ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission letter addressed to Lisa Anderson-Kellett and Megan McHugh (Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee and Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind)

Ottawa, 26 February 2018

Our reference: 1011-NOC2017-0033, 4754-576 and 4754-579

BY E-MAIL

Lisa Anderson-Kellett
Chair, Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee
lisa@deafwireless.ca

Megan McHugh
President, Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind
mchugh.mm@gmail.com

RE: Applications for costs awards with respect to the participation of Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee and Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind in Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2017-33, Review of the regulatory framework for text-based message relay services - Request for information

Dear Ms. Anderson-Kellett and Ms. McHugh:

The Commission is in receipt of costs applications by the Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee (DWCC) and the Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind (CNSDB) for costs filed in respect of the above-noted proceeding. The purpose of this letter is to request additional information from both the DWCC and the CNSDB regarding their applications for costs.

• Questions for the DWCC only

Receipt for disbursement claim

Pursuant to paragraph 41 of the Guidelines for the Assessment of Costs, as set out in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2010-963^Footnote1, an applicant is required to file receipts for all claims of disbursements relating to hotel accommodation.

In the DWCC's “Exhibit A – SummaryStatement of Disbursements” it claims $859 for three nights at an AirBNB (page 11 of its application). However, the DWCC did not provide any receipt for this disbursement claim.

Please provide the receipt for this disbursement claim.

Confirmation as to the date on which Ms. Anderson-Kellett first began offering services as a consultant

In the DWCC's “Form III – Summary of Consultant and Analyst Fees” for Ms. Anderson-Kellett (page 16 of its application), it indicates that Ms. Anderson-Kellett began offering services as a consultant in November 2008. However, on page 23 of its application the DWCC submits that Ms. Anderson-Kellett's involvement with telecommunications and accessibility issues began in January 2008 and argues that she therefore qualifies to claim the senior consultant rate of $225 per hour.

The date by which Ms. Anderson-Kellett actually began acting as a consultant with respect to telecommunications and accessibility issues is important in determining the rate she may claim as a consultant for the purposes of costs.

• Please confirm the date (either November 2008 or January 2008) which Ms. Anderson-Kellett began offering services and acting as a consultant.

• If Ms. Anderson-Kellett began offering services and acting as a consultant in January 2008, please explain why on the DWCC's “Form III – Summary of Consultant and Analyst Fees” it indicates that she first began offering services as a consultant in November 2008. 

Service on other parties

Pursuant to section 66(3) of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure (the Rules of Procedure), a costs applicant must serve the application on all other parties.^Footnote2 Commission staff notes that the DWCC did not indicate whether or not its costs application was served on all parties to the proceeding.

Accordingly, please provide evidence that the DWCC's costs application was served on other parties to the proceeding.

If the DWCC applies for costs in the future, it is expected that they provide evidence that they have served their application on all other parties to the proceeding.

• Questions for both the DWCC and the CNSDB

Costs claimed by the DWCC for time spent providing assistance and support to the CNSDB

In its application, the DWCC claimed hours for providing assistance and support to the CNSDB with respect to its submissions. In particular:

• On page 19 of its application the DWCC claims 14.25 hours for “Assisting Megan to edit and proof read and sometimes type/edit for her while on instant messaging, for distinct CNSDB Deaf-Blind perspective/view Response to the TSP Answers”;

• On page 19 of its application the DWCC claims 1.75 hours for “Copy pasting info in above Matrix into text only format (non table format, just plain text) for M.McHugh for her to see if any gaps or topics for the Deaf-Blind response”;

• On page 28 of its application the DWCC claims 5 hours for “TSP RFI Response Reading Reviewing, inputting for one company in the RFI Matrix, fixing margins and paragraph numbering for CNSDB DB response to TSP RFI Answers”; and

• On page 31 of its application the DWCC claims 6 hours which included work related to “CNSDB DeafBlind written RFI Response”.

The DWCC can only claim hours for work that consultants/analysts conducted for the DWCC and billed to the DWCC. The DWCC cannot claim hours for work that consultants/analysts conducted for other organizations, such as the CNSDB, as such costs must be billed by that other organization. Commission staff further notes that CNSDB also submitted a separate costs application in relation to the proceeding.

Accordingly, please a) confirm whether the above hours were claimed by the DWCC in error and should be appropriately claimed in the CNSDB's costs application; or b) explain how the DWCC was billed for the time claimed above by consultants/analysts in relation to work that appears to be conducted for the CNSDB and Ms. Megan McHugh.

• Question for the CNSDB only

Appropriate Costs Respondent(s) 

Pursuant to section 66(1)(b) of the Rules of Procedure, an applicant must identify the respondents that should pay the costs.

CNSDB is requested to make submissions on the appropriate costs respondent(s).

Filing information with the Commission
The requested information from the DWCC and the CNSDB is to be filed with the Commission by 8 March 2018.

Any other interested party may file a response by 19 March 2018.

The DWCC and the CNSDB may reply to any comments by no later than 29 March 2018.

A copy of this letter and all related correspondence will be added to the public record of the proceeding.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel to contact me at 613-608-8368, or by email at alexander.ly@crtc.gc.ca.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

Alexander Ly
Legal Counsel
Legal Sector

Ricardo Wicker, Student-at-Law, Ricardo.wicker@crtc.gc.ca

Distribution list, parties to TNC 2017-33:
Bell Aliant Regional Communications, LP dave.hussey@bellaliant.ca
Bell Canada bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Bragg Communications Inc. (Eastlink) regulatory.matters@corp.eastlink.ca
Canadian Association of the Deaf ffolino@cad.ca
Canadian Hearing Society gmalkowski@chs.ca
Canadian National Institute for the Blind lui.greco@cnib.ca
Chris Newman newmancmn@gmail.com
Cogeco telecom.regulatory@cogeco.com
Conseil provincial du secteur des communications (CPSC) du Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique (SCFP) nblais@scfp.ca
Freedom Mobile Inc. bjones@windmobile.ca
Maple Communications Group Inc. regulatory@maplecomm.ca
Media Access Canada anthony@tibbs.ca
MTS Inc. regulatory@mts.ca
Northwestel Inc. regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca
Rogers Communications Inc. regulatory.aff@fidomobile.ca; rwi_gr@rci.rogers.com
Saskatchewan Telecommunications document.control@sasktel.com
Shaw Telecom Inc. regulatory@sjrb.ca
TBayTel rob.olenick@tbaytel.com
Télébec Limited Partnership reglementa@telebec.com
TELUS Communications Company regulatory.affairs@telus.com
Vidéotron regaffairs@quebecor.com

Date modified:

2018-02-26