ARCHIVED -  Letter

Ottawa, 7 November 2013

Mr. Sukhdev S. (Dave) Dhillon
Salt Spring Island Radio Corp. / Satnam Media Group (BC) Ltd.
207 – 8334 128 Street
Surrey, BC
V3W 4G2

Re: Notice – Upcoming CRTC Public Hearing – CFSI-FM Salt Spring Island

Dear Sir:

Please refer to the Commission's letter dated 18 September 2013 regarding the submission of logger tapes and music lists for CFSI-FM which was received at your office on 20 September 2013. This letter is to notify you that due to the instances of apparent non-compliance with sections 8(5), 8(6), 9(3) and 9(4) of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations) identified in that letter and CFSI-FM’s failure to respond, Salt Spring Island Radio Corp., the licensee of the specialty FM radio programming undertaking CFSI-FM Salt Spring Island, which is controlled by Satnam Media Group (BC) Ltd. a corporation wholly owned and controlled by Sukhdev Singh Dhillon (the licensee of CFSI-FM), may be called to an upcoming public hearing to be held in Surrey, BC, or a subsequent public hearing, to demonstrate why a mandatory order should not be issued requiring the licensee to comply with the Regulations. The Commission may also examine the possibility of suspending or revoking CFSI-FM’s licence as a result of the aforementioned apparent non-compliance.

Please find attached a copy of the record gathered by Commission staff. The record contains:

• Appendix 1: Copies of all decisions rendered and published by the Commission in relation to CFSI-FM, including a copy of the station’s current licensing decision;

• Appendix 2: Record of the attempts by Commission staff to contact the licensee, including:

 Correspondence from Commission staff with respect to its attempt to obtain copies of CFSI-FM’s logger tapes, program logs, and music lists;

 Correspondence from the Secretary General (dated 18 September 2013) referring to Commission staff’s attempt to obtain copies of CFSI-FM’s logger tapes and music lists, and inquiring as to why the above noted logger tapes and music lists have yet to be submitted;

 FedEx proof of delivery attesting that the correspondence from the Secretary General (dated 18 September 2013) was received at the office for Satnam Media Group (BC) Ltd. on 20 September 2013.

The Commission notes that in addition to the failure by the licensee to respond to the above-noted requests, the licensee did not submit its program logs when originally requested to do so on 7 May 2013 for the broadcast week of 28 April 2013 to 4 May 2013. Although the licensee did submit documents it claimed to be program logs on 10 June 2013, upon further review, the documents submitted do not appear to meet the requirements set out in the Regulations. In light of the above, the Commission is of the preliminary view that the licensee may also have failed to comply with sections 8(1) and 8(4) of the Regulations which state:

8. (1) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall

(a) keep, in a form acceptable to the Commission, a program log or a machine readable record of the matter broadcast by the licensee;

(b) retain the log or record for a period of one year after the date when the matter was broadcast; and

(c) cause to be entered in the log or record each day the following information:

(i) the date,
(ii) the call letters, location and frequency of the licensee’s station,
(iii) the time at which each station identification announcement is made,
(iv) in relation to each program broadcast,

(A) the title and a brief description,
(B) subject to subsection (2), the number of the relevant content category,
(C) the time at which the program begins and ends,
(D) the code set out in the schedule indicating the origin of the program and where applicable the language, type or group, and
(E) if applicable, the code set out in the schedule identifying non-Canadian programming, and

(v) in relation to each commercial message, the quarter hour during which it is broadcast, its duration and the number of the relevant content subcategory.

8. (4) A licensee shall furnish, to the Commission on request, its program log or machine readable record for any day, with a certificate by or on behalf of the licensee attesting to the accuracy of its content.

The licensee may file comments in response to this letter, the Commission's letter dated 18 September 2013, and/or file evidence to contest any incorrect facts set out herein under reference number 2013-1415-3. Your comments in response to the Commission letter and any supporting documentation must be filed with the Commission by 22 November 2013. In addition to such comments, the licensee must by 22 November 2013 file the program logs and other documentation requested by Commission staff in accordance with its regulatory obligations, in which case the apparent non-compliance will be dealt with in the context of the next licence renewal. If the licensee fails to submit the requested information referred to in this letter, Salt Spring Island may be called to an upcoming public hearing to be held in Surrey, BC, or a subsequent public hearing, to discuss the aforementioned instances of apparent non-compliance.

If called to a hearing, all documents, including your reply to this letter, will be added to the public hearing record. The public record, which would include any interventions received or evidence filed in response to a Notice of Consultation as well as a hearing transcript with regard to this matter, would be considered by the Commission in rendering its final determination regarding CFSI-FM apparent non-compliance and the appropriate regulatory measures.

Sincerely,

(original signed by)

John Traversy
Secretary General

Date modified:

2013-11-07