The company behind the contentious proposal to build several radio towers at the Point Roberts/Tsawwassen border has lost a separate bid for an AM frequency in the Lower Mainland.
Sher-E-Punjab was one of almost a dozen applicants vying for available AM and FM frequencies with AM 600 being the most desired.
The Canadian Radio Television Commission (CRTC) held a hearing earlier this year, hearing from Sher-E-Punjab's chief operating officer Gurdial Singh (Dale) Badh. The company wanted the AM 600 signal, saying it needs a "repatriation" to a Canadian frequency.
However, not only was the company's application rejected, it appears to be in hot water with the commission, which decided to hold a public hearing this fall on the activities of Sher-EPunjab as well as another broadcaster.
The commission, noting it needs to examine the issue of broadcasting services transmitted from locations outside Canada to serve Canadian markets, stated, "In light of the record, it therefore appears that Sher-E-Punjab may be carrying on a broadcasting undertaking in whole or in part in Canada without a licence or pursuant to an exemption contrary to the Broadcasting Act.
"Therefore, pursuant to section 12 of the Broadcasting Act, the Commission calls Sher-EPunjab Radio Broadcasting Inc. to a public hearing in order to inquire into, hear
and determine whether the entity is carrying on an undertaking in whole or in part in Canada without a licence. Sher-E-Punjab will also be required to show cause why a mandatory order should not be issued requiring Sher-E-Punjab Radio Broadcasting Inc. to cease and desist operating a broadcasting undertaking at Richmond, British Columbia, or elsewhere in Canada, except in compliance with the Broadcasting Act."
Although Badh was not successful in landing a frequency here, his brother Suki Badh of the separate South Fraser Broadcasting was given approval by the CRTC to get a station running on 107.7 FM, to be called My Surrey FM.
Meanwhile, BBC Broadcasting Inc, connected with Sher-E-Punjab, still wants to construct five 45-metre (150-foot) steel towers at an undeveloped lot on McKenzie Way in Point Roberts, about 330 metres from the border.
The towers would transmit South Asian radio station KRPI, AM 1550, but many residents here and in Point Roberts have been fighting the plan. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a construction permit but a conditional use permit is still required from Whatcom County. A county hearing is set for this fall.
Also known as Sher-E-Punjab, the company currently broadcasts using antenna located in Ferndale, WA, but wants to move them closer and have a stronger 50,000-watt all-day signal.
Although KRPI currently has the FCC licence to transmit from Ferndale, Sher-E-Punjab uses that tower infrastructure to broadcast from studios in Richmond for a Lower Mainland audience, something has gotten the CRTC's attention. Sher-E-Punjab claims it rents the current tower array from BBC Broadcasting Inc, which is registered in the state of Washington. The company that owns and rents out the land on which the current tower array sits, meanwhile, is called BBC Holdings.
Opponents argue BBC Broadcasting and BBC Holdings are shell companies for the Badh family that owns Sher-E-Punjab.
During the hearing for the applications for frequencies here, the CRTC panel was also curious about the relationships. It's not clear how the CRTC taking issue with Sher-E-Punjab could impact the U.S. application to build towers in Point Roberts.
Concerned about the economic, environmental and social impacts, the process, as well as blanketing interference of radio waves, the Cross Border Coalition to Stop the Radio Towers says the Canadian government should have voiced objection. Opponents on this side of the border continue to gather signatures on a petition to be sent to the House of Commons demanding government intervention. The petition is available at dozens of Tsawwassen businesses.
