Search

Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2022-183

PDF version

Ottawa, 7 July 2022

Public record: 1011-NOC2022-0183

Notice of hearing

8 September 2022
Gatineau, Quebec

Deadline for submission of interventions/comments/answers: 8 August 2022

[Submit an intervention/comment/answer or view related documents]

The Commission will hold a hearing on 8 September 2022 at 11:00 a.m., at the Commission Headquarters, 1 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau, Quebec. The Commission intends to consider the following applications, subject to interventions, without the appearance of the parties:

Applicant/Licensee and Locality

  1. Malayalam Community Radio Inc.
    London, Ontario
    Application 2021-0853-9
  2. Acadia Broadcasting Corporation
    Vermilion Bay, Ontario
    Application 2022-0167-2
  3. United Christian Broadcasters Media Canada
    Kelowna, British Columbia; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Scarborough, Ontario
    Application 2022-0119-3
  4. Lawen Met Hopninj Radio Society
    La Crête, Alberta
    Application 2022-0106-0

1. Malayalam Community Radio Inc.
London, Ontario
Application 2021-0853-9

Application by Malayalam Community Radio Inc. for a broadcasting licence to operate a low-power ethnic commercial specialty FM radio station in London.

The station would operate at 90.9 MHz (channel 215LP) with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 50 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) of 45.2 metres).

The applicant proposed to broadcast 126 hours of local programming per broadcast week.

The applicant indicated that, per broadcast week, 87.5% of the total programming would be devoted to third-language programming, mainly serving the Indo-Dravidian communities.

The applicant stated that it would adhere to a condition of licence requiring it to direct ethnic programming to a minimum of five cultural groups in at least seven different languages each broadcast week. It proposed to broadcast programming in the following languages: Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Malayalam, English and French.

The Commission may withdraw this application from the public hearing if it is not advised by the Department of Industry, at least 20 days prior to the hearing, that the application is technically acceptable.

Applicant’s address:

3480 Emily Carr Lane
London, Ontario
N6L 0A3
Phone: 647-325-7737
E-mail: info@mcradio.ca
Website to view application: www.mcradio.ca
E-mail to request electronic version of application: info@mcradio.ca

2. Acadia Broadcasting Corporation
Vermilion Bay, Ontario
Application 2022-0167-2

Application by Acadia Broadcasting Corporation (Acadia) for authority to acquire from Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. (Golden West) the assets of the English-language commercial FM radio station CKQV-FM Vermilion Bay and its transmitters CKQV-FM-1 Dryden, CKQV-FM-2 Kenora and CKQV-FM-3 Sioux Lookout (CKQV-FM and its transmitters).

Acadia is also requesting a new broadcasting licence to continue the operation of the undertaking under the same terms and conditions as those in effect under the current licence.

Acadia is a corporation jointly and ultimately controlled by John K. F. Irving through his holding company Black-Tip Investments Limited (50%) and Anne C. I. Oxley through her holding company Rosa Rugosa Investments Limited (50%).

Golden West is owned by Elmer Hildebrand Ltd. (60.55%) and other Canadians (39.45%), and is effectively controlled by Elmer Hildebrand.

Pursuant to the asset purchase agreement dated 18 April 2022, Acadia would purchase the assets of the undertaking for $1,200,000. The applicant proposed a value of the transaction of $1,648,000, which includes the value of the leases assumed by the purchaser. Acadia has requested an exception from the requirement to pay tangible benefits, indicating that the undertaking has experienced significant financial losses over a period of more than five consecutive years. It argued that maintaining the station’s presence in the community would serve the public interest.

Following the closing of the transaction, Acadia would become the licensee of CKQV-FM and its transmitters.

Applicant’s address:

58 King Street
Suite 300
Saint John, New Brunswick
E2L 1G4
Phone: 506-648-2100
E-mail: pearson.chris@radioabl.ca
E-mail to request electronic version of application: pearson.chris@radioabl.ca

3. United Christian Broadcasters Media Canada
Kelowna, British Columbia; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Scarborough, Ontario
Application 2022-0119-3

Application by United Christian Broadcasters Media Canada (UCBC) for authority to acquire from International Harvesters for Christ Evangelical Association Inc. (International Harvesters) the assets of three unlaunched English-language specialty (Religious music) FM radio stations in the following markets:

UCBC is also requesting new broadcasting licences to start the operation of the undertakings under the same terms and conditions as those approved by the Commission in the above-mentioned broadcasting decisions.

UCBC is a not-for-profit corporation controlled by its board of directors.

International Harvesters is a not-for profit corporation controlled by its board of directors.

Pursuant to the letter of intent, UCBC would purchase the assets of the undertakings for $1. UCBC has requested an exception from the requirement to pay tangible benefits.

Following the closing of the transaction and following the confirmation of UCBC that all conditions arising from the decisions mentioned above have been met, UCBC would become the licensee of the above-mentioned radio undertakings.

