BROADCASTING PUBLIC NOTICE CRTC 2006-16 Call for comments on the Commission’s service standards CRTC Release The Commission is committed to introduce new streamlining activities, to provide timely responses to industry inquiries and to establish regular reporting mechanisms. In this Public Notice, the Commission calls for comments on service standards that it proposes to introduce for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, starting 1 April 2006, for the publication of decisions on applications for the amendment and renewal of broadcasting licences. The proposed standards are set out in the appendix to this notice.
Introduction
1. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC or the Commission) is an independent agency responsible for the regulation and supervision of the Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications industries. The CRTC derives its regulatory authority for broadcasting matters from the Broadcasting Act and for telecommunications matters from the Telecommunications Act.
2. An important aspect of the Commission’s responsibility as the broadcast regulator, relates to the processing of applications seeking the issuance, amendment or renewal of licences.
3. In this notice, the Commission proposes service standards designed to ensure that decisions on broadcasting applications are issued in a timely manner and in accordance with a predictable schedule. In establishing and adhering to these service standards, the Commission must be satisfied that the quality of its decisions is not compromised. For the year 2006-2007, the Commission is undertaking streamlining measures to address specifically the processing of applications for licence amendments that are dealt with administratively and by public notice, as well as licence renewal applications that are dealt with by public notice. In the coming months, the Commission plans to review its procedure for processing applications for new licences and other applications that require a public hearing and to propose service standards relating to such applications for the year 2007/2008. The results of that review and proposed service standards for 2007/2008 will be announced at a later date.
Proposed service standards and commitments
4. The proposed service standards, beginning in 2006-2007, take into account the results of previous years in processing applications, and other streamlining initiatives that will be undertaken and announced at a later date.
5. The Commission is committed to ensuring that those who seek its services, or who are bound by regulatory requirements, have appropriate opportunity to provide input regarding service levels and standards. Accordingly, the Commission intends to hold consultations when service standards are initiated or modified. The Commission’s performance in meeting the established service standards will be assessed on an annual basis and a report will be placed on the Commission’s website. As well, quarterly reports will be placed on the Commission’s website for information purposes.
6. In addition to the specific service standards, which are set out in the appendix to this notice, the Commission is also committed that, in carrying out its activities, all clients will:
Call for comments
7. The Commission invites interested parties to comment on the matters addressed in this notice, including the proposed services standards set out in the appendix, no later than Thursday, 2 March 2006.
8. The Commission will not formally acknowledge comments. It will, however, fully consider all comments and they will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided that the procedure for filing set out below has been followed.
Procedure for filing comments
9. Interested parties can file their comments to the Secretary General of the Commission:
10. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary.
11. Please number each paragraph of your submission. In addition, please enter the line ***End of document*** following the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that the document has not been damaged during transmission.
Important notice
12. Note that all information that you provide as part of this public process, except information granted confidentiality, whether sent by postal mail, facsimile, e-mail or through the Commission’s web site at www..ca, becomes part of a publicly accessible file and will be posted on the Commission’s web site. This information includes your personal information, such as your full name, e-mail address, postal/street address, telephone and facsimile number(s), and any other personal information you provide.
13. Documents received electronically or otherwise will be put on the Commission’s web site in their entirety exactly as you send them, including any personal information contained therein, in the official language and format in which they are received. Documents not received electronically will be available in PDF format.
14. The personal information you provide will be used and may be disclosed for the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the Commission, or for a use consistent with that purpose.
15. The Commission encourages interested parties to monitor the public examination file and the Commission’s web site for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their comments.
Examination of public comments and related documents at the following Commission offices during normal business hours
Central Building Les Terrasses de la Chaudière 1 Promenade du Portage, Room 206 Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0N2 Tel: (819) 997-2429 - TDD: 994-0423 Fax: (819) 994-0218
Metropolitan Place 99 Wyse Road Suite 1410 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3A 4S5 Tel: (902) 426-7997 - TDD: 426-6997 Fax: (902) 426-2721
205 Viger Avenue West Suite 504 Montréal, Quebec H2Z 1G2 Tel: (514) 283-6607
55 St. Clair Avenue East Suite 624 Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2 Tel: (416) 952-9096
Kensington Building 275 Portage Avenue Suite 1810 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B3 Tel: (204) 983-6306 - TDD: 983-8274 Fax: (204) 983-6317
Cornwall Professional Building 2125 - 11th Avenue Room 103 Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3X3 Tel: (306) 780-3422
10405 Jasper Avenue Suite 520 Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4 Tel: (780) 495-3224
530-580 Hornby Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3B6 Tel: (604) 666-2111 - TDD: 666-0778 Fax: (604) 666-8322 |