BOARD OF DIRECTORS
 
Arnold Amber
The Newspaper Guild
President
 
Mori Abdolalian
CJFE Journalists in Exile
 
Alison Armstrong
Journalist/writer
 
Bob Carty
CBC-Radio "The Sunday Edition"
 
Barbara Falk
Writer/Lecturer
 
Alice Klein
Now Magazine
 
Donald Livingstone
Promeus
 
Anita Mielewczyk
Journalist/Law Student
 
John Norris
Criminal Law Lawyer
 
Mary Deanne Shears
Journalist

Natasha Tehranian
Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
 
Kelly Toughill
King's College, Nova Scotia
 
Anna Maria Tremonti
CBC Radio "The Current"
 
Philip Tunley
Lawyer, Stockwoods LLP
 

CRTC,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2

June 5, 2009

Re: Ethnic Channels Group Limited's (ECGL) request for the addition of Al Jazeera English Televison

1. I am writing on behalf of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect press freedom and freedom of expression around the world.

2. CJFE urges you to approve Ethnic Channels Group Limited's (ECGL) request for the addition of Al Jazeera English to the lists of eligible satellite services for distribution on a digital basis, and to allow their signal to be broadcast without the provision of delay or monitoring.

3. At CJFE's most recent meeting of the Board of Directors on May 27, 2009, a motion was passed unanimously supporting the application without restrictions of Al Jazeera English to be broadcast in Canada. We believe that not only should Al Jazeera English have the right to broadcast in Canada, but that Canadians should have the right to access information from this major international broadcaster.

4. CJFE is the manager of IFEX, the International Freedom of Expression eXchange, a network that brings together 88 organizations from around the world to work together to defend and protect free expression. In our work we support a diversity of voices and we believe that providing Al Jazeera English with the right to broadcast in Canada will enrich Canadians, by providing access to a greater diversity of perspectives and issues.

End of document

Yours sincerely,

Arnold Amber, President

cc: Mr. Slava Levin, Ethnic Channels Group Limited