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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 17 January 1992
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Public Notice CRTC 1992-6
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House of Commons and Provincial or Territorial Legislature Proceedings Exemption Order
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Pursuant to the exemption power accorded the Commission under the new Broadcasting Act (the Act), the Commission has examined the rationale behind the licensing of persons carrying on undertakings of various classes. In a separate notice issued today, the Commission has called for comments on proposed exemptions from licensing.
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As part of its examination, the Commission has come to the conclusion that compliance with the requirements of Part II of the Act or of any regulations by persons carrying on undertakings providing coverage of the proceedings of the House of Commons and provincial or territorial legislatures to distribution undertakings will not contribute in any material manner to the implementation of the broadcasting policy set out in subsection 3(1) of the Act. The Commission is satisfied that the availability of the type of programming described below is in the public interest and, because there would be no editorial comment contained in the programming services, the Commission has no concerns regarding their content. The Commission, therefore, by this order, and pursuant to subsection 9(4) of the Act, exempts from the requirements of Part II of the Act and any regulations, those persons carrying on broadcasting undertakings of the class defined by the following criteria:
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(a) The programming service provided by the undertaking consists of coverage of the proceedings of the House of Commons or of the ligislature of a province or territory of Canada, including its various committees.
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(b) No fee is charged for the service by the operator of the undertaking.
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(c) The programming service provided by the undertaking is made available to all distribution undertakings, in the case of the House of Commons, throughout Canada, and in the case of a provincial or territorial legislature, throughout the province or territory involved.
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(d) The programming service provided by the undertaking contains no advertising material.
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(e) Any programming that is included in the service, but is in addition to the coverage of the proceedings themselves, is limited to a description of the processes of the House of Commons or legislature involved or an agenda (including calls for submissions by committees, etc.) of upcoming activities, without any comment or analysis of the particular proceedings themselves. The operator of the undertaking may offer a translation of the proceedings and may offer closed captioning or signing. (f) Except as permitted under sections (g) and (h) below, the programming service provided by the undertaking covers the entire proceedings of the House of Commons or the legislature involved from beginning to end and does not offer selected excerpts of the proceedings, i.e. the coverage is "gavel to gavel".
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(g) The programming provided by the undertaking may include a repeat broadcast of the relevant question period.
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(h) The operator of the undertaking may provide coverage of committee meetings on a selective basis, where the appropriate Speaker is satisfied that such coverage is equitable.
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(i) Control over the programming provided by the undertaking is retained by the appropriate Speaker.
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Accordingly, persons operating undertakings within the class defined by all of the foregoing criteria need not apply for a licence to operate a broadcasting undertaking.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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