- from metro/Ryan TumiltyA group that was passed over to provide Indigenous programming on radio stations in Toronto and Ottawa is calling on the federal government to overrule a CRTC decision from last week.The CRTC granted licences to operate FM stations in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa to groups proposing to do Indigenous programming in those markets.

First People’s Radio, a division of the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN), won the licences in Toronto and Ottawa over the Wawatay Native Communication Society.John Gagnon, CEO of Wawatay, said they had support letters from Indigenous communities and argued their program was better than APTN’s and they should be getting the concession. “Our people declared what they wanted and somehow a mid-level bureaucrat overturned that,” he said at a news conference on Parliament Hill on Wednesday.The CRTC’s decision to grant the licence can be overturned through a federal appeal court, and Gagnon said they’re prepared to go that way if necessary.But he said they’d rather the government step in and overturn the CRTC decision.“We would like to see the government stand up,” he said. “We would like to see something that is returned quickly.”
http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2017/06/21/indigenous-group-calls-foul-on-crtc-decision-on-radio-.html