ARCHIVED - Telecom - Commission Letter - 8678-C12-10/01 - Public Notice CRTC2001-36 (PN 2001-36): Implementation of price cap regulation for TELUS Québecet Télébec - Organization and conduct letter of the Public Hearing

Ottawa, 5 November 2001

Our files: 1500-005/
8678-C12-10/01

To: Distribution List - Interested Parties, Public Notice CRTC 2001-36

Re: Public Notice CRTC 2001-36 (PN 2001-36): Implementation of price cap regulation for TELUS Québec et Télébec - Organization and conduct letter of the Public Hearing.

The Commission is scheduled to hold an oral public hearing in connection with the above-noted proceeding commencing on Tuesday, 13 November 2001, at Château Frontenac, 1 rue des Carrières, Québec (Québec) G1R 4P5.

The purpose of this letter is to provide information to the parties on a variety of matters relating to the organization and conduct of the public hearing. Please note that comments on one aspect of the hearing related to the Final argument are sought at page 2 of this letter, before 12 noon, 7 November 2001.

Sitting schedule

The Commission intends to begin the hearing at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 13 November 2001, and to sit Tuesday through Friday during the course of the hearing, with a normal sitting day of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

While the Commission does not anticipate that sittings will extend into the evening or on the weekend, it may be necessary to revisit the schedule if it appears that the hearing is behind schedule. The Commission notes that given the limited number of parties participating in this matter, the oral hearing should not require extra time.

The Commission notes that all or part of the first day of the hearing will be devoted to comments from the general public. It is the Commission's intention to give the companies the opportunity to comment on those observations before the cross-examination phase, with a maximum time allowed of 10 minutes per company.

Order of witnesses to be presented

The following parties have advised the Commission of their intention to make one or more witnesses available for cross-examination. The Commission has determined that the parties should present their witnesses in the following order:

1. Action Réseau Consommateur ("ARC et al")
2. Télébec
3. TELUS Québec

The Commission has been informed that certain witnesses are not available at all times. It will adjust the above schedule as necessary.

Order of cross-examination

TELUS Québec, ARC et al and The James Bay Cree Communications Society (JBCCS) have informed the Commission of their intention to cross-examine one or more witnesses of the other parties. Parties should proceed in the following order :

1. ARC et al
2. JBCCS
3. TELUS Québec

The Commission notes that, in the case of each panel, questioning by Commission counsel, if any, will follow cross-examination by the parties.

Final argument

Some of the parties have requested an opportunity to make oral final argument at the end of the hearing. The Commission is prepared to allow interested parties to make such oral argument, with a maximum time of 20 minutes per party, in alphabetical order. In addition to, or instead of, oral argument, parties could, on the same day, file final written argument, which could be more extensive than oral final argument, serving a copy on all other

parties. This would be an amendment to the schedule outlined in the letter dated 21 August 2001, and written reply argument would then have to be filed and served by 29 November 2001.

If the Commission determines that there will not be oral final argument at the end of the hearing, the schedule outlined in the letter of 21 August 2001 would continue to apply: final written argument must be served and filed by 28 November 2001 and final written reply argument by 11 December 2001. By noon, Wednesday, 7 November 2001, please provide your written comments on the two alternatives noted above, serving a copy on all other interested parties.

Opening statements and use of audio-visual presentations

Some of the parties have requested a chance to make oral opening statements. In the circumstances of the present case, the Commission will permit oral opening statements (but not audio-visual presentations) by all appearing parties, not exceeding 10 minutes, at the beginning of the cross-examination phase. The parties should file, as an exhibit, and serve a written copy of their opening statements on all appearing parties at the hearing, immediately before presenting the oral opening statement. The parties should proceed by alphabetical order.

Responsibilities of the Parties

Parties are reminded that it is their responsibility to monitor the progress and content of the hearing in order, among other things, to ensure that they are aware of any documents that may have been filed in their absence, any changes to the order of presentation of witnesses or order of cross-examination, and any Commission rulings.

