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Rogers says Corus’s business model ‘broken’ after being accused of ‘predatory’ action

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Corus Entertainment Inc. has filed a complaint with Canada’s broadcasting regulator alleging Rogers Communications Inc. is “engaging in predatory behaviour” to suppress potential competition and breaching its regulatory requirements.

In a July 26 letter to the CRTC, posted online in redacted form this week, Corus vice-president and associate general counsel Matt Thompson asked for regulatory intervention to prevent a “significant adverse impact” to the television and radio broadcaster.

Corus alleged Rogers is using its “dominant size and scale” to undercut Canadian competitors through rights deals to foreign programming, as evidenced by pacts with Warner Bros. Discovery for the rights to its popular lifestyle and entertainment brands and NBCUniversal’s Bravo channel.

Rogers’ multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery will take effect Jan. 1. It marks a significant blow to Corus, which is set to lose the Canadian rights to key brands such as HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Magnolia Network and OWN at the end of this year.

Corus also accused Rogers of using its cable and streaming platforms to discourage subscriptions to Corus content, such as its Disney-themed channels, by offering promotions for the Disney Plus streaming service.

In a statement, Rogers spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt called the complaint “baseless,” adding that Corus “has not kept up with the demands of Canadians and is now looking for the regulator to protect their broken business model.”

“They’re trying to force service providers to carry and our customers to pay for channels they no longer want to watch,” Schmidt said.

“They need to compete in a fair system and earn each customer, just like every other company.”

On Wednesday, Corus’s 900 CHML radio station in Hamilton, Ont., announced it was shuttering amid “the shift of advertising revenues to unregulated foreign platforms.”

The station also blamed the “difficult regulatory and competitive landscape” for the closure in a social media post.

Corus did not immediately respond to a request for comment on further details, such as how many employees would be affected and whether other radio stations under its umbrella were slated to close.

Last month, Corus reported a third-quarter loss attributable to shareholders of $769.9 million, compared with a loss of $495.1 million a year earlier.

It said it expected to have slashed 25 per cent of its full-time workforce by the end of August when compared with the beginning of its 2023 fiscal year.

The company previously announced it would cease operating legacy AM radio stations in Edmonton and Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CJR.B, TSX:RCI.B)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Trudeau says Ukraine can strike deep into Russia with NATO arms, Putin hints at war

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OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ukraine should be allowed to strike deep inside Russia, regardless of Moscow threatening that this would draw Canada and its allies into direct war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the NATO military alliance would draw itself into war if it allows Ukraine to use donated weapons to make long-range strikes inside Russia.

His comments come five weeks after Ukrainian forces stormed the border and put parts of Russian territory under foreign occupation for the first time since the Second World War.

Trudeau says Canada “fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry” to prevent Russian strikes on hospitals and daycares across the country.

He says Ukraine must win in fighting back against Russia’s invasion, or it will encourage other large countries to try absorbing their neighbours.

In May, Washington began allowing Ukraine to use American weaponry to strike inside Russia, but only for targets near the border being used to attack Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.

“Canada fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry to prevent and interdict Russia’s continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilians (and) infrastructure, and mostly to kill innocent civilians in their unjust war,” Trudeau told reporters at a news conference in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., on Friday.

“(Putin) is trying to deeply destabilize the international rules-based order that protects us all, not just in every democracy around the world, but in all countries around the world,” Trudeau said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

— With files from the Associated Press.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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NDP caving to Poilievre on carbon price, has no idea how to fight climate change: PM

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OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.

Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.

On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.

Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.

Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.

British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Ontario’s top court dismisses application for bail from Jacob Hoggard

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TORONTO – A justice with Ontario’s Appeal Court has dismissed an application for bail from Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard as he tries to appeal his sexual assault conviction at the country’s top court.

Justice Jill Copeland heard arguments at a bail hearing for Hoggard earlier this week, not long after the Hedley frontman began serving his five-year sentence.

Hoggard, who was found guilty in June 2022 of sexual assault causing bodily harm against an Ottawa woman, filed an application last week for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and sought bail at Ontario’s Appeal Court.

His application to the Supreme Court argues that the Appeal Court – which recently upheld his conviction – failed to apply the proper test in determining whether an error made by the trial judge constituted a “harmless error.”

Copeland says at this stage, where Hoggard’s conviction has been unanimously affirmed by the Appeal Court and it “appears unlikely” he will be granted leave to appeal by the Supreme Court, she is satisfied that the public interest in enforcing the musician’s sentence outweighs his interest in a second review of his conviction.

She says that if the Supreme Court grants leave to appeal, a reassessment of Hoggard’s bail status may be warranted.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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