NDP MP files Cabinet appeal on CTV/Global TV licence renewals
The NDP’s critic for culture and communications has filed a petition to the federal Cabinet asking it to overturn the CRTC’s Aug. 2 decisions renewing the television licences of CTV Inc and CanWest Global Communications Corp. Wendy Lill says CTV and Global’s stable of broadcast, print, and Internet properties "constitutes an alarming concentration of power over public expression in this country." The MP for Dartmouth wants Cabinet to send the decisions back to the commission with clear directions, calling for a limited licence renewal of one year for CTV and Global’s network licences while asking the CRTC to develop a policy for the "orderly divestment of cross-owned properties in preparation of a cross-ownership ban." She concludes in her Sept. 13 petition, "The dangerous and unprecedented increase in media concentration permitted by these CRTC decisions must not be allowed to stand." More details: