Broadcaster pushes for new multilingual channel as COVID lobbying continues

An Ontario-based ethnic broadcaster lobbying the government for funding to create a multilingual news channel to help Canadians access health information says it’s too early to reveal further details about its potential creation. The Markham-headquartered Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. registered two consultant lobbyists, Bridget Howe and Sheamus Murphy, in May, with both stating they were seeking funding for a news channel that would “help more Canadians access the latest local health information.” Howe reported a communication with Maxence Bernier, senior policy adviser for Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault under that registration on May 26. Ethnic Channels Group CEO Slava Levin declined to give The Wire Report further details about the channel, or what sort of support he was seeking, saying that there was “nothing I want to really discuss at this point.” It comes as lobbyists continue to add COVID-related registrations to their lobby files. Prometheus Studios Inc. added two new consultant lobbyists, Romeo Tello and Chad Rogers, in June. Their registrations list them as lobbying the government “on COVID-19 related border restrictions as it relates to the availability of international talent.” Rogers Communications Inc. updated its registration under CEO Joe Natale in mid-June to include the “COVID-19 pandemic impacts on professional sport in Canada,” while the Motion Picture Association - Canada added “measures to support workers and businesses in the film/audio-visual sector in Canada in response to COVID-19” to its registration on June 5. Telus Corp. consultant lobbyists John Delacourt and Kevin Bosch added to their registrations in May that they were informing “government of TELUS Health services related to COVID Home Health Monitoring and Mental Health services.” Previously Bosch had updated his registration to reflect that he was talking to federal officials around Telus’ health care initiatives and “communicating the need for increased cooperation in developing next-generation healthcare services between all levels of Government,” without directly mentioning the pandemic. Ontario Association of Broadcasters consultant lobbyist Don Boudria added to his registration that the organization was “seeking COVID-19 relief funding for support of local newsrooms in community radio stations.” Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Company registered a new consultant lobbyist, Robert Evershed, in May. Evershed’s registration says he will lobby about “Satellite and ground station policies and regulations in relation to an application for a Foreign Satellite Authorization (FSA) and broadband service.” The registration came the same month as Space X applied to the CRTC for a Basic International Telecommunications Services (BITS) licence. Corus Entertainment Inc. lobbied Opposition leader Andrew Scheer and his director of policy and planning Renze Nauta three times between May 7 and May 13, while their consultant lobbyist Chad Rogers also lobbied Scheer on May 6. Rural Economic Development Minister Maryam Monsef’s office has been lobbied 11 times by companies and groups about telecommunications since May 1, with BCE Inc. lobbying them three times in that period, and Telesat Holdings Inc. and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities each recording two conversations in their communications monitoring reports. Monsef said in April that the government’s $1.7 billion Universal Broadband Fund was coming “soon” and on June 8 said that it would open in “coming days.” Monsef’s senior adviser Michael Bossio was lobbied by the Canadian Communications Systems Alliance on May 11, with the CCSA’s consultant lobbyist Kyle Larkin updating his registration on June 11 to include “Encouraging the government to make key investments in rural broadband, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.” Broadcasters and creative groups also frequently lobbied Guilbeault’s office during the last few months, with Amazon.com Inc., the Writers Guild of Canada and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) among those to report 15 communications with his senior staff since May 1, including Bernier, Guilbeault's chief of staff Mathieu Bouchard and director of policy Rebecca Caldwell. Guilbeault this month announced details of phase 2 of Heritage’s COVID-19 support fund, and told the Banff World Media Festival in June that he would introduce legislation compelling web giants to compensate news organizations for using their content in the fall. — With reporting by Adam Langenberg at alangenberg@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Broadcaster pushes for new multilingual channel as COVID lobbying continues

Broadcast | July 14, 2020

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Broadcaster pushes for new multilingual channel as COVID lobbying continues

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