The CRTC has shot down plans for a German radio station in northern Alberta, claiming it would prevent residents from fully participating in Canadian society, says Blacklock’s Reporter..“I do not understand why they would do this,” said Abram Zacharias of La Crete, Alta., who applied for a license on behalf of local townspeople..Residents petitioned for a part-time, 50-watt FM license to broadcast local programs in German. There were no objections from commercial stations in neighbouring towns..“I am very disappointed,” said Zacharias..“A 50-watt approval is usually not difficult, especially as a non-profit community service.”.The hamlet of La Crete, 700 km northeast of Edmonton, is not home to a single francophone according to Census data. Of some 2,000 residents more than two-thirds, 64%, identify as German-speaking Mennonites and more than a tenth of townspeople speak German at work..The local Chamber of Commerce calls the century-old hamlet “a unique bilingual community with German and English as the two dominant languages.”.It is home to a Mennonite Heritage Village..The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission in its decisionsaid ethnic radio stations must typically broadcast in multiple languages though “in this case it would not be practical” since La Crete residents only spoke English and German..The CRTC said nevertheless it was concerned German news, talk and music shows would not “help the local community to better participate in Canadian society or bridge the cultural gap with the existing English-speaking community.”.“What do they even mean by that?” said Zacharias..“I get tons of people asking us if this is up and running. We have older residents who don’t understand some of the English language that well, and this is for them.”.“We would have music, different talk shows, news, programming for the elderly, children’s programming. There would be church programming. Where do we go from here?”.The CRTC issued its ruling Friday on Multiculturalism Day, the golden jubilee of a 1971 cabinet policy.
