Thaindian News

Toronto, Nov 27 (IANS) Al Jazeera was allowed to beam its English service channel into Canada Thursday.
Announcing its decision, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said Al Jazeera English (AJE) will be available from January or February.

After the channel formally applies, Canadians will be allowed to submit their opinions about the channel.

Toronto-based Ethnic Channels Group Ltd had sought permission from the regulatory body to carry Al-Jazzier English.

Tony Burman, managing director of AJE, said, “We are very excited that Canadians will soon have the same opportunities as people in more than 180 million households in more than 100 countries.

“For over three years, Al Jazeera English has been setting new standards in reporting by providing a platform for the under-represented corners of the world.

“Over the last several months I have had the opportunity to travel throughout Canada and hear firsthand the great demand for our groundbreaking news and current affairs programming.

“We look forward to bringing AJE’s award-winning coverage to the Canadian people.”

Al-Jazeera has announced to open a bureau in Canada in the near future to present Canadian news and perspective to a global audience. This will make it the only international news channel with a bureau in Canada.

With broadcast centres in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, London and Washington, and nearly 70 news bureaus around the world, the channel claims it is beamed across 100 countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

It also claims to have more than 1,000 employees worldwide from 50 nationalities.

In granting the channel to be beamed in Canada, the regulatory body said, “The commission notes the substantial support for the addition of AJE to the digital lists and considers that AJE will expand the diversity of editorial points of view in the Canadian broadcasting system.

“Further, despite concerns expressed by certain parties, there is nothing on the record of the current proceeding that leads the commission to conclude that AJE would violate Canadian regulations, such as those regarding abusive comment.”