The public has the right to know the deal between a controversial ethnic radio station and the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission, says Mayor Lois Jackson.
In a letter to the CRTC last week, the longtime mayor asked the Canadian broadcast regulator to let people in on the confidential consent agreement signed with Sher-EPunjab, the station at the centre of the hugely contentious proposal to erect radio transmission towers in Point Roberts.
Last fall, the Richmondbased station and two other Lower Mainland broadcasters were ordered to a show cause hearing to answer about their practice of broadcasting using U.S. antenna into Canada to avoid Canadian regulations.
Sher-E-Punjab could have been be ordered "to cease and desist operating a broadcasting undertaking at Richmond, British Columbia, or elsewhere in Canada., except in compliance with the Broadcast Act."
Sher-E-Punjab's troubles with the CRTC started last year when it was one of almost a dozen applicants vying for available AM and FM frequencies in this country. The station not only didn't get a Canadian frequency, it also found itself in hot water when its practice of broadcasting from U.S. soil into Canada came up at a hearing.
The CRTC, however, ended up issuing a notice that Sher-E-Punjab had signed a consent agreement, thus it was no longer be subject to the hearing order. The terms of that agreement were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, the station is still pushing to erect five 45-metre (150-foot) steel towers at an undeveloped lot on McKenzie Way in Point Roberts, about 330 metres from the Tsawwassen border. That application was defeated at the Whatcom County level, but the company is taking its case to the U.S. courts.
Saying the constituents of Delta are being denied the right to access potentially significant information that may have implications for the tower proposal, and that residents could be placed at a disadvantage during the upcoming legal process, Jackson wants the details of the consent agreement with the CRTC to be publicly available.
"If there are confidentiality concerns, then specific financial details could be redacted. I would also like to know what penalties Sher-E-Punjab would face if it continued to broadcast over KRPI in contravention of the consent agreement," she stated.
Members of the Cross Border Coalition Against the Towers said they were pleased with Jackson's request and Delta's ongoing support.
