There are often good reason for rules and regulations in our world. They help define a structure which ensures some order in areas of our collective lives.
That said some institutions simply no longer make sense and should be abandoned.
A case in point is the dinosaur known as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
The CRTC has a long history in this country. It has its roots set back when Parliament formed the first Royal Commission on Broadcasting which recommended Canada have a national broadcasting network, supervised by an independent federal agency. From that the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) was established in 1932.
The CRBC both provided a national broadcasting service and regulated all broadcasting in Canada. With its regulatory responsibilities, the CRBC was the earliest version of the CRTC.
In true government fashion commissions, studies, hearings and legislation on how best to regulate broadcasting and telecommunications followed and the role of the CRTC, established by Parliament in 1968 evolved.
Sadly the CRTC today seems about as relevant as LPs, eight-track tapes, and fax machines in terms of broadcasting. That is especially true in the ridiculous regulatory process broadcasters must go through in order to establish a new radio station, or television channel.
While we might want to regulate banks to protect our financial wealth, do we need a body saying yes, or no to a new radio station wanting to establish in a city such as Yorkton?
We have seen the system at work locally where the CRTC initially rejected the Christian radio station CJJC-FM 'The Rock' in its application to expand to 50,000 watt coverage, and has now approved a re-application. Guess what folks it's the same 50,000 watts covering the same potential area. Why approve it now, and not early?
Actually scratch that question, and go with a more basic one; why do you need CRTC approval at all?
No government Commission is in place to prevent someone from starting a newspaper in Yorkton as competition to Yorkton This Week, or from a new shoe store, lumber yard, restaurant or hotel from establishing in the city, even though such businesses already exist. So why does the CRTC have the power to stop new radio stations, or television networks?
A radio station is a business, and if someone thinks they could start a blues station in Yorkton and turn a profit, there is no logical reason to stop it by the decision of some Commission decision in Ottawa. If it cuts into the margins of existing stations, that is a fact of competition any business should be prepared to deal with.
The Rock's change of decision pretty much shows the Commission is not needed, and in the end the audience is the loser since the CRTC barrier limits our locally generated radio options, and our television station choices.
As with dinosaurs there may have once been a place for the Commission regulating the airways, but in an Internet and digital world the CRTC is simply a creature that should wade into a tar pit and be forgotten.
