TAGGED AS RAJ SHOAN
Raj Shoan sues government, former CRTC chairman over firing
telecom | 11/09/2018 12:32 pm EST
Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed a lawsuit against the federal government and a number of individuals at the CRTC involved in the process that ultimately led to him being fired twice from his position at the regulator.
Shoan is asking for millions of dollars...
Shoan takes another legal swing over firing
Media | 06/06/2018 3:25 pm EDT
Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan filed an appeal on Tuesday of a May Federal Court decision which dismissed an application for a judicial review of his second firing from the communications regulator. Federal Court Judge James Russell found that there were enough grounds to fire Shoan, but according to a notice of appeal, Shoan is arguing that there were a number of errors made by the judge. Citing the previous decisions, Shoan says that he was actually due a new termination process, that relevant evidence was ignored, and the judge didn’t take into account he was hired as a...
Shoan considering “options for appeal” after dismissal of second CRTC firing review
Media | 05/08/2018 6:55 pm EDT
In a decision on Monday, a Federal Court judge...
Regulatory rejigs, cultural changes in store as Parliament resumes
Media | 09/18/2017 1:56 pm EDT
Everything old is new again when it comes to telecom and media issues...
Stakeholder meetings status quo for CRTC, Shoan argues
Media | 07/05/2017 3:11 pm EDT
The encounters with stakeholders that formed part of the rationale for his...
Shoan files for appeal of second dismissal
Media | 06/05/2017 12:13 pm EDT
Twice-fired CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed his application for judicial review, appealing his second removal from his post as the regional representative for Ontario. In a notice of application filed at the Federal Court...
Shoan vows court challenge of second dismissal from CRTC
Media | 05/05/2017 2:41 am EDT
Raj Shoan, the CRTC’s regional commissioner for Ontario who was fired again just four days after a return to his post, said he will be heading back to court to challenge the second order-in-council removing him from the regulatory body. In a statement issued Friday, Shoan said he was informed late Thursday that his governor-in-council (GIC) appointment, which he regained after 10 months following an April 28 Federal Court decision, would again be terminated as of midnight Friday. Justice Cecily Strickland’s decision — stemming from...
Shoan back to work following CRTC reinstatement
Media | 05/02/2017 5:29 pm EDT
Raj Shoan, the once-former CRTC commissioner, returned to work Monday, following a 10-month gap in his role as the regional representative for Ontario. As Shoan put it in a statement issued over the weekend, his tenure was...
Shoan wins appeal of CRTC dismissal; judge sends decision for reconsideration
Media | 04/29/2017 12:23 am EDT
Raj Shoan was denied procedural fairness when he was fired from his job as the CRTC’s regional commissioner for Ontario last summer, three years into a five-year term, a Federal Court justice...
CRTC job postings extended
Media | 03/07/2017 7:51 pm EST
Four CRTC job postings have been extended for a second time, with prospective chairperson, vice-chairperson and regional commissioners having until March 15 to apply. The four jobs were first posted on the federal government’s appointment opportunities website in late January, with a deadline of Feb. 20. That deadline was pushed to March 6 and, on Tuesday, again extended...
Attorney general defends investigation that led to Shoan dismissal
Media | 03/01/2017 10:14 pm EST
The Attorney General of Canada is arguing in a memorandum of fact and law that the CRTC investigation that led to the dismissal of former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan was “procedurally...
CRTC jobs, vacant or not, posted
Media | 01/24/2017 10:50 pm EST
Heritage Canada has issued a series of help-wanted ads for the CRTC — including for the not-yet vacant position of chair. Four new job openings are now on the government’s appointments website for the roles of chair,...
Address diversity gaps when filling CRTC roles, minister told
Media | 01/17/2017 9:52 pm EST
Filling all 13 spots allotted to CRTC commissioners could go a long way in addressing what some are calling decades of ongoing disparity between the demographics of those who make decisions about the...
Shoan drops second case on Blais’ power to name panels
telecom | 11/30/2016 8:29 pm EST
Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan won’t pursue a second challenge regarding the ability of the CRTC chairman to name panels, after a judge dismissed a similar application last month....
