Tories to phase out CRTC national commissioners, sources say

The Conservative federal government will allow the CRTC’s decision-making panel to shrink in size and has told some sitting commissioners that their expiring terms will not be renewed, industry sources said. Four people familiar with the issue spoke on a background basis to The Wire Report this week and said the government will trim the commission by allowing four national commissioner positions to remain vacant as those terms expire. “It’s a fact that they’re looking at downsizing the commission,” one person with knowledge of the process said, adding that the government does not intend to renew the national commissioners. Under the CRTC Act, the commission may have up to 13 commissioners appointed by the government, including a chair and two-vice chairs: one for telecom and one for broadcasting. Commission members may be appointed as national commissioners or as regional or provincial representatives. The term of former national commissioner Michel Morin expired last August, and government has not advertised a hiring process to fill it. Three other national commission positions are due to end this year on March 18, July 31, and Aug. 10. The CRTC has operated with less than 13 commissioners since former Ontario regional commissioner Rita Cugini’s term expired in April 2012. Former vice-chair of telecom Len Katz’s position also expired in October. Those vacancies have not yet been filled, leaving 10 commissioners currently on the panel, though a notice of vacancy posted last October requested job applications for the vice-chair of telecom and the Ontario regional commissioner roles. Three separate people contacted by The Wire Report this week confirmed that the government has told national commissioner Marc Patrone and Quebec regional commissioner Suzanne Lamarre that their positions will not be renewed this year when they expire on March 18 and June 29, respectively. A CRTC official confirmed Thursday that Lamarre received a letter from the government indicating her term will not be renewed. Two of the people interviewed said commissioner Timothy Denton has also been told that his appointment will not be renewed when it expires July 31, though he may be under consideration for the vice-chair of telecom or Ontario regional commissioner positions. Commissioner Louise Poirier, whose term expires Aug. 10, has not yet received notice of whether her term will be renewed, two sources said. They said Stephen Simpson, the regional commissioner for British Columbia and the Yukon, whose term was set to expire June 22, has been renewed for a five-year term. CRTC spokeswoman Patricia Valladao said Wednesday that the government has not informed CRTC staff whether any of the expiring commissioners’ terms will be renewed. “It’s a government appointment. We don’t have any more information at this point,” she said. In January 2012, experts told The Wire Report that expiring terms for nine of the 13 CRTC commissioners before the end of 2013 represented an opportunity for the government to reduce the size of the commission. They said a smaller CRTC may encourage commissioners to take on a greater diversity of files, lead to more consistent policy decisions, and speed up decision making. Industry sources contacted this week said a smaller commission would also better align with the Conservative government’s market-based approach to regulation. “Thirteen commissioners is a lot to manage unless you have an awful lot on the go,” one person said. “I think this government would rather have the markets do the work for them rather than the regulator.” Three people said the government has held at least two rounds of interviews for the vice-chair and Ontario regional commissioner vacancies since the notice was posted in the fall. They said one of the candidates interviewed is Paul Beaudry, an associate with law firm Stikeman Elliot LLP who worked on telecom files as an aide in the office of former industry minister Maxime Bernier. Contacted by phone Wednesday, Beaudry declined to say whether he was interviewed. “I don’t want to start discussing this because it’s obviously a process that is ongoing and I’d rather not comment,” he said. Three people said Denton also applied for the vice-chair of telecom position, as well as Candice Molnar, the regional commissioner for Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Two of the people said some companies are concerned that a new vice-chair of telecom will not be in place by Feb. 11, when the CRTC begins a weeklong hearing to establish a new code of conduct for wireless carriers. “These are very clearly telecom matters, and these are critical and they don’t have a vice-chair of telecom,” said one telecom industry source. Two of the sources said the CRTC is equipped to handle the hearing and other telecom matters without a vice-chair. Commissioners Denton and Molnar have telecom background, they said, and can provide necessary expertise. Denton served as an assistant to the CRTC vice-chair of telecom and as a policy adviser to the federal minister of communications in the 1970s and 1980s, and also has experience working with Internet domain registries and as a solicitor for the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), according to his CRTC profile. Molnar’s profile says she previously held senior-level positions with SaskTel, including general manager of customer service operations and general manager of regulatory affairs. “I’d say that with the representation they’ve got there, they’re in good hands,” one telecom source said. Heritage Minister James Moore, whose department is responsible for the CRTC, declined to comment for this story when asked by The Wire Report on Parliament Hill Thursday. His office did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Moore said last fall that government was “considering all options” related to possible reductions to the commission’s size. —With reporting by Nicholas Kyonka at nkyonka@thewirereport.ca and editing by Simon Doyle at sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Tories to phase out CRTC national commissioners, sources say

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