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CRTC delays decision on Fox News ban — potentially for years

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OTTAWA — The CRTC says it won’t decide on an application to ban Fox News from Canadian cable packages until it’s done a full review of its regulatory policy for foreign TV channels.

The CRTC didn’t answer when asked how long that process could take. But given the average time frame of the regulator’s public consultations, and that the CRTC is already experiencing delays as a result of new legislation, it could be a couple of years or more until it makes a decision.

Earlier this year, LGBTQ rights group Egale Canada asked the CRTC to prohibit cable companies from distributing Fox News in Canada over “false and horrifying claims” made by then-host Tucker Carlson regarding transgender individuals.

Thousands of Canadians weighed in on that application. A random sample of 100 submissions from individual Canadians reviewed by the National Post found 70 per cent were anti-Fox or in favour of banning the channel.

In a letter to Egale Canada Tuesday, the CRTC said the more than 7,000 interventions it received show “the application raises issues of great importance to Canadians.”

“While many of the interventions shared Egale’s concerns, others expressed opposing views. Almost all agreed that the application raises serious concerns relating to the protection of and respect for fundamental Canadian rights and freedoms.”

The regulator said as it was reviewing the submissions, it became clear its “decades-old” regulatory policy for foreign TV channels needed to be reviewed. It will launch a public consultation on its regulatory approach for non-Canadian TV channels “in the coming months.”

“The Commission will conduct the regulatory approach review first and will then assess Egale’s specific application using the updated approach,” it said.

 

The CRTC maintains a list of international TV channels that are authorized for distribution by cable, satellite and IPTV providers in Canada. In 2022, it removed Russia Today and RT France from the list, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

 

A decision in favour of Egale’s application would mean Fox News would be taken out of cable packages and customers wouldn’t be able to subscribe to it through their TV providers, but could still access it on the internet.

 

Egale Canada said in a statement Wednesday the CRTC “did something that none of us expected them to do — they changed the rules of the game half way through.”

 

The group said the decision means “Fox News will continue to be broadcast on Canadian airways for months or potentially years while the CRTC holds additional consultations.”

 

“Given the current context of anti-2SLGBTQI hate, violence and discrimination taking place across the country, it’s crucial that the CRTC act quickly to stop further spreading of misinformation and incitement of hate from these networks in the same way it would for Canadian networks.”

In an emailed statement, the CRTC said it takes “complaints about non-Canadian television channels and concerns related to Canadian rights and freedoms very seriously,” and that the concerns raised have “highlighted the need for a modernized approach.”

 

It said its consultation would be “open, transparent, and respectful.”

 

“Egale’s participation, and the participation of all Canadians, will be essential to the successful development of this modernized regulatory framework,” the CRTC said.

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A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

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AP college football: and

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

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DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

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Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

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VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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