Broadcasting - Commission Letter addressed to Bev Kirshenblatt (Radio-Canada/CBC)

Ottawa, 26 October 2022

Our reference: CRTC 2022-175

BY EMAIL

Bev Kirshenblatt
Executive Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affaires
Radio-Canada/CBC
181 Queen St.
Ottawa (Ontario) K1P 1K9
bevkirshenblatt.regaffairs@cbc.ca

Re: The Commission response to the request for extension of time to file a report by the Société Radio-Canada (SRC) related to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2022-175

Context

In Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2022-175, Complaint against Société Radio-Canada on the use of an offensive word on air, dated June 29, 2022, the Commission required the following at paragraph 24:

Furthermore, the Commission requires the SRC to report to the Commission, no later than September 27, 2022, on internal measures and programming best practices, including guidelines to on-air hosts, commentators and guests, that it will implement to ensure that it better addresses similar issues in the future, if they come up in the news. This report shall be made accessible to the public.

SRC’s request

In a letter dated September 22, 2022, the SRC requested from the Commission that the deadline for filing this report be extended from 27 September 2022 to 30 March 2023. The SRC states that this extension is necessary "given the pressures of an exceptionally busy news cycle, and in order to ensure a thorough and thoughtful review".

Commission response

When a licensee files such a request, the Commission expects that it be accompanied by a detailed justification, demonstrating the steps and efforts taken to date to meet the deadline. The Commission notes that the SRC request does not contain such a justification. Accordingly, the Commission denies the SRC request to extend the deadline to March 30, 2023. Rather, the Commission hereby grants a shortened extension for the filing of the report in question, until November 25, 2022.

The Commission also informs the SRC that, should it file a further request, the SRC should indicate in a fulsome manner the steps and efforts undertaken and accomplished to date to meet the requirement, the remaining steps to achieve it and when it will be achieved.

Original signed by

Claude Doucet
Secretary General

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