Similarly, parties should keep themselves informed of the progress of cross-examination, so that they will be ready with their own cross-examination at the appropriate time, and, in the case of parties that have filed evidence, so that their witnesses can be called to testify in accordance with the order established by the

Commission. Parties should also be aware of the cross-examination that precedes their own, in order to eliminate duplication of matters dealt with by earlier parties.

During the hearing, parties must keep the Hearing Secretary informed on an on-going basis of their most recent estimates of the duration of their cross-examination of other parties' witnesses. This will assist the Commission and all parties in forecasting the scheduling of witnesses and cross-examination.

Record of appearance

In order to assist the Commission, parties are asked to submit to the Hearing Secretary a Record of Appearance on 13 November 2001. This will enable the Hearing Secretary to contact parties, if necessary, to obtain information or to inform them of matters relating to the hearing.

Examination-in-chief

Parties are reminded that traditional examination-in-chief is not permitted at public hearings conducted by the Commission; rather, in accordance with section 21 of the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure, a party calling a witness should restrict its examination to the following:

1. whether the evidence was prepared by or under the supervision of the witness;
2. whether the evidence filed contains any errors or requires any routine updates; and
3. the qualifications of the witness.

The introduction of witnesses by parties should be brief, with little or no reading from witness' curricula vitae.

Witness' curricula vitae

Curricula vitae of witnesses to be presented by parties are to be filed with the Commission as exhibits and copied on all parties no later than 7 November 2001.

Procedure for introduction of exhibits

The Commission expects parties to introduce exhibits using the expedited procedure which was adopted in the proceeding leading to Review of Regulatory Framework, Telecom Decision CRTC 94-19, dated 16 September 1994. For convenience, this procedure is reproduced below:

Responses to Undertakings

1. Parties must provide copies of their Responses to Undertakings to both the Hearing Secretary and to other parties in advance of their being introduced as exhibits. Wherever possible, oral or written responses to undertakings should include a reference to the transcript page at which the undertaking was given, identifying both the witness giving the undertaking and the party to whom the undertaking was given.
2. Before circulating these documents, parties should confirm with the Hearing Secretary the number assigned to the most recent exhibit. Parties themselves should then number the Responses to Undertakings accordingly, prior to distribution.
3. The Hearing Secretary will then enter the Responses as exhibits at an appropriate time by briefly identifying the party in question and noting the exhibit numbers assigned to various Responses.

Documents other than Responses to Undertakings

1. Unless there is sufficient reason for not doing so, parties should provide the Hearing Secretary and the other parties with copies of the proposed exhibits in advance. To facilitate recognition of a particular document, parties should ensure that exhibits have titles.
2. During the cross-examination of a witness or panel of witnesses by a party, the Hearing Secretary will track the documents put to the witness or panel of witnesses, and will assign exhibits numbers accordingly. This will not be done orally.
3. Following a party's completion of the cross-examination of the witness(es), the Hearing Secretary will enter as exhibits the documents that were in fact put to the witness(es) by that party.

Copies of documents filed

All parties are reminded that, with respect to all documents filed at the public hearing, 15 copies must be provided to the Hearing Secretary for the Commission's use. At the same time, a copy of all such documents must be served on all other parties present at the public hearing on the date the document is filed.

Pre-hearing briefing documents

The Commission intends to make available for inspection by all parties a pre-hearing briefing document prepared by Commission staff to aid Commissioners on various substantive matters likely to be addressed during the course of the oral phase of this proceeding. While this document does not represent an exhaustive discussion of the issues to be examined by the Commission, it does provide an indication of some of the matters arising from the record. The Commission will make copies of this document available in the Public Examination Room at the oral public hearing on the morning of 13 November 2001.

Assistance to parties

In order to ensure that the public hearing may be conducted smoothly and efficiently, Commission counsel (Peter McCallum (819) 953-2197 and Natalie Turmel or (819) 994-7572) will be available, both prior to and during the hearing, to assist legal counsel or other representatives of the parties with regard to procedural matters and the practices and procedures of the Commission.

Sincerely,

ORIGINAL SIGNED BY

Ursula Menke
Secretary General

Date modified:

2001-11-05