pro rata share of the costs to be recovered, based on operating revenues from both monopoly and competitive telecommunications services for the preceding calendar year, as reported in the company's annual financial statements. The Commission considers this method to be fair, and to be relatively straightforward and inexpensive to apply. In this regard, the Commission notes that all services, including competitive services, contribute to regulatory activity and costs and it considers, therefore, that all services should contribute to the recovery of costs.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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