CKLN, Ryerson’s community campus radio station, is considering all options after the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) decided to revoke its license, effective Feb. 12.

“Holding a broadcasting license is a privilege that comes with responsibilities and regulatory obligations,” CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said in a press release.

The CRTC alleges CKLN didn’t meet those obligations, which included failing to file multiple annual reports and provide show logs and records, the use of inappropriate language on air, and non-compliance during the station’s nine-month lockout under former management in 2009, according to the press release.

Lauren Speers, programmer and chair of CKLN’s hiring committee, said the station’s lawyers have spoken to the CRTC and asked them to reconsider their decision.

Speers said this has generated some confusion in the media, as there have been reports CKLN is appealing the decision.

“Legally speaking they’re entitled to ask us what our grounds for appeal would be in making that decision,” she said.

Speers did not reveal the station’s grounds for appeal because it could jeopardize their leverage in the legal process, she said.

“Our next steps are pending their answer,” Speers said.

 If the CRTC does not reconsider their decision, then the station would consider an appeal.

Should all attempts fail, the frequency will become available to outside applications in an already competitive Toronto radio broadcast market.

While Speers did acknowledge some transgressions were made, she said what is key to CKLN’s case is making the CRTC see past mistakes “can be remedied.”

“From a legal sense, any appeal is going to be based on questions of law and jurisdiction. The facts have nothing to do with it,” Speers said.

Speers also mentioned the dissenting opinion by Louise Poirier, the sole CRTC commissioner to oppose the decision.

Poirier noted CKLN should have been given a mandatory notice to comply prior to a decision to revoke its license.

Poirier’s conclusion stated the decision “creates a precedent that I cannot endorse.”

Vijay Sarma, host of Rude Awakening, a weekly show on CKLN, said the decision came as a shock to him because the station had been moving forward under a new management and board.

“The programmers were by and large happily just doing their broadcasts and the fans were happy to hear us on air,” Sarma said.

“Things were in a very stable and progressive place.”

Sarma mentioned the station’s appeal for public support, which appears to be working.

An online petition started by Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, director of Toronto-based LMC Media and a former station volunteer, had over 3,500 signatures by 10 a.m. Feb. 8.

One issue the CRTC raised was the station’s lack of student representation — CKLN receives a $10 levy from each Ryerson student.

Sheers said 26 of the station’s 170 volunteers were students, including student representative and Ryerson Student Union president Toby Whitfield.

Jose Solorzano, a second-year Ryerson student, CKLN listener and host of the Fusion show on Spiritlive.net, said he thinks the CRTC is sending a strong message to CKLN to clean up their act.

“I hope the CKLN board of directors wake up and do something about their practices and develop a sense of professionalism,” he said.

While Solorzano said he does think CKLN needs to improve its professionalism, as a listener, he said he would be sad to see it go.

CKLN “has catered and represented an audience that has been traditionally marginalized and ignored by the mainstream media,” he said. “To see it fade will not allow [minorities] to progress at all in the medium of radio.”

“It’s a shame, really.”