Broadcasting - Staff Letter addressed to Lenore Gibson (Bell Canada)
Gatineau, 1 June 2026
Reference: 2024-0069-6
BY EMAIL
Lenore Gibson
Assistant General Counsel
Bell Canada
Floor 19, 160 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2C4
bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Subject: Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-271 – Semi-annual reports – Request to disclose information claimed as confidential
Dear Lenore Gibson,
With this letter, Commission staff is requesting disclosure of the confidential version of the following document submitted in confidence by Bell Canada and Bell Media (collectively, Bell) as a result of the above-mentioned proceeding and referred to in the second paragraph of Bell’s semi-annual report dated 28 May 2026:
251128-Bell Canada and Bell Media - BD 2025-271 - Semi-Annual Report_ABR (filed on 28 November 2025)
At the time that Bell filed this report, it designated part of the above-mentioned report as “confidential” for the following reason:
In particular, the information we are providing in confidence represents sensitive and commercially strategic information that is the type of information the Commission has recognized as being confidential. Release of this information would provide existing and potential competitors with invaluable competitively-sensitive information that would not otherwise be available to them, and which would enable them to develop more effective business strategies. Release of such information could prejudice our competitive position resulting in material financial loss and cause us specific direct harm.
We note that the Commission stated in paragraph 6 of Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-961 that:
Generic statements such as “the release of this information to competitors would result in specific, direct harm to the company” are not sufficient. Parties must provide sufficient reasons to allow meaningful analysis by the Commission or another party who may wish to request disclosure of the information.
Following a preliminary examination, Commission staff considers that the release of the information identified above would be in the public interest, as its disclosure can help persons with disabilities who are considering the service options that are currently available or who would like more clarity with respect to when a more accessible set-top box may come available. The information in question consists of forward-looking statements of a type similar to statements that were placed on the record of this proceeding earlier in response to staff requests for information dated 29 May 2024 and 20 November 2024.
In the view of Commission staff, Bell has not provided a specific rationale to justify why disclosure of this information is not in the public interest, nor did it explain how the information at issue is of a type listed as confidential in the appendix to Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-961 and, if so, the potential harms and Bell’s rationale for how these harms would outweigh the public interest of disclosing this information.
Bell is asked to file this document or a reply to this request by no later than 9 June 2026.
If you have any questions, please contact Leah Paolini, Senior Analyst, at Leah.Paolini@crtc.gc.ca.
Yours sincerely,
Original signed by
Nanao Kachi
Director, Social and Consumer Policy
c.c.:
Valérie Dionne, Legal Counsel, Legal Services, CRTC, valerie.dionne@crtc.gc.ca
Leah Paolini, Senior Analyst, Social and Consumer Policy, CRTC, leah.paolini@crtc.gc.ca
Distribution List
bell.regulatory@bell.ca
cgaristo@lolg.ca
david.errington@ami.ca
direction.generale@raaq.qc.ca
gabriella.rabaa@cnib.ca
info@virn.ca
jlawford@piac.ca
jlisus@lolg.ca
jmastrangelo@lolg.ca
kate.southwell@bell.ca
kevin@goldsteincommunicationslaw.com
president@blindcanadians.ca
richard@baf-far.ca
robert.lattanzio@arch.clcj.ca
tdawood@piac.ca
trashid@lolg.ca
znaqi@lolg.ca
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