The CRTC has published its Strategic Plan: Connecting Canadians through technology and culture, outlining its priorities. The plan builds on the commission’s release last year of its areas of focus, which included lowering cell phone and internet prices for Canadians, modernizing the broadcasting system to promote Canadian and Indigenous content, and improving the CRTC’s own processes to better serve Canadians. The commission says it has made progress in those areas, including helping lower consumer prices for cell services by 12.8% year-over-year; improving connectivity in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, including bringing high-speed internet to Nunavut; moving forward with implementation of the amended Broadcasting Act by launching nine public consultations and issuing four decisions, including requiring online streaming services to contribute an estimated $200 million per year to the broadcasting system; and launching four public consultations to implement the Online News Act. Read more here.
CBC/Radio-Canada will hold its Annual Public Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. ET. In a conversation moderated by Radio-Canada host Sophie Fouron, President and CEO Catherine Tait and Chair of the Board of Directors Michael Goldbloom will reflect on the public broadcaster’s key milestones and achievements. Tait will also look back on the key moments of her six-year tenure as the first woman to lead the national public broadcaster. The virtual event will be broadcast on CBC/Radio-Canada’s corporate website and corporate YouTube channel.
Media Literacy Week is underway until Friday, Oct. 25. The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and MediaSmarts are among the organizations launching campaigns encouraging trust and awareness in the age of AI, deepfakes and misinformation. CJF has launched #Trust Wisely, an invitation to newsrooms to remind their audiences how quality journalism works to earn their trust. Digital and media literacy advocate MediaSmarts has also revived its house hippo campaign to address the rise of AI-generated deepfakes and encourage everyone to check information they see online before they share it. The Break the Fake campaign, funded by the federal government, is part of MediaSmarts’ new AI literacy initiative, which includes a guide to AI funded by Meta, lesson plans for teachers, tipsheets and educational videos. Read more here.
The Michener Award and Rideau Hall Foundations are responding to the need to amplify the ecosystems of small Canadian newsrooms by establishing the Norman Webster Fellowship. Valued at up to $125,000, it will provide the winning news organizations (1 in English and 1 in French) with a unique opportunity to produce a groundbreaking story and allow early career journalists to hone their craft. Born in Summerside, P.E.I., Webster was a renowned foreign correspondent, columnist and editor of both the Globe and Mail and Montreal Gazette. The fellowship was announced at a conference hosted in Charlottetown by both organizations called “Putting the Local back in Local News,” welcoming policymakers, foundations, and local media to discuss the future sustainability of local news and share innovative practices. A report will be published in collaboration with the Public Policy Forum.
Innovation, Science and Industry Min. François-Philippe Champagne has announced a $20 million investment through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to support Kepler Communications’ development of the Aether constellation and its in-orbit, high-speed connectivity network, valued at $280.3 million. Kepler Communications, a Canadian leader in small satellite mass manufacturing, also received $2 million in funding for the project from the Canadian Space Agency in September. The federal government says the investment will advance Canada’s satellite communications capabilities to deliver higher-speed data relay between space and the earth by using optical intersatellite link laser technology. The SIF contributions will also enable Kepler to create 95 full-time jobs and 346 future co-op positions for students at its headquarters in Toronto.
