Pictured: Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Russian state-funded media organization RT.

Written by: Aidan Jonah

Note: Any bolded text is emphasis added by this author.

Emails obtained by The Canada Files through ATIP requests reveal that the Canadian Radio and Television Commission was pressured by the Canadian government into fast tracking a decision to ban RT and RT France from broadcasting in Canada.

The CRTC is meant to be an institution that is arms-length, from Canada’s federal government, making independent decisions. International equivalents including the US’ Federal Communications Commission and the UK’s Ofcom. The CRTC is empowered to monitor licenses under the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act; to deliver on the goals of these acts. You can appeal a CRTC decision in one of two ways: submit an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeals, or “submit [a] petition to the Governor in Council (aka Cabinet) regarding a CRTC decision ‘issuing, amending or renewing a licence’”.

In a 1977 Supreme Court case (Capital Cities Comm. v. C.R.T.C.) judges noted that “The CRTC is not an agent or arm of the Canadian Government.” A 2022 Canadian government press release states that the “CRTC is an independent regulator”. The Canadian government’s behaviour, and the CRTC’s subservience, indicate otherwise.

From hesitant to gung-ho, Canadian government pressure yields rapid CRTC mentality change

The CRTC initially hesitated to commit to review of RT’s broadcasting status on February 24, 2022, the day when Russia began its Special Military Operation in Ukraine. CRTC staff noted that “Foreign channels are authorized for in order to increase the diversity of voices and content in Canada”, while emphasizing that “the CRTC is an independent public authority”.

Stations are normally only reviewed for compliance when their license comes up for renewal or a formal legal complaint is filed. Canadian government and CRTC statements, along with Canadian news media articles include no reference to a legal complaint being filed, while RT and RT France’s licenses weren’t up for renewal in the near future. The ways for members of the general public to prompt a compliance review for RT and RT France were not used.

Yet, on February 28, 2022, the CRTC had already completed a draft Notice of Conclusion for potentially banning RT from broadcasting in Canada. At 9:21am that day, a redacted person emailed another redacted person with the subject line “We have some advice for you on the RT file.” That day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded that the CRTC start the process of reviewing RT’s license. Trudeau stated that “such misinformation [RT coverage] will not be allowed to spread in Canada,” yet also said that “we recognize the CRTC is an independent body.”

When Rogers, Telus, Bell and Shaw removed RT from their television lineups between February 27-28, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, tweeted that “I commend Bell for removing RT”, and ‘Russia has been conducting warfare in Ukraine since 2014, and information warfare across the world.’” The Heritage Ministry administers the CRTC’s responsibilities given to it by the Canadian parliament.

What was a smooth moving provess to draft a Notice of Consultation would suddenly proceed at a rapid pace after Trudeau’s demand and Minister Rodriguez’s comments. Email communications after 7pm on February 28 showcase that all of a sudden, there is pressure from an individual whose name is redacted, to get the notice of consultation out by 11am the next day.

On March 1 at 2:34pm, a CRTC staff member states that “We have been instructed to publish ASAP.” Who they are being pressured by is not stated.

At 3:30pm, a staff member states “we are under a very tight deadline to get this doc ready by tomorrow morning”. At 6:15pm, another staff member states in an email forwarding a draft NoC to CRTC chairman Ian Scott, “Due to the urgency of the file and the lateness of the hour, I felt it best to send it up now.”

On March 2 at 2:42am, a CRTC staff member received a strange email from an email which is redacted, 14 days before CRTC officially blocked RT from broadcasting in Canada.

“Dear honourable members of the Leadership Team of the CRTC!

We applaud the decision to remove RT from the Canadian television cable…
We urge CRTC to take immediate measures to stop further [banning RTR Planeta] the distribution of Putin's propaganda in Canada.”

At 7:06am, a staff member states “The NoC is looking great. Thank you to everyone for the ridiculously quick turnaround on this!”

At 9:03am, another staff member states that “This is the first time in all my years in that we've written a DNO before we've received the order/application.” The significant pressure being placed on CRTC by unnamed forces should be obvious for all to see.

At 3:44pm, another staff member states that they “understand the obligation to stay neutral with the visual [used for the NoC launch].”

At 5:52pm, an email confirms that the NoC has been completed. Before the CRTC can even launch the NoC to the general public, they are sent a copy of a publicly released Order in Council from the Privy Council Office compelling them to hold a hearing on RT and RT French’s ability to broadcast in Canada, within two weeks. This letter was sent to the CRTC, “on recommendation of” Canada’s heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez. To be blocked from broadcasting in Canada, RT and RT French had to be removed from the List of non-Canadian programming services stations authorized for distribution.

CRTC said in internal communications that the NoC released on March 3 was “in response to this request [from the Privy Council of Canada]. However, an email sent by a redacted CRTC employee at 8:03pm that night, further proves that the CRTC was producing the NoC before the PCO’s request: “I gather you will be updating the NoC”.

TCF reached out to Minister Rodriguez’s office and the Privy Council Office’s media centre to both seek comment from and ask questions to Rodriguez and Clerk of the Privy Council, Janice Charette, but received no reply from either.

The CRTC’s Notice of Consultation was publicly released on March 3, 2022, a day after the government formally demands CRTC hold a hearing on this front, making the consultation period meaningless and a farce. On March 16, 2022, CRTC removed RT from List of non-Canadian programming services stations authorized for distribution. The CRTC’s Notice of Consultation included a preliminary view, that includes this paragraph: "The Commission is of the preliminary view that RT's programming may not be consistent with the Commissions's broadcasting regulations, in particular, the abuse comment provisions such as those set out in Section 5 of the Television Broadcasting Regulations 1987,"

This writer reached out to RT for comment; Anna Belkina, RT’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief said they were never consulted before being banned from broadcasting in Canada.

CRTC’s Manager of Media Relations, Patricia Valladao, confirmed that the CRTC never reached out to RT for consultations, instead stating that “RT was free to comment on our public notice of consultation, which was a public consultation.”

To follow up, Valladao was asked if the CRTC made RT aware that they should be responding to the NoC. The CRTC nor Valladao has responded to this question. The CRTC’s March 3 preliminary view was written without even consulting RT.

TCF also reached out to CRTC Chair Ian Scott with questions and a request for comment, but received no reply. TCF has filed complaints to The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada after CRTC and the Privy Council Office failed to meet their own extended deadline for two ATIP requests about communications between them and internal discussions between March 3 to March 18, 2022. TCF will do a follow-up article if these government agencies, who already are nearly two months late in their responses, do provide one.

In this case, the Canadian government stomped all over the initial attempts of a supposedly “arms-length” government agency to engage in due process over the question of whether a state-funded TV station from a nation Canada hasn’t formally declared war on, can continue to broadcast. This pressure produced a dramatic change in rhetoric and mentality from the CRTC, once instructions came from up above. Canada’s government wouldn’t even give CRTC a chance to go through its typical process, so the government could score political points.

ATIPs used for this story:

Editor’s note: The Canada Files is the country's only news outlet focused on Canadian foreign policy. We've provided critical investigations & hard-hitting analysis on Canadian foreign policy since 2019, and need your support. The Canada Files has just begun a fundraising campaign!

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Aidan Jonah is the Editor-in-Chief of The Canada Files, a socialist, anti-imperialist news outlet founded in 2019. Jonah has broken numerous stories, including how the Canadian Armed Forces trained neo-Nazi "journalist" Roman Protasevich while he was with the Azov Battalion, and how a CIA front group (the NED) funded the group (URAP) which drove the "Uyghur genocide" vote in parliament to pass this February. Jonah recently wrote a report for the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held in September 2021.

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