Broadcasting - Secretary General Letter addressed to the Distribution List

Ottawa, 9 June 2023

Reference:  1011-NOC2023-0140

BY EMAIL

Distribution List

RE:  Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-140 – Procedural Request

On 19 May 2023, the Commission received a procedural request filed jointly by 12 co-applicants) ^Footnote1 for an extension to the deadlines announced in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC BNC 2023-138 The Path Forward – Working towards a modernized regulatory framework regarding contributions to support Canadian and Indigenous content, BNC 2023-139 Call for comments – Proposed Regulations for the Registration of Online Streaming Services and Proposed Exemption Order regarding those Regulations, and BNC 2023-140 Review of exemption orders and transition from conditions of exemption to conditions of service for broadcasting online undertakings.

Specifically, the co-applicants proposed that the Commission extend the deadlines in all three proceedings as follows:

The grounds for the request are:

1. the interconnectedness of the three proceedings, which, the co-applicants argue, calls for aligned intervention and reply deadlines to make it easier for parties to follow and to develop a coherent framework for all of them;
2. inadequate capacity and time for the parties to consult and undertake necessary research within the current timeframe, especially in light of other CRTC proceedings currently underway, thereby weakening the record of the proceedings; and
3. the absence of a policy direction from the Governor in Council to the Commission, which may create overlapping timelines and creates uncertainty as to the recommendations that parties may make and whether they may have to change course once the policy direction is issued.

The Information Technology Industry Council TELUS Communications Inc., Sirius XM Canada Inc., the Documentary Organization of Canada, la Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, Digital Media Association, Bragg Communications Inc. carrying on business as Eastlink, Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Ontario Association of Broadcasters, TikTok Canada, BIPOC TV and Film, Directors Guild of Canada, Writers Guild of Canada, YouTube, Independent Broadcast Group, Michael Geist, and Marc Nanni filed comments in support of this request.

Commission’s Determination

The Commission is of the view that the deadlines set out in BNC 2023-140 provide the parties with sufficient time to make initial submissions in response to that proceeding. BNC 2023-140 is industry focused and relatively narrow in scope. It is the Commission’s intent for BNC 2023-140 to proceed as expeditiously as possible in order to support the Commission’s subsequent policy development. Any extension of time would delay the timely implementation of the amendments to the Broadcasting Act and the Commission’s Regulatory Plan to modernize Canada’s broadcasting system. The Commission is also not persuaded that the filing deadlines need to be aligned for the three proceedings as requested by the co-applicants. In particular, the Commission is of the view that the issues and questions covered in BNC 2023-138 are distinct from the issues and questions in BNC 2023-139 and BNC 2023-140.

The Commission also notes that it has no control over the timing of the publication of any finalized policy direction that may be issued by the Governor in Council.  However, as the Proposed Policy Directions were published on 8 June 2023, interested persons do have the ability to take the proposal into account when completing their interventions. 

In light of the above, the Commission does not consider it appropriate to extend the deadlines as requested. The filing deadlines currently established in BNC 2023-140 remain unchanged.

A copy of this letter and all related correspondence will be added to the public record of the BNC 2023-140 proceeding.

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by Phil Charron for

Claude Doucet
Secretary General

Distribution List

Monica Auer, Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC), execdir@frpc.net
Scott Benzie, Digital First Canada, info@digitalfirstcanada.ca  
Doug Bingley, Ontario Association of Broadcasters, dbingley@cobroadcasting.com
Marla Boltman, FRIENDS, marla@friends.ca
Christian Clavette, CIPPIC (Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and
Public Interest Clinic), Christian.Clavette@uottawa.ca
Kirwan Cox, Quebec English-language Production Council, QEPCouncil@gmail.com
Kevin Desjardins, Canadian Association of Broadcasters, kdesjardins@cab-acr.ca
Kristen Donaldson, Digital Media Association, kirsten@dima.org
kadon@bipoctvandfilm.com
Jeffrey Dvorkin, Public Broadcasting for the 21st Century, PBC21@gmail.com
Steve de Eyre, TikTok Canada, steve.deeyre@tiktok.com
Joel Fortune, Independent Broadcast Group/Le groupe de diffuseurs indépendants,
jfortune@fortunelaw.ca
Michael Geist, mgeist@pobox.com
Matt Hatfield, OpenMedia, matt@openmedia.org
Kimberley Hayes, Bragg Communications Inc., carrying on business as Eastlink,
regulatory.matters@corp.eastlink.ca
Oliver Jaakkola, Sirius XM Canada Inc., oliver.jaakkola@siriusxm.ca
Randy Kitt, Unifor, Randy.Kitt@unifor.org
Billie Kostic, Directors Guild of Canada, bkostic@dgc.ca
John Lawford, Public Interest Advocacy Centre, jlawford@piac.ca
Katie McAuliffe, Information Technology Industry Council, kmcauliffe@itic.org
Neal McDougall, Writers Guild of Canada, n.mcdougall@wgc.ca
Marie-Christine Morin, La Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, mcmorin@fccf.ca
Marc Nanni, mn_crtc@proton.me
Jeanette Patell, YouTube, jeanettepatell@google.com
Barry Rooke, CAE, National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA), barry@ncra.ca
Lecia Simpson, TELUS Communications Inc., lecia.simpson@telus.com
Documentary Organization of Canada, sarah@docorg.ca
Tulsa Valin-Landry, Conseil provincial du secteur des communications du syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, Tulsa.valinlandry@sevl2815.com
Kealy Wilkinson, Canadian Broadcast Museum Foundation, CBMF0FMCR@gmail.com  

Date modified:

2023-06-09