The Canadian Association of Journalists has condemned the actions of the Service de police de la Ville de Gatineau after the Mar. 13 arrest of Radio-Canada reporter Antoine Trépanier for alleged criminal harassment. Trépanier was arrested after the subject of a story he approached for comment filed a police complaint. He was released on a promise to appear in court and not contact the complainant. CAJ president Nick Taylor-Vaisey calls the arrest “troubling” in that Trepanier was just practicing responsible journalism. As of press time, the Crown was still reviewing whether to lay charges in the case.
Arrow Technology Group, Buried Glass, Beacon Broadband, Cardston County and Rigstar Communications are among the organizations receiving federal funding to bring 39 Alberta communities online or give them access to faster internet. Of the $22.5 million dollar investment in Alberta, $17.1 million will come from the Connect to Innovate program.
Ericsson, Ciena Canada, Thales Canada, IBM Canada, and CGI, along with Prompt, CEFRIO and the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), are partnering to lay the groundwork for the first fifth generation wireless, abbreviated 5G, pre-commercial network platform in Canada. The $400 million dollar ENCQOR (Evolution of Networked Services through a Corridor in Québec and Ontario for Research and Innovation) partnership is also receiving funding from the federal and provincial governments of Quebec and Ontario. Some of the money will go toward developing research centres in both provinces where small and medium enterprises, industry, government and academia can share work and office space, do research, and have access to 5G network infrastructure to develop new 5G-related products, processes and services.
Michel Bissonnette, executive vice-president, Radio-Canada has written an open letter affirming that the francophone arm of the public broadcaster is still relevant in the digital age. Bissonnette says ICI TOU.TV will continue to expand its content offering with a goal to becoming the benchmark for French-language video in Canada. Bissonnette writes “It is in our collective interest – we at Bell, Quebecor, Groupe V Média, Télé-Québec and Radio-Canada – to pool our strengths if we are to compete with the major international players and ensure that francophones continue to recognize their voices, their stories and themselves in the content they consume. Safeguarding our language and culture is our shared responsibility.”
The Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) has set a deadline of Apr. 6 for its awards nominations. Nominations are open for the Gold Medal Award in Community Service for Radio, Television & Digital, Leader of Tomorrow and Broadcast Hall of Fame. Details on criteria for each award category is available at wab.ca.
Edison Research and Triton Digital’s first-ever Infinite Dial Canada webinar will take place on Apr. 4th, at 2 p.m. ET. The company is extending the methodology used in its long-running American study of consumer behaviors around media and technology to Canada. Trends measured include streaming media, radio, mobile media consumption, podcasting, and smart speakers. The webinar will be hosted by Tom Webster, Edison’s senior VP. Register here.
