‘Controlled by Canadians’ – Public process and the CRTC: Public participation, the community channel, and the regulation of Canada’s broadcasting system

The Canadian Broadcasting Act of 1991 states the Canadian system should be ‘effectively owned and controlled by Canadians’. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is the administrative body that is responsible for the regulation and supervision of Canada’s broadcasting system. This project examines the two aspects of the CRTC’s process open to public participation; the public hearing or public notice and the complaints process. The nature and extent of public participation in response Public notice 2001-129, which formed the basis for the CRTC’s 2002 policy framework for community media, was the focus of one part of this project. The project also examined the number and type of complaints filed with the CRTC regarding Delta and Shaw cable systems from 2002-2006. The research found that the form of the community channel influences participation in the policy process and the structure of the complaints process restricts the nature of the complaints filed.