The "disclaimer" won't work (legally). This is "broadcast regulatory law 101."    During an election campaign, broadcasters -that is the licensee (not the hosts) are ultimately responsible for ensuring there is a balance in the presentation of viewpoints on political issues.  That doesn't mean you have to "pull" a host, but it does mean that there could be an audit of positions taken on air, candidates who receive airtime etc.   If for example, a high percentage of time, on one side of the ledger was "pro-conservative" due to a host's comments, and there wasn't some equality of other expression, on the air, then there may be a problem.  The regulator will also, look at the time(s) of day counter-vailing (balance) was aired.  If the broadcaster ran other political viewpoints at 11:30 pm, that could be a problem...if the host's comments were in peak time periods.

This is not conjecture, it actually happens.  It happens most often in BC where some fringe candidates complain about lack of balance.  The question is, whether anyone listening to the station would feel compelled to complain to the CRTC and what, if anything the management is doing to provide real balance to Patrone's comments.

tvguy wrote:

The "disclaimer" won't work (legally). This is "broadcast regulatory law 101."    During an election campaign, broadcasters -that is the licensee (not the hosts) are ultimately responsible for ensuring there is a balance in the presentation of viewpoints on political issues.  That doesn't mean you have to "pull" a host, but it does mean that there could be an audit of positions taken on air, candidates who receive airtime etc.   If for example, a high percentage of time, on one side of the ledger was "pro-conservative" due to a host's comments, and there wasn't some equality of other expression, on the air, then there may be a problem.  The regulator will also, look at the time(s) of day counter-vailing (balance) was aired.  If the broadcaster ran other political viewpoints at 11:30 pm, that could be a problem...if the host's comments were in peak time periods.

This is not conjecture, it actually happens.  It happens most often in BC where some fringe candidates complain about lack of balance.  The question is, whether anyone listening to the station would feel compelled to complain to the CRTC and what, if anything the management is doing to provide real balance to Patrone's comments.

You'd think a former CRTC Commissioner would know the rules. 
 

That won't be a problem for Sauga 960. They don't have any newscasts, which is odd for a station that describes its format as "News Talk."