Quebec lobbying federal government for regional communications regulator

OTTAWA—The Province of Quebec is lobbying the federal government to regionalize some CRTC responsibilities, a spokeswoman for the Quebec minister of culture told The Wire Report. “ the establishment of a consultation mechanism when federal laws are revised involving telecommunications and radio-television, as well as when the federal Cabinet examines CRTC decisions that could impact Quebec,” Valérie Rodrigue, press secretary to Quebec Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre, said in an interview. “We want the regionalization of certain CRTC activities to Quebec.” Rodrigue said there have been discussions toward an agreement between the provincial and federal governments—but she did not specify when and could not say whether there have been recent developments. St-Pierre, Quebec Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Claude Béchard, Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, Industry Minister Tony Clement, and federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Josée Verner are believed to be involved. “It’s a big project … but we are currently working on it. We have nothing to announce for the moment,” Rodrigue said. St-Pierre sent a letter to Moore outlining the proposal in March 2009. When asked whether Moore had received the letter, the minister’s press secretary, Matthew Deacon, said he “had nothing to report at this time.” Deacon could not confirm whether an agreement had been reached on consultation mechanisms for Quebec or a Quebec regional CRTC office. Quebec’s push for regional CRTC responsibilities came as the Bloc Québécois outlined a series of demands of the federal government Thursday, including the creation of a Quebec version of the CRTC. At a news conference on Parliament Hill, Bloc MPs Serge Cardin and Carole Lavallée asked that the federal government to cede regulatory control of the province’s telecommunications and radio-television sectors to Quebec. The Bloc proposes to create a Quebec version of the CRTC, called the Conseil québécois de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications (CQRT). “The root of the problem is that the structure of Quebec’s telecommunication and radio-television sectors is not the same . The problems aren’t the same,” Lavallée said. “ always comes up with the same solutions applied from coast-to-coast. It never works.” On Sept. 28, 2009 Bloc MP Nicolas Dufour introduced a private member’s bill proposing the creation of a provincial regulator. NDP industry critic Brian Masse said in an interview Thursday that transferring powers from the CRTC to provincial governments could prove problematic. “Then we have a scattering of the seeds of what could take place in terms of growing the market and also advancing it through all of Canada,” he said. Cardin and Lavallée also said Thursday that the government’s reversal of the CRTC’s Globalive decision breached Canada’s foreign ownership rules, jeopardizing Quebec’s homegrown telecommunications and radio-television companies and watering down Quebec culture. Last October, the CRTC denied entrant Globalive Wireless Management Corp. access to the Canadian wireless market due to foreign ownership restrictions. Cabinet overturned the CRTC decision in December. Partially owned by Egyptian company Orascom Telecom, Globalive has since launched Wind Mobile in Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary. The government says it did not bend the Canadian foreign ownership and control restrictions and that it made the decision on the facts specific to the case. “It’s obvious that when foreign companies take control of telecommunications that they are not just taking control of cellular phones ... We know a phone is nowadays an instrument with radio and television applications. So this affects culture,” Cardin said. “At the moment, Globalive does not have the intention of coming to Quebec,” Lavallée said. “It opens the door to American companies that are impatiently waiting at the Canadian and Quebec borders to acquire our telecommunication companies.” Masse said a full parliamentary review of the Investment Canada Act would clarify foreign ownership rules. “To me the real fix that would probably be beneficial not only to Quebecers, but also Canadians, is a full review of the Investment Canada Act and a modernization,” he said. “What we need is a full review, because what we get then is testimony from the public, market entrants, consumers, and anyone interested in this issue in Canada,” he said. “It’s a benefit to have that review of any potential legislative changes.” Liberal MPs Pablo Rodriguez and Marc Garneau wrote in an open letter last week that the foreign ownership rules for broadcasting companies should be preserved. Lavallée called for the federal government to clarify its position on foreign ownership in the upcoming Throne Speech. “This government has to clearly state its intentions and its vision regarding the telecommunication sector,” she said. The Bloc is calling for legislative review of the foreign ownership rules. “We must allow the different actors in the telecommunications, radio-television, and cultural sectors, to express their opinions , and so that a parliamentary committee can analyze them,” Lavallée said. In a release issued Thursday, Garneau said the Globalive decision should have been made with Parliament’s consultation. “Any consideration of the Telecommunications Act must be done in the open, transparently and in consultation with Canadians,” Garneau said in the release. The Bloc is also calling for a moratorium on Globalive’s licence to operate in the Canadian wireless sector. Lynn Meahan, a spokeswoman for Clement, said in an interview that she is surprised the Bloc is asking for a moratorium now that Globalive is already in operation. “Wind Mobile currently employs more than 700 people with plans to produce another 600 jobs,” she said. “It’s unconscionable for a political party of any stripe to play politics with Canadian jobs during a recession.” kfournier@thewirereport.ca

Quebec lobbying federal government for regional communications regulator

Broadcast | February 25, 2010

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