ARCHIVED - Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2014-661

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Ottawa, 18 December 2014

Call for comments on proposed amendments to certain regulations made under the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act relating to dispute resolution

The Commission calls for comments on proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, the Pay Television Regulations, 1990, the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure. The Commission proposes to update the references to the information bulletin pertaining to Commission procedures for dispute resolution processes in order to reflect the most recent version of the bulletin: Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2013-637.

The deadline for the submission of comments is 16 February 2015.

Introduction

  1. The Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, the Pay Television Regulations, 1990, the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure incorporate by reference Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletins 2009-38 and 2009-38-1 pertaining to Commission procedures for dispute resolution processes.
  2. On 28 November 2013, the Commission issued Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2013-637, which replaced the 2009 version of the bulletin. The purpose of the revisions was to:
    • reflect decisions relating to vertical integration set out in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2011-601;
    • reflect changes made to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure as they relate to the filing of confidential information;
    • better reflect the Commission’s general practice with respect to mediation; and
    • reflect certain organizational changes within the Commission.
  3. The Commission proposes to amend the above-noted regulations in order to refer to the updated information bulletin.

Call for comments

  1. The proposed Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Broadcasting Act and Rules Amending the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure are appended to this notice. The Commission invites comments on the wording of the proposed amendments. The Commission will accept interventions that it receives on or before 16 February 2015.

Procedure

  1. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure (the Rules of Procedure) apply to the present proceeding. The Rules of Procedure set out, among other things, the rules for content, format, filing and service of interventions, replies, answers of respondents and requests for information; the procedure for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure; and the conduct of public hearings. Accordingly, the procedure set out below must be read in conjunction with the Rules of Procedure and its accompanying documents, which can be found on the Commission’s website under “Statutes and Regulations.” Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-959 provides information to help interested persons and parties understand the Rules of Procedure so that they can more effectively participate in Commission proceedings.
  2. The Commission encourages interested persons and parties to monitor the record of the proceeding, available on the Commission’s website, for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their submissions.
  3. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary. Each paragraph of all submissions should be numbered, and the line ***End of document*** should follow the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that the document has not been damaged during electronic transmission.
  4. Submissions must be filed by sending them to the Secretary General of the Commission using only one of the following means:

    by completing the
    [Intervention/comment/answer form]

    or

    by mail to
    CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

    or

    by fax at
    819-994-0218

  1. Parties who send documents electronically must ensure that they will be able to prove, upon Commission request, that service/filing of a particular document was completed. Accordingly, parties must keep proof of the sending and receipt of each document for 180 days after the date on which the document is filed. The Commission advises parties who file and serve documents by electronic means to exercise caution when using email for the service of documents, as it may be difficult to establish that service has occurred.
  2. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, a document must be received by the Commission and all relevant parties by 5 p.m. Vancouver time (8 p.m. Ottawa time) on the date it is due. Parties are responsible for ensuring the timely delivery of their submissions and will not be notified if their submissions are received after the deadline. Late submissions, including those due to postal delays, will not be considered by the Commission and will not be made part of the public record.
  3. The Commission will not formally acknowledge submissions. It will, however, fully consider all submissions, which will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided that the procedure for filing set out above has been followed.

Important notice

  1. All information that parties provide as part of this public process, except information designated confidential, whether sent by postal mail, facsimile, email or through the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca, becomes part of a publicly accessible file and will be posted on the Commission’s website. This information includes personal information, such as full names, email addresses, postal/street addresses, telephone and facsimile numbers, etc.
  2. The personal information that parties provide will be used and may be disclosed for the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the Commission, or for a use consistent with that purpose.
  3. Documents received electronically or otherwise will be put on the Commission’s website in their entirety exactly as received, including any personal information contained therein, in the official language and format in which they are received. Documents not received electronically will be available in PDF format.
  4. The information that parties provide to the Commission as part of this public process is entered into an unsearchable database dedicated to this specific public process. This database is accessible only from the web page of this particular public process. As a result, a general search of the Commission’s website with the help of either its own search engine or a third-party search engine will not provide access to the information that was provided as part of this public process.

