CRTC denies public hearing on cancellation of OMNI newscasts

The CRTC denied Tuesday the application by Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) and Unifor Local 723M, both seeking to expedite a public hearing on the issue of Rogers Communications Inc. cancelling local third-language newscasts on its OMNI stations. The CRTC announcement said the UARR had indicated that Rogers was in breach of the Broadcasting Act “as upholding diversity is one of the key objectives of the Act,” and Unifor, in its application, asked for a public hearing in order to “permit parties to cross-examine Rogers” to understand why a mandatory order should not be issued in order for it to resume broadcast of third-language newscasts. Rogers, according to the CRTC, had indicated that OMNI’s present local current affairs programs meet the requirements, and added that “there is no expectation or requirement that local issues and concerns must be addressed through formal newscasts, as claimed by the UARR and Unifor.” UARR, in its reply, noted that replacing local newscasts with current affairs programming “did not meaningfully serve multilingual audiences,” while Unifor stated “elimination of all local third-language newscasts on OMNI stations fundamentally affects the services’ ability to meet their mandate, which includes the provision of news and information programming.” CRTC said the decision was made because it had found that the cancellation by Rogers was not a breach of its licence conditions, and that “the Commission will only be able to consider amending the OMNI stations’ conditions of licence at their upcoming renewal in the group-based licence renewal process.” CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan indicated in the announcement that while “a denial of the applications is a legal necessity,” because “there is no legal requirement for OMNI stations to produce newscasts for the benefit of its audience,” he believed that “denying the applications but taking no meaningful action to address the legitimate concerns of the applicants and interveners, the Commission is abdicating is leadership role with respect to the creation of effective ethnic broadcasting policy in this country.” He added that “it is well past time for a comprehensive review of the Commission’s Ethnic Broadcasting Policy.”

CRTC denies public hearing on cancellation of OMNI newscasts

Brief | January 12, 2016

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CRTC denies public hearing on cancellation of OMNI newscasts

Brief | January 12, 2016

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