Canadian Government Information on the Internet (CGII)

by Anita Cannon, the Depository Services Program and Contributors

Telecommunications -- Federal Information

• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
• CBC: The Corporation
• Communications Research Centre Canada
• Communications Security Establishment (CSE)
• Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC) / Strategis
• National Broadband Task Force
• Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner
• Radio-Canada
• RCI Radio Canada International
• Spectrum Management and Telecommunications (Strategis)

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
The CBC network site provides news, business, weather, arts and sports headlines and stories in text with pictures, plus audio and video downloads and streaming. Most programs on Radio One, Radio Two, Radio Canadian International, CBC Television, Newsworld and Country Canada have sites with a variety of information on programming, special topics, host or cast biographies, links to Web sites, show logs with lists of music played and topics covered. This includes both national and local programs. Schedules of radio and television broadcasts are also provided. The Archives provides in depth coverage of selected stories from Canadian history through text, pictures, audio and video clips. Selected current issues and stories are given similar in depth coverage on the "National" site through text, pictures, audience comment and links to other sites. Transcripts of the "National" are available from 1996 to date, with a few days delay. There is a special section for children with program information and schedules, games, contests and other resources. A merchandise catalogue lists cd's, books and other items for sale. The site is searchable and interested people can subscribe to daily news updates.
(2003-02-09, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English.

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
The CRTC site offers a large collection of current full text documents including news releases, speeches, decisions, notices, orders and a searchable archive of decisions, notices, circulars and orders from January 1984 and of news releases and speeches since January 1995. Information about the CRTC includes the mandate, estimates, a history of broadcasting and regulation in Canada, contact names and information. There are full text broadcasting and telecommunications statutes and regulations, and a bibliography of reference books. A calendar of upcoming public hearings is linked to the text of the notice of the hearing. Telecom and Broadcasting proceedings are provided, with Rulings, Transcripts, Committees and Manuals. CRTC Information Highway documents, include comments received by the Commission in electronic format. The Broadcasting section offers documents on issues such as violence on television, loudness of commercials, Canadian content and cable broadcasting, self-regulating industry codes (advertising to children, gender portrayal and advertising of liquor) and registration forms for radio and television stations. Fact sheets in the telecommunications section include a glossary of regulatory terms, information on price regulation for phone and cable service. Several search engines make the information on the site more accessible and the site itself is simple in design with a minimum of graphics which makes it very easy to navigate and quick to load. Updated daily.
(1998-08-28, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca

CBC: The Corporation
This site presents the corporate side of the CBC. On it can be found lists of the directors, officers, chairs and presidents through the years and the unions and associations that represent its employees. Corporate documents include annual reports from 1996/97 to date, the corporate plan, reports and plans for employment equity and official languages, submissions to parliamentary and other inquiries on broadcasting, and reports on the agency and its financing. There are news releases, speeches and several policy documents, including "Journalistic standards and practices" and policies on environmental management and public service announcements. Fact sheets provide an overview of the CBC and information on Canadian content and other broadcasting issues. There is a history of the organization in the form of a timeline of major events. Contact information is provided for corporate offices, frequencies for stations and affiliates and addresses for foreign bureaux. The Ombudsman's contact information, mandate and responsibilities are also given. The site is searchable, with a table of contents on the main page and links to other CBC sites.
(2002-12-01, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/

Communications Research Centre Canada
This site contains information about the CRC, including budgets and contacts, descriptions of research carried out at or through the Centre in satellite applications for communications, space research and military, radio research, broadband, terrestrial wireless and other broadcast technologies. Brief descriptions of hot technologies and information on past and present clients of the Centre are given, along with news releases, upcoming events, and a brief history of Canada's satellite program. An education section provides a detailed tour of CRC's labs with extensive text and pictures, led by Emil, a friendly mouse mascot. There is a list of additional sites in communications technology. The CRC Virtual Library contains lists of available CRC publications, links to reference tools on the Web, forms, database connections and other items. Some of the resources listed are only available to CRC employees. Each page of this site is annotated with links to additional information, contact names and e-mail addresses and provides a button to switch to the other official language.
(1998-08-26, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://www.crc.ca/

Communications Security Establishment (CSE)
The Communications Security Establishment provides information technology security (ITS) for the government of Canada. The Establishment's Web site offers a description and explanation of Government of Canada's Public Key system for security in information transfer, including a downloadable white paper. There is a call for papers for the 1998 ITS symposium and a brief description of ITS Learning Centre courses. The 1996 Final report of the Information Technology Security Strategy Steering Committee is available for download. Manuals on security, product reports which evaluate security issues in software, and common criteria for information technology security evaluation are abstracted and available for download through the site, or through a connection to the Establishment's FTP server. The site also offers a FAQ on firewalls, description of ITS services offered to government organizations, information on crypto graphics and industry partnerships. There is an extensive list of links to other Web sites on information security, divided by subject. News releases and a What's New list update the site frequently.
(1998-10-19, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://www.cse-cst.gc.ca/

Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC) / Strategis
The Information Highway Advisory Council was established in 1994 to advise the government on the development of the Information Highway in Canada. It presented its final report in September 1997.This site presents the text of that report "Preparing Canada for a digital world" and a collection of other full text information relating to the Council and its work. Speeches, summaries of Council meetings, press releases, biographies of the council members are available as are reports, studies and documents on topics such as culture, training, access, affordability, economic impact, privacy and Canadian outlook on the Information Highway. Submissions to the Council and winning papers in an undergraduate essay competition are available.
(1998-08-31, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ih01015e.html

National Broadband Task Force
The National Broadband Task Force was formed to advise the government on issues surrounding its goal of providing highspeed broadband Internet access to all Canadians by the year 2004. The Task Force's mandate, membership (with biographies), structure and work schedule are presented here. The mandates and membership of each of the four working groups - Infrastructure, Social Benefits and Challenges, Economic Benefits and Challenges, and Barriers and Deployment Models - are also given, along with the text of each group's presentations to the Task Force. The Resource Centre area contains a large number of reports, summaries of meeting proceedings and research studies. Comments and submissions received are also available on the site along with a FAQ and press releases and an area has been set aside for member use only, protected by password. The site is searchable, has a site map and the main page features new additions, including the final report "The New National Dream: Networking the Nation for Broadband Access" released June 18, 2001, along with associated news releases.
(2001-06-18, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://broadband.gc.ca

Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner
The Communications Security Establishment Commissioner was appointed in 1996 by the Minister of National Defence to review the activities of the Communications Security Establishment and was re-appointed in 1999 for a further three years. This new Web site contains a biography of the Commissioner and his mandate by way of the text of the two Orders-in-Council and news releases issued at both appointments. The Commissioner's complaints and review functions are explained with reference to the text of the Inquiries Act, Citizenship Act, the first three annual reports and a brochure titled "The Communications Security Establishment Commissioner: Safeguarding the Privacy of Canadians". Reference is made to the Privacy Act, but the text is not linked. Contact information is given and there is a pull down menu to assist in the navigation of the site.
(2000-02, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://csec-ccst.gc.ca/menu_e.html

Radio-Canada
This vast, award-winning Web site of Canada's national public French-language radio and television network provides the daily programming schedule for all of its national and regional radio and television shows, information about the shows and the people involved, how to buy transcripts, and a guided tour of the Radio-Canada building in Montreal. Various theme sections cover topics such as sport, culture, news, and current issues, and there is an archive of excerpts from radio broadcasts since 1936. Advanced searching is available and searches can be limited to the news section. The most innovative feature of this site is the live broadcast. Radio news and cultural programs are broadcast directly via the Internet so anyone around the world can listen in. Some programs are available as audio files only, some with video as well. The site requires Netscape 3 or higher to view.
(1998-11-21, Anita Cannon, Mount Allison University )

Site available in French.
http://radio-canada.ca/

RCI Radio Canada International
Radio Canada International, "Canada's Voice to the World" offers a Web site which enables people around the world to find out about the agency and its programs, to listen to broadcasts, and to read world news stories. The site has summaries of top world news stories, a list of programs available in audio format, program schedules for RealAudio, satellite, and shortwave broadcasts and letters from listeners. There is a history of RCI and a brief document which outlines the objectives, structure and scope of the network. The five regional offices across Canada are represented by short letters from the correspondents in these regions and technical information about the network's is also available. English language lessons produced by RCI for radio stations are listed. The full site is available in English and French and the news bulletins, schedule and audio list are also provided in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Ukrainian. There is a site map, contact information and links to other international broadcasters and broadcast organizations. The "What's New" includes news about the Web site, highlights of upcoming broadcasts and summary of major network events for the past few months.
(2000-02, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://www.rcinet.ca/pages/index.asp

Spectrum Management and Telecommunications (Strategis)
The Spectrum Management and Telecommunications section of Industry Canada's Strategis site contains a large collection of full text documents and other materials on telecommunications and spectrum management. It is divided into sections covering spectrum, broadcasting, radio, television, consumer information, public notices, official publications, reports and software utilities, internet issues and other sites. Within each is a variety of materials including regulatory and legislative information - guidelines, procedures, policies, standards, Canada Gazette notices from 1994 to date, statutes and regulations, treaties and agreements. Forms and fee schedules are also available. Press releases, information bulletins and other reports and documents offer explanatory materials to the regulatory and policy materials. Some sections include statistical reports and charts. Spectrum grid mapping files and saturation maps are available for download two formats. The Spectrum section allows sign-in access to account information for radio frequency holders, payments and licence applications of a variety of types. Frequency information is searchable by a number of parameters. Internet issues include young people, offensive content, domain names and much more. Some documents cover solving interference problems, antenna information and other engineering and technical reports and a broadcasting database is available for download. Contact information for regional offices is given and a connection to the Industry Canada telephone book defaults to this section. There are links to other spectrum/telecommunications Web sites, in Canada and world wide. The site can be searched using the Strategis search engine. New documents are added weekly and are listed in the What's New and covered in weekly e-mail updates.
(2003-02-09, Moira Russell, Brock University )

Site available in English and French.
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/spectrum/engdoc/spect1.html

Copyright © 2002 Anita Cannon and Public Works and Government Services Canada