On September 12, 2024 the NDP, Green Party, and Liberal candidates for the 2024 Bay of Quinte by-election debated for the second time. The debate was pre-recorded and hosted by YourTV (Cogeco 4/700) studios in downtown Belleville. PC candidate Tyler Allsopp cancelled his appearance early Thursday morning, due to a conflict in his schedule.
The debate was aired 7 times on the YourTV cable channel, and was posted to the YourTV Quinte YouTube channel for those who don’t have cable. YourTV is a community channel that the CRTC requires Cogeco to operate in order to promote local news in smaller communities. The channels are viewed as a public trust that the cable companies manage on behalf of the Canadian public.
The YouTube video of the debate was set to private the night before election day, making it unavailable to members of the community:
Meanwhile, YourTV Quinte’s YouTube channel contains the full debates for past federal and provincial elections:
I reached out to YourTV and received the following response from the Manager of Programming and Community Relations:
We expire all election programming the night prior to the vote.
Following up for ask for the rationale from their Elections Policies, Standards and Guidelines document while pointing out that that election rules say that the blackout period only applies to political advertising and not to debates and other such coverage, the response was that the policy was decided as a department since “we started using social media and adding content to our websites”:
You are correct about the Elections Ontario/Canada policy. We have decided as a department to remove our programming the night before.
What is YourTV?
YourTV is group of cable TV channels owned by Cogeco that broadcast local interest programming including local sports, politics and current events. The channels are available to Cogeco Cable subscribers and Digital Cable subscribers through Cogeco’s “Free On Demand”.
As a cable company, Cogeco is required by the CRTC to provide a community channel with local programming. The regulations which previously required that cable companies produce local content (this is no longer required but strongly encouraged).
Rules for election programming
Community channels have editorial control over political programming
According to the CRTC, community channels are not required to broadcast political programming, but if they choose to they should adhere to:
- Free access political programming – making time available to candidates or parties to use freely and without intervention
- Political programming under the editorial control of the licensee – licensee retains control of the format and participants and may directly intervene as a moderator or in the production process
Elections Ontario blackout period
News media, publishers and broadcasters must not publish, broadcast or transmit political advertising during the day before election day and election day – the “blackout period“. Debates do not count as advertising:
Political advertising does not include the transmission to the public of an editorial, a debate, a speech, an interview, a column, a letter, a commentary or news;
Elections Ontario
Election Finances Act
“political advertising” means advertising in any broadcast, print, electronic or other medium with the purpose of promoting or opposing any registered party or its leader or the election of a registered candidate and includes advertising that takes a position on an issue that can reasonably be regarded as closely associated with a registered party or its leader or a registered candidate and “political advertisement” has a corresponding meaning, but for greater certainty does not include,
(a) the transmission to the public of an editorial, a debate, a speech, an interview, a column, a letter, a commentary or news,
Election Finances Act
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