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Broadcasting - Commission Letter addressed to Lecia Simpson (TELUS Communications Inc.) and Aldo Di Felice (TLN Media Group Inc.)

Ottawa, 29 April 2021

Our file number: 2020-0428-2

BY EMAIL

Ms. Lecia Simpson
Director, Regulatory Affairs
TELUS Communications Inc.
Regulatory.affairs@telus.com

Mr. Aldo Di Felice
President
TLN Media Group Inc.
aldo@tlnmediagroup.com

Re: Procedural requests regarding the publication of documents filed by TELUS Communications Inc. and TLN Media Group Inc. in Part 1 application 2020-0428-2

Dear Ms. Simpson and Mr. Di Felice,

This is in response to:

In light of the concerns raised by both parties, Commission staff withheld the publication of a number of documents in this proceeding. The Commission has reviewed the documents in question, has considered the concerns raised by both parties, and has considered, for each document, whether to disclose the information at issue. With this letter, the Commission is issuing its decision on these matters.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure set out that the categories of information that can be deemed as confidential under section 39 of the Telecommunications Act also apply to broadcasting matters. These categories of information are:

In Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961, the Commission sets out that it may disclose or require the disclosure of information designated as confidential if:

Procedural request by TLN filed with the Commission on 26 August 2020

The Commission has reviewed the information contained in paragraph 44 of TELUS’ Part 1 application, which TLN requested be disclosed to TLN. The Commission considers that this information falls under the categories of information which should be considered confidential and was properly designated as confidential by TELUS. Namely, the information at issue could potentially prejudice TELUS’ competitive position and could affect contractual or other negotiations. Therefore, the Commission determines that the information should be maintained as confidential.  .

Therefore, the Commission denies TLN’s request for disclosure of paragraph 44 in TELUS’ Part 1 application.

Procedural request by TELUS filed with the Commission on 28 August 2020

The Commission has reviewed TLN’s answer dated 24 August 2020 to the above-mentioned Part 1 application and considered TELUS’ requests that:

The Commission notes that affiliation agreements contain sensitive business information that is consistently treated confidentially. This aligns with a category of information that should be treated as confidential as per the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure. As such, the Commission considers that Appendix 1, which is an attached copy of the 1997 affiliation agreement between TLN and TELUS, and paragraphs 11 and 12 of TLN’s answer, which directly quote that same agreement, constitute confidential information. Further, the Commission acknowledges TELUS’ opposition to the disclosure of this information, and fails to see how it would be in the public interest to include it on the public record of the proceeding.

With regard to the email between TELUS and TLN representatives regarding packaging, excerpted at paragraph 30 of TLN’s answer, the Commission notes that it includes information that meets the descriptions of categories of information that can be deemed confidential; namely: “information that is a trade secret” and “information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to affect contractual or other negotiations with any person”.

With regard to the first two sentences from paragraph 39 of TLN’s answer, the Commission agrees with TELUS that the information quoted in the first sentence and contained in the second sentence contravenes paragraph 58 of Practices and procedures for dispute resolution, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2019-184, and should be filed under the confidential banner. With regard to the last three sentences of that same paragraph and the excerpted email that follows it, in the circumstances, which include various redactions on the public record of this proceeding and the context of this specific bilateral dispute, the Commission considers that this constitutes general background information and that it is consistent with information already made public through TELUS’ application. Accordingly, the Commission agrees with TLN that the information in paragraph 39 following the first two sentences addresses general claims by TELUS without causing it prejudice, and that it can be part of the public record.

In light of the above, the Commission directs TLN to file, by no later than 13 May 2021, an abridged version of its answer originally filed on 24 August 2020 for the public record of the proceeding in which it redacts the following information:

The Commission also directs TLN to file an abridged version of the 1997 affiliation agreement (Appendix 1) between itself and TELUS and that it refile the unabridged version under the confidential banner.

Request by TELUS filed with the Commission on 24 September 2020 that the Commission reject a letter by TLN filed with the Commission on 21 September 2020, and not include it on the record of the proceeding

TELUS considers that TLN’s letter filed with the Commission on 21 September 2020 is out of process, given that originally, both parties were given until 4 September 2020 to reply to the other party’s respective procedural request.

Following the filing of procedural requests from both parties, Commission staff initially requested that, by 4 September 2020, each party reply to the other party’s procedural request. For TLN, this required that it either abridge its answer to the Part 1 application as sought by TELUS, or to explain how the disclosure of the information in question is in the public interest.

However, TLN expressed that dealings with other urgent matters delayed its capacity to file its reply by the aforementioned deadline, which was later extended until 21 September 2020 by Commission staff. Therefore, TELUS’ claim that this letter is out of process is not strictly correct.

Upon review of TLN’s letter dated 21 September 2020, the Commission notes that a portion of the letter addresses TELUS’ 28 August 2020 procedural request, and the remainder consists of reiterations of points that TLN had already raised in its answer to the Part 1 application, which mainly address a number of TELUS’ claims that TLN considers to be false and is out of scope with what Commission staff requested from TLN.

Notwithstanding the above, while this letter constitutes a spillover in terms of content, the Commission notes that there exists flexibility in the CRTC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure allowing the rules to be varied in the interests of fairness. In the specific context of this bilateral dispute, the Commission considers that, in the interests of fairness, TLN’s letter should be maintained on the record and therefore denies TELUS’ request to dismiss TLN’s letter dated 21 September 2020 from the record of the proceeding. However, the Commission notes that paragraphs 6 ii), 6 iii), 6 iv), 6 v) and 6 vi) of that letter should be redacted in an abridged version of the document for the public record of the proceeding, since divulging this information publicly would reveal information pertaining to staff-assisted mediation and therefore contravene paragraph 58 of Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2019-184.

In light of the above, the Commission denies TELUS’ request to not include TLN’s letter dated 21 September 2020 to the record of this proceeding, but directs TLN to file, by no later than 13 May 2021, an abridged version in which it redacts paragraph 6 ii), 6 iii), 6 iv), 6 v) and 6 vi).

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

Claude Doucet
Secretary General

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