Applicant’s address:

10 Dundas Street West
Belleville, Ontario
K8P 1A1
Fax: 613-966-3211
E-mail: j.hunt@ucbcanada.com
E-mail to request electronic version of application: j.hunt@ucbcanada.com

4. Lawen Met Hopninj Radio Society
La Crête, Alberta
Application 2022-0106-0

Application by Lawen Met Hopninj Radio Society for a broadcasting licence to operate a low-power ethnic commercial FM radio station in La Crête.

The station would operate at 99.9 MHz (channel 260LP) with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 47.2 watts (non-directional antenna with a maximum ERP of 50 watts with an effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) of 23.8 metres).

The applicant proposed to broadcast 126 hours of programming per broadcast week, of which 23 hours and 40 minutes would be devoted to local programming.

The applicant indicated that, per broadcast week, 60% of the total programming would be devoted to ethnic programming and 50% would be devoted to third-language programming.

The applicant stated that it would adhere to a condition of licence requiring it to direct ethnic programming to a minimum of one cultural group (Mennonites) in at least two different languages each broadcast week, namely Low German (Mennonite/Plautdietsch) and English.

The Commission may withdraw this application from the public hearing if it is not advised by the Department of Industry, at least 20 days prior to the hearing, that the application is technically acceptable.

Applicant's address:

P.O. Box 1145
La Crête, Alberta
T0H 2H0
Phone: 780-841-1214
E-mail: lawenmethopninj@gmail.com and ajfriesen93@gmail.com
E-mail to request electronic version of application: lawenmethopninj@gmail.com and ajfriesen93@gmail.com

Procedure

Deadline for interventions, comments or answers

8 August 2022

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, answer, replies 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 related documents, which can be found on the Commission’s website under “Statutes and Regulations.” Guidelines on the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-959, 23 December 2010, provides information to help interested persons and parties understand the Rules of Procedure so that they can more effectively participate in Commission proceedings.

An intervention or an answer from a respondent must be filed with the Commission and served on the applicant on or before the above-mentioned date. An answer from a respondent must also be served on any other respondent.

Interventions and answers must clearly identify the application referred to and indicate whether parties support or oppose the application, or, if they propose changes to it, include the facts and grounds for their proposal.

Parties are permitted to coordinate, organize, and file, in a single submission, interventions by other interested persons who share their position. Information on how to file this type of submission, known as a joint supporting intervention, as well as a template for the covering letter to be filed by the parties, can be found in Changes to certain practices for filing interventions – Expansion of filing practices to include the filing of joint supporting comments for broadcasting policy proceedings, Broadcasting Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-28-1, 10 December 2010.

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.

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.

Pursuant to Filing submissions for Commission proceedings in accessible formats, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2015-242, 8 June 2015, the Commission expects incorporated entities and associations, and encourages all Canadians, to file submissions for Commission proceedings in accessible formats (for example, text-based file formats that allow text to be enlarged or modified, or read by screen readers). To provide assistance in this regard, the Commission has posted on its website guidelines for preparing documents in accessible formats.

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

A true copy of each intervention or answer from a respondent must be sent to the applicant and, in the case of a respondent to an application, to any other respondent.

Parties who send documents electronically must ensure that they will be able to prove, upon Commission request, that filing, or where required, service 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 or served. The Commission advises parties who file or 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.

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.

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.

In the event that an application to be considered during the non-appearing phase of the hearing is brought to an oral phase of the hearing, and if parties wish to appear, they must provide reasons why their written interventions or answers are not sufficient and why an appearance is necessary. Parties requiring communication support must state their request on the first page of their intervention. Only those parties whose requests to appear have been granted will be contacted by the Commission and invited to appear at the public hearing.

Although the public hearing will be held in Gatineau, Quebec, the Commission will consider providing videoconference links to enable remote participation (audio or video), should it receive requests to do so.

Persons requiring communications support such as assistance listening devices and sign language interpretation are requested to inform the Commission at least twenty (20) days before the commencement of the public hearing so that the necessary arrangements can be made.

Important notice

All information that parties provide as part of this public process, except information designated confidential, whether sent by postal mail, fax, 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 fax numbers, etc.

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.

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.

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

Electronic versions of the applications are available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca by selecting the application number within this notice. They are also available from the applicants, either on their websites or upon request by contacting the applicants at their email addresses, provided above.

Links to interventions, replies and answers filed for this proceeding, as well as other documents referred to in this notice, are available on the Commission’s “Consultations and hearings: have your say” page.

Documents are available upon request during normal business hours by contacting:

Documentation Centre
Examinationroom@crtc.gc.ca
Tel.: 819-997-4389
Fax: 819-994-0218

Client Services
Toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-2782
Toll-free TTY: 1-877-909-2782

Secretary General

Date modified: