CRTC, Telecom & Awards News – RTDNA Canada announces regional Lifetime Achievement honourees

RTDNA Canada has announced that Lynda Steele and Rob Germain will receive its Lifetime Achievement Award in the West Region. Steele is the host of The Lynda Steele Show on 980 CKNW. Her career began at CKVU-TV Vancouver, and then CITV-TV Edmonton, CBC Edmonton and Global Edmonton, where she was the 6 p.m. anchor for 17 years. After moving back to B.C. in 2011, she was the host of consumer/investigative segment Steele On Your Side on CTV Vancouver, before becoming a talk show host at CKNW. Rob Germain has been in broadcasting for more than 30 years, starting his career at BCTV (now Global BC). For 17 years, Germain was news director at CHEK in Victoria. In 2009, he was instrumental in bringing employees and community-minded investors together to save CHEK from closure, which is now the only employee-owned TV station in North America and celebrates 10 years of success this year as an independent. In September, Germain was appointed general manager of CHEK Media Group. Germain and Steele will be presented with their awards during the West Regional Meeting on Apr. 6.

Cecil Rosner and Geoff Currier will receive the RTDNA Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in the Prairie Region. Rosner has been an award-winning journalist in Canada for four decades and has devoted his career to reporting and supervising investigative journalism projects and teams, including CBC’s I-Team unit in Winnipeg. He has won Michener and Gemini Awards for his journalism and authored investigative works Behind the Headlines: A History of Investigative Journalism in Canada and When Justice Fails: The David Milgaard Story. He was the managing editor at CBC Manitoba until last year and is now director of investigative journalism for all CBC News regions across the country. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Winnipeg where he teaches Investigative Journalism. Currier started doing play-by-play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1986 and spent the next 12 seasons at CKRM Regina, serving as the station’s sports director, in addition to acting as TSN’s Saskatchewan correspondent. In 1997, he made the move to CJOB Winnipeg as the host of Prime Time Sports. In the early 2000s, he reinvented himself as a talk show host and for the last four years has occupied the coveted slot formerly held by the legendary Peter Warren, and later, Charles Adler. Rosner and Currier will be presented with their awards during the Prairie Regional Meeting on Apr. 6.

Joanne MacDonald is the 2019 recipient of the RTDNA Canada Lifetime Achievement Award in the Central Region. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1981, MacDonald started in the news business in radio as an operator and producer at CJRT-FM and CJCL-AM Toronto. She transitioned to television as a story producer for Canada AM in 1983, and then to field producing for CTV National News in 1989. From there, she headed to Ottawa, where she became the bureau manager and then Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief for CTV News. Later returning to Toronto, MacDonald continued to ascend the ranks, ultimately to the role of Vice-President, CTV News where she oversaw day-to-day operations and strategic vision for CP24 and CTV News Toronto. MacDonald will receive her award during the RTDNA President’s Reception in Toronto on May 10.

RTDNA Canada handed out its East Region RTDNA Awards of Excellence on Saturday night in Halifax, recognizing the best journalists, programs, stations and newsgathering organizations in radio, television and digital. Find the complete list of winners here.

The Canadian Association of Journalists has released the full list of nominees in the 2018 CAJ Awards program. The recipients in each category will be announced May 4 at the CAJ Awards Gala in Winnipeg, part of the #CAJ19 Annual Conference at the Radisson Hotel. Find the nominees here.

John Honderich, chair of Torstar Corporation, the parent company of the Toronto Star and numerous city and community newspapers, is the recipient of The Canadian Journalism Foundation’s (CJF) Lifetime Achievement Award. Honderich has been chair of Torstar since 2009, continuing a notable career in media and publishing. He will be honoured at the annual CJF Awards on June 13 in Toronto.

The Canadian Journalism Foundation has released the shortlist for the annual Landsberg Award, celebrating a journalist who provides greater profile to women’s equality issues. This year’s finalists are Josée Dupuis, journalist with Radio-Canada’s Enquête, for her work with Jo-Ann Demers, Chantal Cauchy and Emmanuel Marchand, on the report #Uvangalu (#Metoo) on Inuit women and girls in Nunavik who are harassed and sexually assaulted by white men who work in the North; Wendy Glauser, freelance health reporter, for her Globe and Mail piece exposing an Ontario doctor lauded for transforming emergency medicine who hired only men; Ann Hui, national food writer, The Globe and Mail, for her work with Ivy Knight, for articles relating to allegations by women that winemaker Norman Hardie had sexually harassed multiple women; Anne Kingston, senior writer and columnist at Maclean’s, for a body of work including stories on maternal regret and the growth of the anti-choice political lobby; and Connie Walker, senior reporter, CBC News, for her work with Marnie Luke, Heather Evans, Jennifer Fowler and Mieke Anderson for the podcast Missing & Murdered: Finding Cleo.

The Atlantic Journalism Awards (AJAs) have announced the finalists for their 2018 awards program. Gold and silver awards will be presented on Saturday, May 11 at the Halifax Harbourfront Marriott Hotel. Among the finalists for Best Information News Radio Program are CBC Information Morning Halifax, Radio-Canada Acadie – Moncton, and the VOCM St. John’s Morning Show. News 95.7 (CJNI-FM) Halifax is the lone finalist in the Best Radio Newscast category for its cannabis legalization coverage. In the running for Best Television Newscast are CBC News New Brunswick at 6; CBC Nova Scotia News; and CBC P.E.I.’s Compass. Find the full list of finalists here.

Youth Media Alliance (YMA) is giving its Outstanding Achievement Award to Fred Penner and its Emerging Talent Award to Rita Claire Mike-Murphy. They’ll be honored at a gala on May 29 at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. The Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes a distinguished career in youth production in Canada. In addition to 13 albums, in his television life Penner composed the music for YTV’s Tipi Tales and did 13 seasons of the acclaimed Fred Penner’s Place series, airing on CBC in Canada and Nick. Jr. in the U.S. Rita Claire Mike-Murphy, the recipient of the Emerging Talent Award, hosts Anaana’s Tent, an educational and bilingual preschool series on APTN that teaches Inuktitut, the language spoken by the majority of Inuit in Nunavut, to the next generation of Canadian children. Raised in Pangnirtung, a community on Baffin Island, Mike-Murphy is also a talented musician who performs under the name Riit.

The CRTC has called for comments on a proposed annual survey for digital media companies. The survey would be administered to all currently licensed Canadian broadcasting undertakings as part of the commission’s fall 2019 Annual Broadcasting Survey. The purpose of the new digital media survey would be to gather basic financial information on the digital media broadcasting activities of such undertakings so the commission can gain a better understanding of how they are changing in an increasingly digital environment. The CRTC is also reviewing how it calculates Canadian programming expenditures (CPEs). It’s called for comments on a proposal to update its policy to take into account the digital media broadcasting environment and whether expenditures made for digital media programming should qualify as eligible expenditures for the purpose of meeting the CPE requirements of licensed television services. The deadline for interventions is May 14.

The CRTC and RCMP National Division have executed separate search warrants at a home in the Greater Toronto Area as part of an investigation into malicious software (malware) that enables remote access to computers without the users’ consent. The commission says the operation is part of an international coordinated effort that includes the FBI and Australian Federal Police. It was triggered by tips from international private cyber security firms. The warrants were obtained as part of ongoing parallel investigations into Remote Access Trojan (RAT) technology which can be used to access computers and lead to the subsequent installation of other malware and theft of personal information. The CRTC isn’t naming the individuals or companies under investigation and says further information will be released when the investigation is concluded.

Canadian Media Guild (CMG) members at CBC/Radio-Canada have ratified a new collective agreement. Over 1,200 members voted 80 per cent  in favour of the five-year agreement, which covers the period from Apr. 1, 2019 to Mar. 31, 2024. The union agreed to similar wage increase provisions as in the last round: 1.5 per cent in 2019, 1.5 per cent in 2020, and increases pegged to the federal Treasury Board rate for wage increases in each of the final three years. The agreement includes a commitment to create 41 new permanent jobs through a combination of postings and conversions in employment status for some members currently classified as temporary employees. CBC employees serving in Northern and isolated locations will also have their allowances upped to match the 2018-19 rates paid to federal employees in those locations.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal has dismissed a civil contempt charge filed by Nalcor against reporter Justin Brake, related to his coverage of the Muskrat Falls hydro-electric project protest for The Independent in 2016. Brake followed protesters into the Muskrat Falls site and stayed with them as they occupied a building for four nights. The 29-page decision sided with the media, citing the importance of reporting on Indigenous issues in reference to the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. Nalcor can still appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Brake, who now works for APTN, still faces criminal charges of mischief and disobeying a court order.

The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS) says Canadians filed 44 per cent more complaints about their wireless, internet, TV and home phone services between Aug. 1, 2018 and Jan. 31, 2019, compared to the year previous. The CCTS says “incorrect charges” and “non-disclosure of terms” continue to be the top complaints, together representing 29 per cent of all issues. The commission also recorded a 42 per cent increase in breaches to the Wireless Code. Breaches related to “failure to give notice before disconnection” increased by 163 per cent. Bell once again was the most-complained about provider representing 30.9 per cent of all complaints, a decrease of roughly two and a half per cent compared to the 2017-18 Mid-Year Report. Rogers was second representing 9.3 per cent of complaints (down one per cent). The number of complaints about Cogeco increased from 120 to 790, making it the third most complained-about service provider (eight per cent). Telus came in fourth at 7.6 per cent. Freedom Mobile joined the top five most-complained-about list for the first time. It also recorded the most breaches of The Wireless Code (34 per cent of all breaches). Read the full report here.

Nordicity has issued a new report, commissioned by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), indicating Canada’s wireless industry contributed $27.5 billion to the Canadian GDP in 2017, an increase of 9.1 per cent from $25.21 billion 2016. The major contributor to the overall GDP increase was a $1.22 billion increase in the contribution of wireless network operators to the GDP. The wireless sector generated 151,550 full-time equivalents (FTE) jobs in 2017, including direct, indirect and induced effects – an increase of 13,500 FTEs or 9.8 per cent from 2016. Nordicity says Canadian facilities-based network operators made capital investments in Canada’s wireless infrastructure totaling $2.92 billion in 2017 – an increase of $0.34 billion or 13.2 per cent from 2016.

Bell has confirmed it will complete the previously-announced shutdown of its legacy CDMA wireless network on Apr. 30. Bell says its 4G LTE network now covers more than 99 per cent of the national population. Bell began winding down its CDMA network in 2017 as its national LTE coverage accelerated. Customers in remaining CDMA coverage areas in Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and the Atlantic provinces have been notified that they will transition to Bell LTE by Apr. 30. Stephen Howe, Bell’s Chief Technology Officer says the network is looking forward “to leveraging efficiencies from our CDMA shutdown, including repurposing existing site structures, fibre connections and power systems, to further enhance our industry-leading LTE network.”

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has announced the launch of its high-speed internet services into Western Canada, including Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. Customers can now choose from four different high-speed cable internet service packages starting at $23.95 per month, offering speeds up to 150Mbps and unlimited usage.

TekSavvy is behind website Pay Less To Connect where Canadians are encouraged to contact their MPs in support of a new directive lobbying for lower internet and cell phone bills. The proposal is open for public comment until Apr. 8.

Xplornet Communications has unveiled new, unlimited broadband data plans across Canada. Priced from $59.99 to $99.99 a month, the plans are available to all Xplornet customers on its 4G fixed wireless broadband network across Canada. Both current and new customers can take advantage of the new prices.

Videotron is launching a special program for adults who want to finish high school on their mobile phones, in conjunction with ChallengeU and partner school boards. The Videotron program is the first of its kind in Québec and will be rolled out over the next few months. It will provide users with support in three key areas including rewarding adult learners who use the ChallengeU platform by offering them special privileges such as passes to big-ticket sporting events or concerts, or mobile phone accessories. Adults who complete high school through the ChallengeU platform will be bumped up in the hiring process for sales agent, customer service and technical support agent jobs at Videotron. The company is also launching a pilot project under which it will hire adults who are only a few credits away from completing high school, on the condition that they finish their studies on the ChallengeU platform within a reasonable time frame.

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