Weekly News (Dec. 4 2017)
Compiled by Sumana Naidu, Research Assistant, Networked Communications Governance Lab
and Sara Bannerman, Canada Research Chair in Communication Policy and Governance, McMaster University

Canadian News: Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2017

• [SCC/JOURNALIST PRIVILEGE] Supreme Court agrees to hear Vice Media case about press freedoms
• [SCC / LIBEL / CHOICE OF FORUM] Israeli paper Haaretz says lawsuit by Ontario billionaire Mitchell Goldhar is case of ‘libel tourism’ (Toronto Star)
• [MEDIA CONSOLIDATION] Torstar, Postmedia announce paper deal (Toronto Star)
• [MEDIA CONSOLIDATION] Horwath calls for talks with Ottawa on saving local papers (Globe & Mail)
• [MEDIACONSOLIDATION] Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly came under fire Tuesday (Toronto Star)
• [ISP LIABILITY] NAFTA offers the chance to establish long overdue online speech safeguards (Globe & Mail)
• [PRIVACY] Canada’s spy agencies casting wider net on citizens’ electronic data, parliamentary report says (Globe & Mail)
• [CRTC] Ottawa fills Ontario CRTC commissioner seat despite legal battle with Raj Shoan (Financial Post)
• [TELECOM] Check your cell phone bills: Updated wireless code goes into effect Dec. 1 (National Post)
• [MEDIA] Rogers to cut off support for Viceland TV station
• [MEDIA] CBC ’ s digital shift is helping to kill local news outlets (Globe & Mail)
• [CULTURAL POLICY] Creative Canada reunites art and technology for a brighter future (National Post)
• [MEDIA] ‘I think I passed’: CBC’s Hubert Lacroix reflects on his time as president (Globe & Mail)
• [EXPRESSION / PRIVACY / CSE] Tightened definition in Bill C-59 will make it easier to charge those promoting terrorism, Goodale says (National Post)
• Elections Canada wants no part in organizing leaders debates (CTV/ CP)
• [PRIVACY] Court denies CSIS request for telecom subscriber info of possible future targets (Kaplan Herald / CP)
• [PRIVACY] Federal court gives Toronto real estate agents data – publishing rights (Globe & Mail)
• [TELECOM / INTERNET] Canadians angered by internet, wireless services (Globe & Mail)

 

International News: Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2017

• [PRIVACY] Supreme Court to Weigh Warrantless Cellphone and Internet Data Searches (Market Watch)
• [FREEDOM OF SPEECH] The same-sex wedding cake case isn’t about same-sex marriage (Boston Globe)
• [PRIVACY] Worried about the erosion of privacy amid technological advances, the Supreme Court signalled Wednesday (Miami Herald / AP)
• [NET NEUTRALITY] Millennial moment: Will the tech generation fight for net neutrality? (Globe & Mail)
• [NET NEUTRALITY] The People Who Police the Internet Are Changing
• [NET NEUTRALITY] Shift means more case-by-case enforcement is likely as Federal Trade Commission reassumes a role it held before net-neutrality rules (WSJ / subscriber access)
• [MEDIA CONSOLIDATION] Sinclair Broadcasting is close to accepting a remedy proposed by President Trump’s Department of Justice (New York Post)
• [SURVEILLANCE] China’s Tech Giants Have a Second Job: Helping Beijing Spy on Its People (WSJ / subscriber access)
• [PRESS FREEDOM] The continuing assault on media freedom threatens everyone’s rights (Toronto Star)

Press Releases and Decisions: Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2017

Supreme Court of Canada

• [FREEDOM OF THE PRESS] Leave to appeal granted in Vice Media Canada Inc. et al. v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada
• [COPYRIGHT / IP] Leave to appeal denied in Geophysical Service Incorporated v. EnCana Corporation, et al.
• [PRIVACY] Leave to appeal denied in Keith Peterson v. Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board
• [PRIVACY] Leave to appeal denied in Troy Saikaley v. Her Majesty the Queen, et al.
• [LIBEL / CHOICE OF FORUM] Appeal heard (Reserved): com et al. v. Mitchell Goldhar(Ont.) (Civil) (By Leave) (37202)

Federal Court of Appeal

• [PRIVACY / COMPETITION] Toronto Real Estate Board v. Commissioner of Competition– 2017 FCA 236 – 2017-12-01

CRTC

• Minister Joly Announces New Appointment to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
• Michael Craig and Peter McCallum to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs
• 2017-423– APPROVED – Dufferin Communications Inc. – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Application to operate an ethnic commercial specialty FM radio station in Winnipeg to replace its ethnic commercial AM radio station CKJS
• 2017-422– APPROVED – Radio Vallacquoise inc. – Val-des-Lacs, Quebec – Application to operate a low-power, French-language community FM radio station in Val-des-Lacs
• 2017-418– Radio Communautaire Francophone et Francophile de l’Outaouais Gatineau, Quebec – APPROVED – Application for a broadcasting licence to operate a French-language community AM radio station in Gatineau
• 2017-415– DENIED – Rogers Media Inc. – Across Canada – Application to amend the broadcasting licence for the national, multilingual multi-ethnic discretionary service OMNI Regional
• 2017-414– APPROVED – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – Thunder Bay and Savant Lake, Ontario – Application to change the authorized contours of CBQL-FM Savant Lake, a rebroadcasting transmitter of the English-language radio station CBQT-FM Thunder Bay, (Radio One)

Canadian Intellectual Property Office

• [INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY] Release of the 2017 IP Canada Report: The 2017 IP Canada Report shows trends in the use of intellectual property (IP), both domestically and by Canadian innovators and businesses abroad. This report relies both on CIPO’s own internal data and on data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which collects data from around the world.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• [TELECOM] Minister Bains comments on Bell Canada’s introduction of Lucky Mobile
• [INTERNET] More than $6M to connect homes in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean to high-speed Internet
• [INTERNET] More than $18.3M to connect homes in Centre-du-Québec to high-speed Internet

Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

• Speaking notes for Nancy Bélanger, Deputy Commissioner, at the CAPA Conference
• Remarks by Layla Michaud, Deputy Commissioner, before ETHI on the Supplementary Estimates: Vote 1b

• Speaking notes for Suzanne Legault, Information Commissioner of Canada, before ETHI on Bill C-58
• Follow-up letter to the Chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• [PRIVACY] Privacy Commissioner submits views regarding the study on the regulatory and technical issues related to connected and automated vehicles
• [PRIVACY] Office of the Privacy Commissioner submits views to Competition Bureau consultation

Copyright Board of Canada

• [COPYRIGHT] Tariff 2018: Tariff of Levies to Be Collected by CPCC in 2018 on the Sale, in Canada, of Blank Audio Recording Media
• [COPYRIGHT] Tariff 2019: Tariff of Levies to Be Collected by CPCC in 2019 on the Sale, in Canada, of Blank Audio Recording Media
• [COPYRIGHT] Reasons: Copying for Private Use

Twitter

• [NET NEUTRALITY] The High Stakes for Net Neutrality

Facebook

• [ADVERTISING] Our Advertising Principles

Instagram

• [ADVERTISING]  Our Advertising Principles

Upcoming Events

Senate of Canada

·         Planned and possible Senate sitting days this week: Dec. 4-8 2017

• [National Security & Defence] 4 2017: Bill C-23, An Act respecting the preclearance of persons and goods in Canada and the United States
• [Transport & Communications: Dec. 6 2017: Study on the regulatory and technical issues related to the deployment of connected and automated vehicles: Consideration of a draft report

Canadian House of Commons

• Planned House of Commons sitting days this week: Dec. 4-8 2017
• [Access to Info, Privacy & Ethics]: Dec 4 2017: Briefing Session with Equifax Canada; Privacy of Canadians at Airports, Borders and Travelling in the United States; Dec 6 2017: Briefing on Net Neutrality;
• [International Trade] Dec 4 2017: Briefing on the Ongoing Negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement; Dec 6 2017: Priorities of Canadian Stakeholders Having an Interest in Bilateral and Trilateral Trade in North America, Between Canada, United States and Mexico
• [Public Safety & National Security] Dec. 5 2017: Bill C-59, An Act respecting national security matters; Dec. 7 2017: Bill C-59, An Act respecting national security matters
• [Industry, Science & Technology] Dec 5 2017: Statutory Review of An Act to Promote the Efficiency and Adaptability of the Canadian Economy by Regulating Certain Activities that Discourage Reliance on Electronic Means of Carrying Out Commercial Activities, and to Amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act
• [Transport, Infastructure & Communities] Dec 5 2017: Infrastructure and Smart Communities

Supreme Court of Canada

• [PRIVACY] Judgement to be delivered at 9:45 a.m. EST on Friday, December 8, 2017 IN Nour Marakah v. Her Majesty the Queen (Ont.) (37118): Charter– Criminal law – Search and seizure – Standing to challenge – Whether appellant had reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages sent by him and seized from recipient’s phone – Whether appellant had standing to challenge legality of search and seizure –  v. Telus Communications Co., [2013] 2 SCR 3, 2013 SCC 16.
• [PRIVACY] Judgement to be delivered at 9:45 a.m. EST on Friday, December 8, 2017in Tristin Jones v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada et al.(Ont.) (37194): Charter – Criminal law – Search and seizure – Standing to challenge – Search and seizure of historical text messages – Police obtained a Production Order pursuant to s. 487.012 of Part XV of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46  for records and text messages from a cell phone account – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the trial judge’s ruling that a Part VI authorization was not required for police to seize text messages temporarily stored in the course of providing service by a service provider – Whether the majority of the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the trial judge’s ruling that the appellant did not have standing to challenge the admissibility of text message conversations in which he was an alleged participant he was not the holder of the cellular telephone account from which the messages were seized – Charter 8.

CRTC

• Anticipated releases for the week of 4 to 8 December, 2017
  • Telecom Decisions:
    • Bell Canada – Application to review and vary Telecom Order 2017-95
      File number: 8662-B2-201705724
    • Canadian Administrator of VRS (CAV), Inc. – Application requesting video relay service funding for 2018
      File number: 8695-C209-201706400
    • Final 2017 revenue-percent charge and related matters
      File number: 8695-C12-201702481
    • Bell Canada – Application to review and vary a portion of Telecom Decision 2017-56 regarding final terms and conditions for wholesale mobile wireless services
      File number: 8662-B38-201703109
  • Open consultations:
    • [BROADCASTING] Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2017-404: Call for comments on amendments to the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations: Deadline for the receipt of comments is 11 December 2017
    • [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Compliance and Enforcement and Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2017-405: Call for comments: Implementation of universal blocking of calls with blatantly illegitimate caller identification; Deadline for submission of interventions: 18 December 2017
    • [BROADCASTING] Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2017-365-1: Notice of hearing 30 April 2017 – Gatineau, Quebec – Applications for the renewal of services with mandatory distribution on the basic service pursuant to section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act – New deadline for submission of interventions/comments/answers: 8 December 2017- New deadline for submission of the applicants’ replies: 18 December 2017
  • Upcoming hearings:
    • January 16, 2017- Gatineau, Quebec: To consider the establishment of a regulatory framework for next-generation 9 1-1 in Canada. Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC2016-116 View hearing documents (2016-116)

Have a suggestion? Email Sara Bannerman at banners@mcmaster

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