NDP to lobby government on foreign digital sales, ad taxes

Media | 08/29/2018 6:10 pm EDT

The federal NDP said it will enter the new parliamentary session with a focus on pressuring the government to right wrongs they say have been committed by allowing foreign internet companies to skirt...

Libertarian telecom analyst joining Bernier’s new party effort

Media | 08/23/2018 7:47 pm EDT

Conservative MP Maxime Bernier announced Thursday that Montreal Economic...

CRTC calls for ISPs to pay for CanCon, ‘equitable’ OTT contributions

Media | 05/31/2018 11:18 am EDT

GATINEAU — The CRTC is recommending the government undertake a bevy of...

Ian Morrison steps down from watchdog Friends

Media | 02/12/2018 1:27 pm EST

Ian Morrison, the co-founder of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, is handing over the reins of the...

Scheer mum on net neutrality as CPC MPs take opposing sides

Media | 12/13/2017 4:39 pm EST

Opposition leader Andrew Scheer isn’t going public with his position on the issue of net neutrality, even as two members of his caucus — both former Industry ministers — are publicly disagreeing on the question. On Saturday, Innovation critic Maxime Bernier tweeted...

Judith LaRocque named acting CRTC chair for 4-month term

Media | 06/19/2017 5:52 pm EDT

Judith LaRocque has been appointed acting CRTC chairwoman for a four-month...

CBC, CRTC still viewed as keepers of Canadian identity: study

Media | 06/12/2017 3:04 pm EDT

Canadians rely heaviest on CBC/Radio-Canada and the CRTC to protect...

Joly non-committal on $150M in extra funding for CBC

Media | 02/02/2016 10:08 pm EST

Heritage Minister Melanie Joly is refusing to specify that the CBC will receive the $150 million in extra funding the Liberal government promised during last year’s election, despite receiving questions on the subject from...

As CBC’s funding increases, will it have to change course?

Media | 01/20/2016 8:04 pm EST

Following last fall’s election, the government is set to boost CBC/Radio-Canada's funding, but when that will happen and under what conditions is unclear. It also remains to be seen whether...

Where federal parties stand on telecom, media issues

Media | 09/09/2015 4:48 pm EDT

Telecommunications and media have not been prominent issues in this year's federal election campaign, taking a backseat to things such as the Mike Duffy trial, the deficit and Syrian refugees. The Wire Report has made...

CenturyLink funded to expand rural Internet in U.S.

telecom | 08/28/2015 6:22 pm EDT

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Thursday it will provide funding of about $506 million US a year to CenturyLink Inc. to deliver broadband Internet service to rural parts of the United States. The...

Harper promises $200M for fibre-based rural Internet

telecom | 08/27/2015 1:35 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday that, if re-elected, he will put another $200 million into fibre-based infrastructure for rural and remote locations currently lacking high-speed Internet. “Quite simply, there...

Friends says CBC refuses its anti-Harper ads

Media | 08/11/2015 4:48 pm EDT

The advocacy group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting says CBC/Radio-Canada is refusing to air TV advertisements critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for cuts to CBC. The group said in a press release that the ads in question...

Netflix customers should voluntarily pay sales tax: report

Media | 08/10/2015 6:48 pm EDT

Canadian customers of Netflix Inc. are theoretically obliged to pay sales taxes on this service, even though Netflix does not collect the tax up front, the Toronto Star quoted a federal official as saying. "In such cases, Canadian consumers are required to self-assess the amount of tax they owe to the Canada Revenue Agency,” a Finance Canada spokesperson, who did not want to be named, is quoted as saying in an article posted online Monday. Last week, Prime Minster Stephen Harper tweeted a video of himself speaking out against proposals for a "Netflix tax," and accused...

Harper comes out against ‘Netflix tax’ in video

Media | 08/06/2015 1:52 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday posted a video of himself on Twitter standing in front of a screen with a Netflix logo and criticizing calls for taxes on video-streaming services. In the video, Harper said he is a fan...

