MONTREAL – The company that owns Quebec City radio station CHOI-FM is demanding the Canadian Association of Broadcasters join in the fight to save the station. The CRTC has refused to renew CHOI-FM’s broadcasting licence because of controversial comments by one of its hosts.

Officials with Genex Communications say the broadcasters association is taking a dangerous stand in refusing to support the station.

Genex Communications president Patrice Demers suggests the CAB has shown nothing but “apathy” in CHOI-FM’s fight against the CRTC.

Demers is challenging the CAB to publicly denounce the decision made by the federal regulator.

They say if the group that is supposed to represent media outlets across the country refuses to help defend one of its members’ freedom of expression, that sets a dangerous precedent.

Back story: To turn around its money-losing last-place radio station in Quebec City, Genex Communications used a familiar formula. Genex brought in program hosts with a talent for provocative, lewd and offensive commentaries. But the trash radio format that transformed CHOI-FM into a profitable market leader may have led to its demise. Last week, the Canadian broadcast regulator said it would not renew the station’s broadcasting license, a move that was likely to force CHOI to close by the end of next month.

The unusual decision by the regulator, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, immediately provoked widespread criticism as a limitation on free speech.

“It’s with great reluctance we do this because we are all supporters of freedom of expression,” said Charles M. Dalfen, chairman of the commission. “This wasn’t about controversial programming. This was about abusive programming.”

The main source of CHOI’s trouble is a morning show whose host currently is Jean-Francois Fillion. Until a few months ago, his co-host was André Arthur, an experienced broadcaster popularly known in Quebec as “le roi Arthur” or King Arthur.

Mr. Fillion once described a severely handicapped girl who was at the center of a news story as a “trash can” and suggested releasing poison gas into the hospital rooms of psychiatric patients. Mr. Arthur specialized in attacks on prominent figures in the Quebec City area, including suggesting that a politician was involved in a sex scandal with under-age prostitutes.

Patrice Demers, president of the privately held Genex, said his company had made extensive efforts to meet the regulator’s concerns. He said that CHOI had established an advisory council and offered to put Mr. Fillion’s program on a 16-second time delay. It also moved Mr. Arthur to another station that it owns. “It was difficult to control the show when two announcers were together,” Mr. Demers acknowledged.

Genex will seek a court injunction to extend its license until the end of any legal appeal. Mr. Demers also anticipates that the commission will not renew the license held by Genex’s other radio station.

But even if all of the Genex stations are shut down, Mr. Demers is confident that Mr. Fillion will remain on the air. “He’s No. 1 in the market,” Mr. Demers said. “If he’s not working for us, he’s going to work for someone else. I’m sure he’s talking to my competitors right now.”