ARCHIVED - Broadcasting - Commission Letter
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LetterOttawa, 19 August 2005
Mr. Rob Brown
Mr. Chad Cunningham Dear Mr. Brown and Mr. Cunningham: Re: Purchase of Monarch Cable assets by the City West Group of Companies The Commission has received a letter from the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association (CCTA), dated 16 August 2005, stating that the City West Group of Companies (City West), in which the City of Prince Rupert is the sole shareholder, had recently announced that it would purchase the assets of Monarch Cable, which operates six cable systems in British Columbia. The CCTA argued that the ownership and operation of cable systems by City West would contravene the Direction to the CRTC (Ineligibility to Hold Broadcasting Licences), SOR/97-231, 22 April 1997 , which prohibits the issuance or renewal of broadcasting licences to municipal governments, amongst others. Further, the CCTA noted that the Monarch cable systems in question are exempt from licensing and that a condition of this exemption is that these undertakings be eligible to hold a licence. In its view, since municipal governments are not eligible to hold a licence by virtue of the Direction described above, the cable systems in question would no longer be exempt from licensing if purchased by City West. Consequently, by purchasing and operating these undertakings, City West could be found to be carrying on a broadcasting undertaking without a licence, as set out in section 32 of the Broadcasting Act.
As you are aware, the Department of Canadian Heritage has issued an invitation to comment on proposed amendments to the government's policy direction (Notice No. PRI-BPI-001-2005). The purpose of the proposed amendments is to make municipallyowned telecommunications carriers eligible to hold broadcasting licences. However, at the present time, the regulatory framework that would permit municipal governments or their agents to hold broadcasting licences is not in place. In fact, the Canadian Alliance of Publicly-owned Telephone Systems (CAPTS), of which Prince Rupert is a member, filed its comments on the proposed amendments on 25 July 2005 . The CCTA requested that the Commission exercise its authority to examine this transaction and advise the City of Prince Rupert that approval will not be forthcoming unless and until the government's policy direction to the CRTC is changed to allow it. Please provide your comments with regard to the attached letter from the CCTA by no later than 26 August 2005 . At the same time, please provide your comments, with full supporting rationale, as to whether or not City West would be eligible to hold a broadcasting licence should the amendments proposed in Notice No. PRI-BPI-001-2005 ultimately be adopted. Your response should be provided to my attention at the following fax number: (819) 997-4504 . Sincerely,
Mark O'Sullivan
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