The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) has published its 2017-18 Annual Report, noting a 57 per cent increase in the number of complaints it received from Canadian telecom and TV customers year-over-year. Canadians complained most about non-disclosure of information, which accounted for 15 per cent of all issues raised across all types of service. CCTS commissioner Howard Maker says of “cause for concern” is that complaints about internet service have increased 170 per cent over the last five years. The CCTS recorded a 29 per cent increase in the number of Wireless Code breaches with the most common violations involving failure to properly apply data overage caps, provide contractual documents and disclose key contract terms, or provide proper notice before disconnection. Despite the significant increase, the CCTS says 92 per cent of complaints were successfully resolved to the satisfaction of the customer and the service provider. Bell, Rogers and Telus, together, accounted for half of all complaints the CCTS accepted in 2017-18. That proportion rises to about 68 per cent of all complaints when their “flanker brands” and other related service providers are included.
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says it will not participate in the CRTC’s call for comments on a proposed Internet Service Provider Code, which would be similar to the Television Service Provider and Wireless Codes. PIAC isn’t happy with the CRTC’s denial of its request for more time to develop a public interest position and consult the public. PIAC had also requested a procedural change to an oral hearing.
Michael Geist is among those who’ll be recognized this week by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). CJFE is hosting its annual gala in Toronto on Nov. 29 where Geist, along with murdered Mexican investigative journalist Javier Valdez and the staff of Maryland’s Capital Gazette, which was the target of a mass shooting in June, will be honoured. Geist, Research Chair in E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, and founder of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, is receiving the Vox Libera Award, given to a Canadian individual or organization that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the principles of free expression and made an important and sustained contribution – at home or abroad – to those same principles. Read the full story here.
Corus Entertainment handed out its annual Corus Awards on Nov. 22 in two categories – Corus Values Roles Models and Creative Work. Here are this year’s winners:
Corus Values Role Models:
WIN TOGETHER
Corus Kids Programming Team, Toronto CQ
Bill Fitch, Local Market Research Analyst, Alberta/Saskatchewan
LEARN EVERY DAY
Farah Nasser, Global TV, Toronto Barber Greene
Franz Tan, Web Designer, Digital Technology, Toronto CQ
SHOW WE CARE
Corus Peterborough (Corus Radio Peterborough & Global Peterborough)
Jamie Orchard, Senior Anchor/Assistant News Director, Global TV, Montreal
THINK BEYOND
4K Post Production Team, Toronto CQ
Scott O’Brien, Media Technology Specialist, Toronto CQ
MAKE IT HAPPEN
Global TV Montreal Sales Team, Revenue Sales, Montreal
Greg Landgraf, Manager, Radio Technology, Western Region
Sherri Van Der Veen, News Manager, Global TV, Saskatchewan
Creative Work Awards:
CREATIVE SPARK STORYTELLING
Global News Network Investigative Unit, Toronto Barber Greene
Niki Reitmayer, Contributor – The Jon McComb Show/980 CKNW, Vancouver
CREATIVE SPARK VISUAL
Jackie Ramsay, Art Director, Creative Services, Television, Calgary/Winnipeg/Halifax
Vince Robles, Creative Director, On-Air Promotions, Toronto CQ
Jan Werthwein, Senior Graphic Designer, ET Canada, Toronto Barber Greene
RTDNA Canada is expanding its awards offering for 2019. New awards this year include Best News App, Best Sports App, Best Original/Enterprise, and the Dejero Award for Technical Innovation which will recognize outstanding innovation in field gathering of a breaking news event or ongoing coverage of a developing story using current transmission technology. Submissions for work published or broadcast in 2018 in the Regional and Network programming categories open Dec. 3 with the deadline Jan. 24. More info here.
Marci Ien, co-host of CTV’s The Social; Michele Maheux, executive director and CEO of TIFF; and Lisa Lyons Johnston, publisher and president of Corus Entertainment’s Kids Can Press, are among those named to the 2018 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN). Inducted into this year’s WXN Hall of Fame is former BC Premier Christy Clark, who also spent time behind the mic as a talk host at CKNW-AM Vancouver, in between terms in office.
La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (la Caisse) and the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec (FPJQ) has announced creation of the Fonds CDPQ pour la relève journalistique, an initiative that will provide 10 young journalists or students each year with a $10,000 bursary enabling them to take a paid three to four month internship with a Québec media outlet. Further details will be available soon at: https://www.fpjq.org.
Rogers has announced wireless service improvements for the Schomberg Village area along Hwy 27 in King Township. The announcement follows other improvements in Ontario in Brampton, Port Dover, Sarnia, Cambridge and Ottawa. Rogers has also announced it’s improving wireless service in eight locations in Manitoba including South Transcona; Linden Woods; Beliveau; Provencher Boulevard; King Edward St. and Powell Ave., all located in Winnipeg, as well as the town of Falcon Lake Townsite, Woodbridge and Neepawa. Rogers is continuing a program of upgrading its 4.5G network with 5G-ready technology, ahead of 5G commercial deployment.
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