Shoan dismissal part of ‘witch hunt,’ former commissioner says
Media | 11/25/2016 9:16 pm EST
Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is alleging that Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and the governor-in-council (GIC) have effectively participated in a “witch hunt” against him by...
Blais can name panels: Federal Court of Appeal
Media | 10/24/2016 9:33 pm EDT
TORONTO — A panel of Federal Court of Appeal justices dismissed an application from former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan challenging the authority of chairman Jean-Pierre Blais to name commissioners to panels. Following a brief hearing at the Toronto courthouse Monday afternoon, judges Mary Gleason, Eleanor Dawson and Judith Woods rendered their disagreement with Shoan's application as outlined by his lawyer Craig Stehr that the legislation governing the CRTC does not give Blais (or any chairperson) the power to select fellow commissioners to hear issues that come before the...
AG appealing Shoan harassment decision
Media | 10/24/2016 5:48 pm EDT
The federal government is appealing a Federal Court justice’s ruling that former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan was denied procedural fairness and that set aside an official report finding he had harassed a senior staff member....
Federal court denies Shoan temporary return to CRTC post
Media | 09/09/2016 10:34 pm EDT
Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan won’t be reinstated while awaiting appeal of the order-in-council that removed him from his position, a Federal Court judge ruled Friday. According to...
Groups ask Joly to investigate allegations of racism at the CRTC
Media | 09/09/2016 8:01 pm EDT
The Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) and the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) have written to Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to ask her to look into allegations of...
Reinstating Shoan ‘not in public interest’: AG
Media | 09/06/2016 9:36 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Last week’s decision from a Federal Court judge setting aside an investigation and decision that former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan committed workplace harassment should weigh heavily in his favour for...
Federal court upends Shoan harassment finding
Media | 09/02/2016 6:08 pm EDT
A Federal Court judge has overturned a 2015 CRTC decision that former commissioner Raj Shoan harassed a senior staff member, ruling he was denied procedural fairness in the investigation leading up to the decision. In a Friday decision, judge Russel Zinn approved the judicial review application brought forward by Shoan, who had turned to the courts to fight the finding and subsequent punitive measures levied against him by chairman Jean-Pierre Blais following a complaint by Amanda Cliff, the executive director of communications. “The failure of procedural fairness by the...
AG appeals confidentiality order in Shoan harassment case
Media | 08/02/2016 3:28 pm EDT
The federal government is appealing a federal court judge’s decision to lift a confidentiality order keeping the identities of CRTC employees involved in a harassment case against a former...
Joly, Vennard respond to Shoan appeal, allegations of bias
telecom | 07/11/2016 7:51 pm EDT
A CRTC commissioner is refuting allegations of inappropriate conduct and racism levied by a former colleague, Raj Shoan, the recently fired representative for Ontario. Included in documents filed...
Shoan appeals dismissal from CRTC post
telecom | 07/06/2016 2:06 pm EDT
Fired CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is asking the Federal Court to “urgently” intervene in the order-in-council issued last month that ended his appointment with the regulator. On Tuesday, lawyers for Shoan filed a...
Federal government looking for new CRTC vice-chair
Media | 06/28/2016 9:06 pm EDT
After seven months of vacancy, Canadian Heritage is moving to fill the vice-chair of broadcasting position at the CRTC. Former vice-chair Tom Pentefountas wrapped up his five-year term on Nov. 20. A new posting on...
Shoan out as CRTC commissioner, appealing dismissal
telecom | 06/24/2016 8:08 pm EDT
In a “highly unusual” move, Raj Shoan, the CRTC commissioner representing Ontario, was removed from his post by the federal government on Friday, capping off a 14-month period of legal strife between Shoan and the...
Impartiality, authority of CRTC chairman called into question in harassment review hearing
Media | 06/21/2016 11:19 pm EDT
TORONTO — A reasonable person could make the link between the comments that CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais made as a witness during a harassment investigation...
Blais can name panels: Attorney general
Media | 06/02/2016 6:58 pm EDT
The attorney general’s office is arguing that the CRTC chairman has the authority to name panels to decide issues in front of the commission, in response to a court case launched by commissioner Raj Shoan challenging his...
Shoan launches second challenge to Blais’ power to name panels
telecom | 05/24/2016 5:04 pm EDT
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed another court challenge regarding the ability of CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais to assign commissioners to panels that make decisions on issues before the...