Trio calls on government to reign in major telecoms

Media | 11/20/2014 7:42 pm EST

Three industry observers, including two academics, have released an open letter to senior government officials that seeks strong measures to temper the power of major players in the telecommunications industry. The letter comes...

Telus lobbies PM Harper on health

Media | 11/19/2014 9:02 pm EST

Telus Corp. communicated with high-ranking members of the federal government in October, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the company’s health-care operations, according to the lobbying registry. The Oct. 2...

Blais’ differences with government come into focus

Media | 10/10/2014 9:14 pm EDT

CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais' differences with his government bosses came to the fore during two recent hearings on key telecommunications policy matters. In the two hearings, one on the future of the TV industry and another on the wholesale wireless market, Blais has had to chart a challenging course between...

Mulcair denounces Glover statements on Netflix regulation

Media | 10/08/2014 8:11 pm EDT

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Tom Mulcair on Wednesday denounced Heritage Minister Shelly Glover's statements that ruled out regulation for online video services such as Netflix and YouTube, which were made while a CRTC hearing considering the future of television was ongoing. Mulcair did not say what his position on the regulation of online video was when asked by The Wire Report after an NDP caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "What I found shocking was to hear a minister responsible for these files saying that she was going to determine, before the CRTC even had a chance to study it,...

CRTC in tough spot after Netflix refuses to disclose: experts

Media | 09/23/2014 8:52 pm EDT

Experts say that while CRTC must somehow respond to the refusal of Netflix Inc. to give the commission information it had been ordered to provide by CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais during a hearing...

Blais threatens to revoke Netflix’ exemption order

Media | 09/19/2014 7:48 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — During the sometimes-contentious appearance by Netflix Inc. on the last day the CRTC’s two-week hearings on the future of television, CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais repeatedly ordered the U.S....

No tax on Netflix, YouTube: Harper

Media | 09/15/2014 4:43 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday his government is determined not to tax Internet services such as Netflix and YouTube In a wide-ranging speech in Ottawa to kick off the new parliamentary session, he also mentioned the...

Advocacy groups object to nominee for privacy commish

Media | 05/30/2014 7:25 pm EDT

OpenMedia.ca said Friday it has sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper — on behalf of itself and other advocacy groups — protesting his nomination for a new federal privacy commissioner. OpenMedia, which...

Daniel Therrien nominated as next privacy commish

telecom | 05/29/2014 2:07 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has nominated Daniel Therrien as the next federal privacy commissioner. Harper’s office issued the announcement through a press release on Wednesday. Therrien is currently an assistant deputy...

Bigger picture still in question as CBC cuts deep

Media | 04/10/2014 9:53 pm EDT

As CBC/Radio-Canada on Thursday announced another round of job cuts and other reductions throughout its organization, observers expressed impatience over the lack of a fundamentally different vision emerging from the public...

Rogers lobbied PM Harper in busy February

Media | 03/18/2014 6:09 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. had the ear of some of the highest officials in the federal government in early February, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper communicated with Rogers on Feb. 5, according to information in...

‘That was a lot to spend,’ analyst says of Rogers’ auction activity

telecom | 02/20/2014 9:58 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. spent more than expected in the government’s 700 MHz spectrum auction, while Videotron, owned by Quebecor Inc., expanded its network across the country for a relatively low price, analysts said on Thursday. The results of the 700 MHz wireless auction, released on Wednesday, showed...

Pollsters say incumbents fighting a losing battle as PM comments on wireless code

telecom | 07/04/2013 8:36 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper used social media to weigh in on the CRTC’s decision that wireless consumers should be permitted to cancel their contracts after two years. The messages, posted by Harper on his Facebook page Wednesday, should be concerning to the country's three largest telecom companies, which are requesting a court challenge of aspects of the regulator's decision, pollsters said in interviews. “A hundred per cent yes. This is a majority government,”...