ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Procedural Letter Addressed to Alysia Lau (Public Interest Advocacy Centre) and Kristiana Clemens (Community Media Advocacy Centre)

Ottawa, 8 December 2015,

VIA EMAIL:  alau@piac.ca and cmac@riseup.net

Ms. Alysia Lau
Legal Counsel
Public Interest Advocacy Centre

Ms Kristiana Clemens
President
Community Media Advocacy Centre

Re : Procedural requests in file 2015-1264-0

Dear Ms. Lau and Ms. Clemens,

The Commission is in receipt of procedural requests in file 2015-1264-0 – Complaint alleging non-compliance against the community channels of Videotron broadcast distribution undertakings in certain regions of Quebec.

The Commission received a procedural request dated 2 December 2015 from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) (attached). In its letter, PIAC requests that the date of filing of the information required of Quebecor Media, on Videotron's behalf (the respondent) by Commission staff in its procedural letter of 17 November 2015 be advanced to 11 December 2015. PIAC argues that the publication of this information would be beneficial for stakeholders who wish to participate in the proceeding. PIAC expressed the view that the filing of this information earlier than the scheduled date of 17 December 2015 would not be unduly onerous on the respondent.

The Commission received a response to this procedural request dated 3 December 2015 from the respondent (attached). In its letter, the respondent argues that the procedural letter of 17 November 2015 requires the filing of information as part of its answer, and that the deadline for filing this answer remains December 17. The respondent argues that to provide information earlier than the date originally scheduled would be unduly onerous since the respondent intends to provide the information as part of its answer, and that it is not able to file its answer before the date of 17 December 2015.

Following the publication of the response on the public record, the Commission received a procedural request by the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) dated 7 December 2015 (attached). Noting the respondent’s arguments with regard to the burden that would be imposed by advancing the deadline to submit information, CMAC proposed to maintain the filing date of 17 December, but to instead postpone the intervention deadline by 10 days, plus the excluded period beginning 21 December 2015 and ending on 7 January 2016. The new date of intervention deadline would therefore be 14 January 2016.

Finally, the Commission received a new procedural request by PIAC dated 7 December 2015 (attached). In this request, PIAC amends its original request to support CMAC’s request.

We are of the view that it would be in the public interest to allow interested parties to consult the information required by the procedural letter of 17 November 2015, considering the nature of the required information, which cannot easily be obtained from other sources. However, in order to maintain the fairness of the process, the respondent will be given an opportunity to reply to interested parties’ interventions.

For the reasons mentioned above:

• The date of 17 December 2015 is maintained as the deadline to file the information required in its procedural letter of 17 November 2015;
• The deadline to submit interventions is postponed to 14 January 2016;
• The respondent may file a reply to interventions no later than 25 January 2016; and
• The complainant may file a final reply no later than 4 February 2016.

Should you need further information concerning this request for information, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned by telephone at 819-934-1360 or by e-mail at guillaume.castonguay@crtc.gc.ca.

Sincerely,

[Original signed by]

Guillaume Castonguay
Manager (a.), French-Language Programming
Television Policy and Applications
CRTC

c.c. Laith Marouf, ICTV
c.c. Peggy Tabet, Québecor Média

Date modified:

2015-12-08