SCTV cast member Dave Thomas, former Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) President Glenn O’Farrell, and Denham Jolly, founder of Canada’s first Black-owned radio station Flow 93.5 (CFXJ-FM), are among 114 new appointments to the Order of Canada. Actor, singer and philanthropist Tom Jackson, Quebec actress, journalist Janette Bertrand, and actress, producer and director Denise Filiatrault are among those receiving promotions within the order to Companion. Montreal actor, comedian and film director Claude Meunier was named an Officer, while new Member appointees from the media, film and broadcast sectors include former Hockey Night in Canada commentator Brian McFarlane; Manitoba champion curler and broadcaster Don Duguid; and former Canadian Broadcast Standards Council national chair Ron Cohen. Read more here.
Netflix and Spotify, among other foreign-based digital services will be compelled to collect GST/HST, starting July 1 and be subject to a corporate tax, beginning in 2022. Announced in the federal government’s fall economic statement Monday, the government has also indicated it will provide additional COVID-19 relief to local television and radio stations by waiving Part II licence fees for broadcasters in 2020-21. With Part I fees waived in March, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) had been advocating to have the much more onerous Part II Fees, due Dec. 1, also waived. Read more here.
LISTEN: The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has appointed its first president since 2009 when the organization representing the interests of Canada’s private radio and television broadcasters made a move to downsize. On the latest episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast, we talk to Kevin Desjardins on returning to the sector amid revenue challenges compounded by the pandemic, and what he says is a need for meaningful, structural solutions.
The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) has released its 2019-20 annual report, showing an overall 19% decrease in consumer complaints between Aug. 1, 2019 and July 31, 2020. Consumers filed 15,868 complaints to the CCTS, most of those from wireless customers (with Wireless Code breaches increasing by 16% this year), followed by internet, television, and local phone service. The most common complaints: billing, followed by disclosure issues. Broken down by service provider, Bell garnered 24% of all complaints (down 35% year-over-year), followed by Rogers (11.4%), and then TELUS, Fido, Freedom Mobile and Virgin Mobile.
Rogers Communications has partnered with The Salvation Army to transition its Christmas Kettle Campaign to touchless digital giving. Powered by the Rogers LTE-M network, The Salvation Army holiday campaign will see hundreds of Christmas kettles equipped with the technology, allowing Canadians to “tap to give” using a credit card or smartphone. At the kettles this year, Canadians will see a pre-set amount to donate $5 with an option to tap up to 10 times on the same unit to increase their donation if desired. Kettles will be outfitted with technology by Canadian start-up tip tap. Rogers for Business collaborated with tiptap during product development, in support of the new solution that securely bridges the gap between organizations in need and donors no longer carrying cash and coins.
Carleton University’s journalism program has announced the creation of a paid internship for recent graduates in CBC newsrooms in Northern communities like Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Whitehorse. In partnership with CBC North, the three-year agreement will provide a paid summer internship each year, providing the journalist an opportunity to report on Canada’s north and its Indigenous people, and introduce CBC to new journalistic talent. The project was spurred by long-time journalism professor Mary McGuire, who also established a fund to help cover the high cost of travel and accommodation for students who go to work in Canada’s north. McGuire spent a number of years working in Whitehorse, primarily for CBC Radio and CBC’s Northern Service before joining Carleton’s journalism faculty in 1990.
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) has announced the recipients of its 2020 AMI Robert Pearson Memorial Scholarship. The program, which launched in 2012, is open to Canadian students enrolled in a diploma or degree program at a Canadian post-secondary school. Two scholarships valued at $5,000 each are awarded annually to students with a disability, one in English and one in French. This year’s recipients are Nik Provenzano of Sault-Ste Marie, ON, and Marie-Pier Lemay from Brossard, QC. AMI partners with the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) to administer the program.
