Broadcasting - Staff Letter addressed to the Distribution List

Ottawa, 1 November 2024

BY EMAIL

Distribution list

Subject: Message from the CRTC Official Languages Champion to the CRTC-OLMC Discussion Group

Dear members of the CRTC-OLMC Discussion Group,

I want to thank you for your active and informative participation in the most recent meeting of the CRTC-OLMC Discussion Group held on 23 September 2024. The members of the Commission who were in attendance truly appreciated the opportunity to meet with you and understand your views and experiences.

As discussed in the meeting, and noted in the letter of 1 August 2024, the CRTC wants to create ongoing opportunities with official language minority communities (OLMC) to obtain feedback and views on matters relating to official languages. The CRTC seeks to do so in a variety of ways, notably by:

• enhancing consultation within recent written processes and public hearings (for instance, CFED-FM Edmonton – Licence amendment, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2024-178);
• developing new consultation guidelines for future written processes and public hearings (Call for comments – Guidelines regarding consultation and engagement practices in proceedings relating to official language minority communities and official languages, Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2024-202);
• commissioning reports and public opinion research with official language and OLMC stakeholders on relevant matters (for instance, in Defining Canadian Content – Workshops with Stakeholders and Industry: What We Heard Report (September 2024), IPSOS); and
• creating an internal, permanent OLMC engagement group (the OLMC Engagement Team). 

In this letter, I am pleased to provide more information on the CRTC’s plans for the OLMC Engagement Team.

The OLMC Engagement Team will be integrated into the CRTC’s Consumer, Analytics and Strategy (CAS) sector, under the leadership and responsibility of Scott Hutton, Vice-President, CAS. While the details of its mandate still need to be worked out, we can provide you with an initial vision for the OLMC Engagement Team. This team will:

• act as the primary point of contact on OLMC matters, allowing OLMCs and other stakeholders to raise matters that cut across all of the CRTC’s mandates, including broadcasting and telecommunications (the contact information for the team will be displayed on the CRTC’s website once known).
• in a proactive and timely manner, share pertinent information that the CRTC produces under the Official Languages Act andthe Broadcasting Act, the CRTC’s annual Communications Market Reports, and other pertinent and important information relating to official languages.
• notify OLMCs about written processes and public hearings that might be of interest to them.
• support CRTC staff who provide analysis and advice to the Commission members in their proceedings and deliberative work.
• be an internal centre of expertise on the realities of OLMCs, gathering information from OLMCs as well as from other sources including other government entities.
• work closely with the CRTC’s Official Languages Champion and other CRTC staff who contribute to the CRTC’s work to foster
  • the vitality and development of OLMCs
  • the protection and promotion of the French language, and
  • the advancement of the equality of status and use of both official languages in Canada.
• work with OLMCs to innovate on new approaches to engagement.

The CRTC is currently working out the details of OLMC Engagement Team’s composition, mandate and operations. Those details will of course be informed by the consultation on CRTC engagement on matters relating to official languages and OLMCs, Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2024-202. We very much look forward to hearing your views in this proceeding.

In the meantime, the CRTC will continue to convene meetings of the CRTC-OLMC Discussion Group and publish pertinent data. The OLMC Engagement Team is not intended to replace the CRTC-OLMC Discussion Group, but to complement and support its work, such as by organizing upcoming meetings of the CRTC-OLMC Discussion Group. To the extent that revisions are being proposed to the CRTC-OLMC Discussion Group, these should ideally be explored after Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2024-202 concludes. We continue to believe that this is a successful forum through which the CRTC we can continue to meet its obligations in respect of official languages.

I look forward to being able to provide you with more information, as that information becomes available.  

Rachelle Frenette
Rachelle.frenette@crtc.gc.ca
Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel and Official Languages Champion
CRTC

cc: languesofficielles-officiallanguages@crtc.gc.ca

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Date modified:

2024-11-01