Star Ray TV replies to the CRTC

[kurtbecker]

Star Ray TV has replied to the CRTC. A copy can be found here:
http://tochat.tv/viewtopic.php?t=8

Hightlights:

"All the points in this letter should be moot because I should already have a licence. If the CRTC wasn't engaged in this criminal conspiracy to defraud me of a licence, I should have had a June hearing in Niagara Falls and a licence award the same time you sent me this bogus letter. I will be frank, I consider the behavior contained in this letter to be criminal, fraudulent behavior. The CRTC is not immune to the laws of Canada.


The CRTC has manufactured a complaint using a fictitious person, took almost one year to answer correspondence, invented a regulation to conveniently delay my application a year, violated my privacy rights, denied me due process, in total prevented me from becoming a legitimate broadcaster since 1997."

[M.J.]

> Star Ray TV has replied to the CRTC. A copy can be found
> here:
> http://tochat.tv/viewtopic.php?t=8
>
> Hightlights:
>
> "All the points in this letter should be moot because I
> should already have a licence. If the CRTC wasn't engaged in
> this criminal conspiracy to defraud me of a licence, I
> should have had a June hearing in Niagara Falls and a
> licence award the same time you sent me this bogus letter. I
> will be frank, I consider the behavior contained in this
> letter to be criminal, fraudulent behavior. The CRTC is not
> immune to the laws of Canada.
>
>
> The CRTC has manufactured a complaint using a fictitious
> person, took almost one year to answer correspondence,
> invented a regulation to conveniently delay my application a
> year, violated my privacy rights, denied me due process, in
> total prevented me from becoming a legitimate broadcaster
> since 1997."
>
----------
Has the Toronto print media been notified of this?

______________
From WNBC-TV New York this is Liiiiive at Fiiiiive!

[kurtbecker]

> > The CRTC has manufactured a complaint using a fictitious
> > person, took almost one year to answer correspondence,
> > invented a regulation to conveniently delay my application
> a
> > year, violated my privacy rights, denied me due process,
> in
> > total prevented me from becoming a legitimate broadcaster
> > since 1997."
> >
> ----------
> Has the Toronto print media been notified of this?
>
Yes, we've been working the last couple days entering as many media leads as we can into our email database. We are trying to make the CRTC an election issue.

I am curious why the CRTC abandoned any pretense of procedure or fairness in their dealings with us. My guess is they just are criminals in their arrogant reckless stage because they already have gotten away with so much criminal activity. They feel that they are immune to any prosecutions, somehow the laws of Canada don't apply to them.

Somebody is going to get charged with fraud over this even if we have to go to Ottawa and lay private charges.

[LeeSmith]

>Kurt:

I can sympathise.  The (then) legal head of the radio section personally threatened me with "seeing me in personal bankruptcy" if I persisted with low power FM operations in accordance with licence exemption order 1993-45.

After a great deal of anguish, I obtained a licence ... after waiting one month short of 2 years for them to process the application.

They are about 20 years behind other regulatory agencies in Canada with respect to understanding Due Process and the rights accorded you under the Charter with respect to procedural fairness.

I sincerely wish you well with getting attention drawn to these mandarins that function outside the laws of the land.

Lee

[kurtbecker]

> >Kurt:
>
> I can sympathise.  The (then) legal head of the radio
> section personally threatened me with "seeing me in personal
> bankruptcy" if I persisted with low power FM operations in
> accordance with licence exemption order 1993-45.
>
> After a great deal of anguish, I obtained a licence ...
> after waiting one month short of 2 years for them to process
> the application.
>
> They are about 20 years behind other regulatory agencies in
> Canada with respect to understanding Due Process and the
> rights accorded you under the Charter with respect to
> procedural fairness.
>
> I sincerely wish you well with getting attention drawn to
> these mandarins that function outside the laws of the land.
>
> Lee

Lee I remember you, weren't you he guy that was running some "special events"
FM radio stations a few years back? Thanks for the support.
>

[LeeSmith]

Yes Kurt, I was the one that paved the way for that entire class of broadcasting ... much to the chagrin of certain sections of the Commission when I took the position that I didn't care what they had "intended" when they wrote the Licence Exemption Order, it was what the words actually said in legal interpretation that mattered.  If they made a mistake in drafting the document which permitted me to create a radio programming venture far beyond what was originally contemplated, ... too bad, so sad, better luck next time. In the meantime I 'll keep doing what I'm doing until you reissue the order and then I'll comply with whatever it says in the next draft.  Its no different than the Tax Dept messing up on a regulation which entitles you to an "unintended" deduction and your accountant & tax lawyer finds the flaw.

Eventually it gained me a full-time commercial licence.  It also caused me great anguish wondering if I was going to face a legal battle that would have cost me my house.  I think my taking a copy of "RCMP Drug Squad" type notes (including verbatim quotes) made immediately following the meeeting where he threatened me and mailing them to his boss might have helped me slightly but I literally lived in fear of the guy making good on his threat every time I started an on-air project in aid of some worthy cause.

There are some good folks inside the CRTC that were very helpful and encouraging over the years and I was grateful for their assistance, but I did see "the belly of the beast" and it was far from pleasant with respect to due process and the entire concept of procedural fairness.

There is an interesting requirement in Canadian administraive law which requires any Federal Govt agency who revokes, modifies or refuses to issue an operating authority document to a qualified applicant provide an unbiased internal avenue for appeal of that decision.... a Tribunal or Hearing Officer not in any way connected with the licensing process and seen to be at arm's length from the influence of either party. The CRTC don't comply with that requirement of Treasury Board Regulatory Guidelines.  They say you can appeal to Cabinet, but that is a sham process.  How much time around the table are you going to be able to reasonably expect from busy Ministers who know zero about broadcasting?

Best of luck with your quest, and I will follow your case with interest.  Fortunately, I'm now beyond the tentacles of the CRTC.

Lee

[Radio Friend]

You replied to the SAME CRTC that thought nothing of Newfoundland when saying ok to NTV becoming a Russian tv station here in Canada. (See CJON posting, above)