Availability of documents

  1. Electronic versions of the interventions and of other documents referred to in this notice, are available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca by visiting the “Participate” section, selecting “Submit Ideas and Comments,” and then selecting “our open processes.” Documents can then be accessed by clicking on the links in the “Subject” and “Related Documents” columns associated with this particular notice.
  2. Documents are also available from Commission offices, upon request, during normal business hours.

Location of Commission offices

Toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-2782
Toll-free TDD: 1-877-909-2782

Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
Central Building
1 Promenade du Portage, Room 206
Gatineau, Quebec
J8X 4B1
Tel.: 819-997-2429
Fax: 819-994-0218

Regional offices

Nova Scotia

Metropolitan Place
99 Wyse Road
Suite 1410
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
B3A 4S5
Tel.: 902-426-7997
Fax: 902-426-2721

Quebec

505 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West
Suite 205
Montréal, Quebec
H3A 3C2
Tel.: 514-283-6607

Ontario

55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario
M4T 1M2
Tel.: 416-952-9096

Manitoba

360 Main Street
Suite 970
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3C 3Z3
Tel.: 204-983-6306
Fax: 204-983-6317

Saskatchewan

403 - 1975 Scarth Street
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 2H1
Tel.: 306-780-3422
Fax: 306-780-3319

Alberta

200 - 4th Avenue South-East
Suite 574
Calgary, Alberta
T2G 4X3
Tel.: 403-292-6660
Fax: 403-292-6686

British Columbia

858 Beatty Street
Suite 290
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6B 1C1
Tel.: 604-666-2111
Fax: 604-666-8322

Secretary General

Related documents

Appendix 1 to Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2014-661

Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Broadcasting Act

PAY TELEVISION REGULATIONS, 1990

1. Subsection 6.4(4) of the Pay Television Regulations, 1990Footnote 1 is replaced by the following:

(4) If a licensed distribution undertaking or an exempt distribution undertaking distributes the programming service of the licensee in the absence of a commercial agreement and the matter proceeds before the Commission for dispute resolution, the licensee shall submit to having the dispute resolved in accordance with the procedural requirements established by the Commission in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2013-637, dated November 28, 2013, and the rates, terms and conditions established by the Commission will apply as of the day on which the programming service was first made available to the distributor in the absence of a commercial agreement.

SPECIALTY SERVICES REGULATIONS, 1990

2. Subsection 10.4(4) of the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990Footnote 2 is replaced by the following:

(4) If a licensed distribution undertaking or an exempt distribution undertaking distributes the programming service of the licensee in the absence of a commercial agreement and the matter proceeds before the Commission for dispute resolution, the licensee shall submit to having the dispute resolved in accordance with the procedural requirements established by the Commission in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2013-637, dated November 28, 2013, and the rates, terms and conditions established by the Commission will apply as of the day on which the programming service was first made available to the distributor in the absence of a commercial agreement.

BROADCASTING DISTRIBUTION REGULATIONS

3. Subsection 12(9) of the Broadcasting Distribution RegulationsFootnote 3 is replaced by the following:

(9) If the dispute relates to the rates, terms or conditions, or any combination of them, surrounding a programming service that is being distributed in the absence of a commercial agreement and the matter proceeds before the Commission for dispute resolution, the licensee shall submit to having the dispute resolved in accordance with the procedural requirements established by the Commission in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2013-637, dated November 28, 2013, and the rates, terms and conditions established by the Commission will apply as of the day on which the programming service was first made available to the distributor in the absence of a commercial agreement.

COMING INTO FORCE

4. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

Appendix 2 to Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2014-661

Rules Amending the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure

AMENDMENT

1. Section 52 of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and ProcedureFootnote 4 is replaced by the following:
Requirements to be followed

52. An application for the resolution of a matter under an alternative dispute resolution process must be made in accordance with the procedural requirements established by the Commission in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2013-637, dated November 28, 2013.

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Rules come into force on the day on which they are registered.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

SOR/90-105

Return to footnote 1

Footnote 2

SOR/90-106

Return to footnote 2

Footnote 3

SOR/97-555

Return to footnote 3

Footnote 4

SOR/2010-277

Return to footnote 4

Date modified: