Community groups file appeals on CRTC’s Vancouver ethnic TV licensing decision

Disgruntled community groups have appealed the CRTC’s Vancouver ethnic television licensing decision on the grounds the licence was granted based on criteria not included in the call for applications. The move means that for the second time in as many years the Vancouver TV file will end up on the federal Cabinet agenda. Within the last two weeks, a group calling itself the Community Coalition for a Fair Hearing and others have filed at least five independent appeals to Cabinet on the decision to license Multivan Broadcast Corporation instead of Rogers Broadcasting Limited’s CFMT-TV for the over-the-air Vancouver station. "We want a fair hearing, because what happened was the commissioners based their decision on invented criteria after the public hearing rather than the merits of the applications themselves," coalition member Wai Young tells CCR. "There is some really inexcusable things that they’ve done in making this decision…" "Reliance on the ‘local ethnic ownership’ was unfair because this criterion was not mentioned – let alone held to be determinative – in the CRTC’s call for applications, in its Ethnic Broadcasting Policy, in any documents issued by the Governor in Council, or even in the Broadcasting Act," notes the coalition in its March 28 appeal to Cabinet. The coalition wants the government to set aside the decision and refer it back to the CRTC for reconsideration. Another appeal filed by Victoria mayor Alan Lowe further notes: "The decision is illogical and short-sighted in that it rests on the requirement of local ownership being ethnic yet provides no safeguards for the permanence of their requirement: nothing in the decision prohibits the originally successful applicants from subsequently selling to the highest bidder regardless of ethnic or non-ethnic origin or locale of the bidder." In a close 3-2 vote, a five-member CRTC panel granted the licence in February to Multivan. The majority decision stated that "local and ethnic ownership of this television service would best promote the goals of the Ethnic Broadcasting Policy" - Broadcasting Decision 2002-39 (CCR, Feb. 15/02). Commissioners Cindy Grauer and Martha Wilson dissented, while Andrée Wylie, Andrew Cardozo, and Joan Pennefather decided that Multivan should get the licence. Victoria feels shortchanged by the decision because Multivan has no plans to broadcast in the city. On the other hand, Rogers proposed to include Victoria in its service area and also open a multilingual, multi-ethnic news bureau there. Another point of contention is that Rogers offered $27 million over seven years for ethnic production while Multivan proposed a mere $4.9 million for the creation of multicultural programming. No one at Multivan could be reached for comment at press time. Most disturbing of all, according to Young, is that the CRTC did not consider the views of the community, which she feels could have far-reaching consequences on ethnic relations. Rogers received 5,750 letters of support for its application for Local Multilingual Television, while Multivan had 1,530 supporters. "…You can’t program ethnic television without any experience because it’s so politically sensitive," Young says. "For example, just think about what’s happening in Palestine and Israel right now. People are killing each other, but we have those same communities living peacefully here. So how do you frame news in such a way that you’re not pissing off one or the other group? That speaks to the experience that Rogers has, while the other guys have zero. So we’re very worried about what this will do to our community, because inexperienced broadcasters can actually foment racism..." For its part, Rogers says that it has moved on from attempting to get a licence for an ethnic station, for which it was turned down three times. "We’re not involved in the appeal whatsoever," says Jan Innes, VP of communications at Rogers Communications Inc.

Community groups file appeals on CRTC’s Vancouver ethnic TV licensing decision

Broadcast | April 12, 2002

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