During the last few days a pirate radio station popped up in the vacated frequency of 90.1 in Tofino.
http://mixlr.com/tuff-city-radio/
While the frequency allocated to MCMI aka Matthew McBride, Cameron Dennison has set up an unauthorized transmitter site in a garage, devoid of Industry Canada and CRTC approval. After three days of sporadic airchecks, the call sign "CHMZ 90.1, Tofino" was not heard once. Instead, the moniker "Tuff City Radio, 90.1" is inserted occasionally. Infrequent paid ads and liners have run.
The unwitting residents of Tofino are enjoying the station, which admittedly is a far cry from the horrible performance by McBride during the last decade, but under the wrongful impression they've acquired the rights or operating in a lawful manner.
The transmitter installation and location is not Industry Canada approved nor gazetted. There is no application before the CRTC, no technical brief approved by Industry Canada, nor is the work being done by a certified P.Eng. Operating a pirate radio station from an unadvertised location under the guise of a licensed undertaking is a menace to navigation and increase the risks for interference of emergency co-channel dependencies. Two years ago, a twin engine aircraft crashed on Vargas Island following a missed approach to airport at Long Beach. Occasionally, aircraft flying IFR will use the NDB and the radio station to make their approach. Fixing on an erroneous target undoubtedly may lead to other accidents.
What's the real status of CHMZ? The licensee has been non-compliant on numerous levels for previous years. In fact, never been compliant, having neglected to address previous orders imposed at other renewal hearings. The station's transmitter was removed from the CBC tower, not having a legal right to be there in the first place. Likewise, subsequent to to a co-operative management plan with all users, the tower underwent numerous upgrades. McBride did not participate in this process and the equipment was removed, causing CHMZ to go dark. No effort has been made to restore the service by McBride.
How did the antenna end up on the CBC tower in the first place? I submitted the original application for CHOO-FM on behalf of Pete Moffat, who falsely represented to me that he had permission "from the town" to use the center lobe of the CBC tower. We had no portable GPS unit in those days, so I plotted the advertised position on a marine chart and included it in the application. A few months later, Moffat got tied up with soon-to-be convicted fraudsters of the HRDC scandal who took over the application process and had it fast tracked by the CRTC, hence entrenching the TX location to Industry Canada and NAVCAN.
I am disappointed with Cameron. It has been my advice to him (for years now) to apply to the CRTC for a commercial license, especially given the bad behavior by the current operator. Had he done this, he'd be on the air now, legally. Like the logging protest days of old, these people are under the wrong impression that usurping a process is how things get done. Again, he'd rather listen to Pete Moffat, who failed (miserably) his undertaking in Tofino, yet feels entitled to a radio station at everyone else's expense using public airwaves.
Meanwhile, back in Gatineau, the CRTC has summoned McBride to fish or cut bait (for the umpteeth time) on all his licenses.
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2018/2018-196.htm
CKPM, CFPV, CIMM and CHMZ have been put on notice that the licenses will expire on August 31/2019. The only active station is CIMM in Ucluelet, but McBride does not have effective control. Two do not have detectable carriers, though Port Moody may be dark as well at this time. All the while the CRTC still moving forward as though the stations are operating. McBride may choose to give notice to abandon or re-apply, but the latter requires bringing the stations into full compliance. Nothing in the notice provides for transfer of ownership or a technical amendment to the transmitter location.
The CRTC has failed this community (miserably) for the past twenty years and it looks like we'll have to suffer a few more, so long as the commission upholds McBride and nobody else. It's discouraging to operate by the rules and impress them upon others, when the regulator itself is complicit in blocking new applications and handing out olive branches to negligent operators.