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Decision
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Ottawa, 26 April 1989
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Decision CRTC 89-195
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Câblevision Haut St-Laurent Inc.
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Huntingdon, Ormstown, Saint-Jean-Chrysostome, Saint-Anicet, Sainte-Barbe, Saint-Stanislas de Kosta and Dewittville, Quebec - 882659600 - 882660400
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In Public Notice CRTC 1988-218 dated 30 December 1988, the Commission announced an application by Câblevision Haut St-Laurent Inc. (CHSL) to amend the licence for the broadcasting receiving undertaking authorized to serve the communities noted above, by extending the deadline for implementation at Saint-Jean-Chrysostome, Saint-Anicet, Sainte-Barbe and Saint-Stanislas de Kosta until 30 June 1989.
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In assessing the licensee's request, the Commission notes that the licensee was granted approval to extend its service area to include the aforementioned communities as well as Ormstown and Dewittville in Decision CRTC 87-568 dated 14 July 1987. Further, in Decision CRTC 88-842 dated 12 December 1988, the Commission approved the transfer of effective control of this broadcasting receiving undertaking to Temsat Inc. noting the precarious financial situation of the undertaking and the commitment by Temsat Inc. to invest the necessary funds to ensure continuation of service.
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In submitting the present application for a second extension of the construction deadline, the licensee indicated that financial difficulties have impeded its progress with respect to the extension of its licensed service area, particularly in Saint-Anicet where a market study has indicated that two-thirds of the property owners are seasonal residents.
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The Commission has also taken note of the intervention from Emtel Inc., a division of Valleyfield Transvision Inc., commenting on the licensee's lack of progress and expressing its interest to serve these areas. In reply, CHSL stated that since it was granted a licence in 1987, it has cabled Ormstown, Dewittville and Saint-Jean-Chrysostome and noted the various problems it has encountered.
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In view of all of the foregoing, the Commission approves the deletion of the existing condition of licence relating to the construction of the undertaking and substituting therefor:
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It is a condition of licence that construction of that part of the undertaking serving Saint-Jean-Chrysostome, Saint-Anicet, Sainte-Barbe and Saint-Stanislas de Kosta be completed and that it be in operation on or before 30 June 1989.
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However, should the licensee not complete construction and implement service on or before 30 June 1989, the Commission may not be prepared to grant a further extension and would expect the licensee to submit an application to delete the unserved communities from its authorized service area.
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The Commission also approves the licensee's request to be relieved of the requirements of section 23 of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 in respect of the municipalities of Saint-Jean-Chrysostome, Sainte-Barbe, Saint-Stanislas de Kosta and Saint-Anicet.
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CHSL proposes to delete the distribution of four CANCOM services, namely CHCH-TV Hamilton, CITV-TV Edmonton, WDIV (NBC) and WJBK-TV (CBS) Detroit, Michigan in these communities and to distribute the signals of WCAX-TV (CBS) Burlington, Vermont and WPTZ-TV (MBC) Plattsburgh, New york, received over-the-air.
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In approving this request, the Commission has taken into consideration CHSL's plans to offer subscribers in these four communities in which the population is predominantly French-speaking a wider range of French-language programming services on the basic band, including specialty programming services. Further, the Commission notes that the systems will continue to have a predominance of Canadian services.
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Accordingly, with respect to the communities of Saint-Jean-Chrysostome, Sainte-Barbe, Saint-Stanislas de Kosta and Saint-Anicet, it is a condition of licence that the licensee be relieved of the requirement to distribute at least four television programming services, delivered to its local head end by a network operator licensed to extend television and radio services to remote and underserved communities, at least one of which must be a Canadian television programming service.
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Fernand Bélisle Secretary General
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