The CRTC, having made things worse and fixed nothing, prepares to do more (The Line)

Sometime early in the new year, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is expected to cross its fingers and issue a decision that will define how Canadians can watch streamed content and, probably, how much more they’ll inevitably have to pay for it.

And it will do so with a small prayer that its ongoing efforts to outsource the burden of funding for the Canadian film and television industry to Netflix and the other U.S. streaming giants won’t make U.S. President Donald Trump any more grumpy than he already is and trigger retaliatory action against Canada for picking on American companies.

This will be the second major announcement from the CRTC. A couple of weeks ago, Nov. 18 to be precise, the federal regulator announced a new method of defining Canadian content (Cancon). That was the first of two decisions stemming from a wide-ranging consultation and the second, which it said will be published “in the near future,” involves spending and prioritizing Canadian programs, including news. 

That’s where the rubber is expected to hit the road ....

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