By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – The CRTC last week denied a request made in April by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC) for a proceeding to be initiated to examine the Broadcasting Participation Fund’s (BPF) funding situation.
The BPF was set up to fund consumer and public interest groups, such as PIAC and FRPC, for their participation in broadcasting proceedings. The financing provided comes from portions of tangible benefits paid through broadcasting transactions since 2012.
Having not heard from the CRTC for several weeks after their April request, PIAC and FRPC wrote another letter in May pleading that money was running out and that the CRTC had a duty to publish the application on its website in order to start a public process. They even threatened to go to the Federal Court to get an order forcing the Commission to act if nothing was done within one week.
Last week, on August 6th, the Commission responded by returning the application: “The CRTC, by majority decision, considers this application closed and deems this application to be returned,” the letter read.
The CRTC concluded the outcome of such a proceeding would be uncertain since the current Broadcasting Act does not clearly mandate such funding, unlike the Telecommunications Act, and “even if successful, the BPF would not be provided with any meaningful measure of stable funding in the short to medium term,” said the letter.
Of course, the CRTC does mention that Bill C-10, an Act to modernize the Broadcasting Act, had language that would allow the “Commission (to) make regulations respecting expenditures to be made by persons carrying on broadcasting undertakings for the purposes of supporting participation by persons, groups of persons or organizations representing the public interest in proceedings before the Commission under this Act,” as the proposed legislation reads.
The government’s intention is clear, but the legislation will likely die on the order paper if an election is called, as everyone expects.
So, the Commission directed staff to organize a virtual meeting in the coming months to engage with Canadian public interest and consumer organizations.
“This meeting will serve to enhance understanding of the challenges and barriers facing these organizations when they intervene in Commission proceedings and begin the process of identifying the most appropriate and effective model(s) of funding to provide support for such organizations in the future,” the letter concludes.
Hopefully, this virtual meeting will be useful in allowing the CRTC to act quickly once the new legislation is enacted.
Finally, the letter mentioned the decision was taken by a majority, which implies that some were not in agreement but when Cartt.ca asked who was not, the CRTC responded that “all Commission decisions are recorded in the minutes of Commission meetings. While the minutes are not published on our website, they can be provided further to an access to information request.”
