The CRTC has approved five urban radio licences in markets across the country to serve Aboriginal peoples, a decision one Ontario Aboriginal radio station said will result in fewer hours, and less diversity, of Aboriginal-language content in Ottawa and Toronto than its application would have provided. The decision, handed down Wednesday, came after a three-day hearing in March and after the regulator revoked licences for Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc. in 2015 to serve those communities....
The CRTC said it was yanking the broadcast licences of five aboriginal radio stations, all operated by a company called Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc., for years of non-compliance with licence conditions and radio regulations. The stations operate under the call sign CKAV in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. The CRTC said in a press release that this broadcaster, which first attained licences in the early 2000s, "has not fulfilled its mandate to reflect the distinctive place of the aboriginal community in Canadian society." It said the Ottawa station has not broadcast...