CRTC approves Shaw-Corus deal, with no tangible benefits
Media | 03/23/2016 10:37 pm EDT
The CRTC has approved the acquisition of Shaw Communications Inc.’s media division by Corus Entertainment Inc., and decided not to require Corus to pay any tangible benefits, a contribution which could have amounted to $265 million had the regulator decided otherwise. The commission said in a press release Wednesday afternoon that both Shaw and Corus have “been effectively controlled by the same person, Mr. JR Shaw,” since Corus was founded in 1999. “Since that time, although they have operated under separate management teams and are overseen by distinct boards of...
CRTC denies public hearing on cancellation of OMNI newscasts
Media | 01/12/2016 9:44 pm EST
The CRTC denied Tuesday the application by Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) and Unifor Local 723M, both seeking to expedite a public hearing on the issue of Rogers Communications Inc....
Shoan tells radio operators to focus on smartphones
Media | 11/11/2015 8:22 pm EST
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan told a group of broadcasting professionals this week that radio operators should look at how they can become a bigger presence on smartphones in order to hold their own against an increasing number of...
Shoan protests Traversy no-show in court case
Media | 11/04/2015 3:37 pm EST
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is asking that the affidavit of John Traversy, outgoing secretary general of the commission, be struck from the record in a Federal Court case — in which he's fighting a finding that he...
Shoan asks court to limit Blais’ ability to name CRTC panels
Media | 10/23/2015 8:45 pm EDT
Commissioner Raj Shoan has brought another case against the CRTC to court, asking the Federal Court of Appeal to limit the ability of the CRTC chairman to assign commissioners to panels that make...
Shoan, government reach deal on confidentiality
Media | 07/08/2015 8:39 pm EDT
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan and the government, who are battling in court over a finding that he committed workplace harassment, have reached an agreement on keeping the identities of individuals involved in this case private. A third-party investigation commissioned by the CRTC had found that Shoan harassed an employee at the commission. Shoan has been fighting this determination in Federal Court and calling for all the material the CRTC used against him, including an unredacted version of the investigator's report, to be made available to him. The government had said it would provide...
French-language radio stations to combine sales
Media | 07/08/2015 4:46 pm EDT
The CRTC said Wednesday that two separately owned French-language commercial radio stations in Gatineau, Que., will be allowed to combine their sales teams. The stations involved are Cogeco Cable Inc.-owned CKOF-FM, which has a...
Government files to censor details in Shoan case
Media | 07/03/2015 5:06 pm EDT
The federal government has filed a notice of motion in Federal Court to keep certain details under wraps in the judicial review CRTC Commissioner Raj Shoan is seeking of a process that found he committed workplace harassment. A...
CRTC officials battle over travel expenses: report
Media | 06/18/2015 1:57 pm EDT
The soured relations between CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais and Commissioner Raj Shoan extend beyond Shoan's court fight against worker-harassment findings and into arguments over travel expenses, according to a report. The...
CRTC vs. Shoan dispute in full public view
Media | 06/11/2015 7:08 pm EDT
The federal government and the CRTC have been unsuccessful in their attempt to have documents in the Federal Court case CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has brought against the CRTC shielded from public view, for the time being. It...
‘Golden age of TV’ facing changes: panel
Media | 06/03/2015 11:43 pm EDT
TORONTO — There has never have been a better time than now to be a consumer of television, it was said during a panel discussion Wednesday at the Canadian Telecom Summit, but it was also discussed how big changes are afoot,...
CRTC reluctant to release certain info in Shoan case
Media | 05/26/2015 4:10 pm EDT
The CRTC is asking that certain information requested by commissioner Raj Shoan in a Federal Court case he has brought against the government not be released. A letter notes that Shoan, who was accused of workplace harassment...
Court action could clarify CRTC commissioners’ rights: Denton
Media | 04/29/2015 8:20 pm EDT
A former CRTC commissioner says a court proceeding initiated by current commissioner Raj Shoan, which challenges the findings of an internal report into harassment and seeks to limit Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais' control, could help clarify the rights of and limits to the power of various CRTC players. "It's...