Glover the new heritage minister as Moore moves to industry

Canada’s telecom and media companies will be dealing with a familiar face as they plan for next year’s mobile spectrum auction, following former heritage minister James Moore’s move to the federal industry portfolio in a major cabinet shuffle. Previously responsible for the CRTC and Canada’s broadcasting industry as the heritage Minister, Moore will now take responsibility for Industry Canada and replace outgoing industry minister Christian Paradis, who on Monday was named minister of international development and minister for La Francophonie. “There are a number of key policy crosswalks between Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage,” Conservative consultant Geoff Norquay, a principal consultant with Earnscliffe Strategy Group, said in a phone interview. “His experience at Heritage will be really helpful to him in the new position. He brings a fair amount of institutional knowledge of Industry Canada files on telecom and broadcast.” Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the new cabinet at Rideau Hall Monday, with several new appointments and changes to porfolios. "This fall, the government will move ahead with renewed policy agenda set forward in a speech from the throne, and our renewed agenda will have new faces to bring it forward," Harper said. "The team Canadians elected in 2011 is deep and it is talented. Many younger members of parliament have earned more responsibility and are ready for more responsibility. Today, they step forward and join experienced hands who remain in key portfolios." Moore said through his Twitter account that he is "Looking forward to serving Canadians in my new role as Minister of Industry." Industry Canada aims to increase competition in Canada’s wireless industry, where new players have struggled since entering the market through a 2008 spectrum auction. Next year's 700 MHz spectrum auction will make more frequencies available to wireless carriers, and will cap incumbent providers at one of four available "prime" spectrum blocks per market. Will Stewart, principal consultant at Ensight Canada, said the move from heritage to industry marks a “huge promotion” for Moore, who, he said, is well liked and well respected in the Conservative caucus and deserved a promotion. Stewart said the change at Industry Canada could allow the government to revisit some of the rules it proposed for the 700 MHz spectrum auction, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 14. He pointed to the auction cap rule, which incumbent BCE Inc. has said could allow a large, foreign player like U.S. telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. to acquire two blocks per market. As Heritage Minister, Moore met with representatives from BCE and its subsidiaries 12 times since the start of 2009, most recently on March 6, according to a search of the federal lobbying registry Monday. During that time, he also met with representatives from Rogers Communications Inc. on four occasions and with Quebecor Media Inc. on three occasions, the registry shows. Representatives of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) also met with Moore and two of his senior staff to discuss matters relating to telecommunications on May 9 of this year, the registry shows. “I think that a change in ministers will actually allow the government to take a pause and look at those rules that they’ve created,” said Stewart, who does not represent any wireless carriers. “The rules were designed to allow for new entrants to have something different than existing entrants have … But when people were talking about new entrants, I don’t think they were talking about a behemoth the size of Verizon as a new entrant that needed special treatment to be able to come to Canada.” Moore, he said, was focused on “the role of Canada and Canadian institutions” while overseeing the Heritage Department, and has the “gravitas” in the Conservative caucus and cabinet to get the government to change the rule if he thinks it needs changing. “I think he’s a good, competent manager, which is exactly, frankly, what industry needs,” he said. Norquay said Moore is an avid user of new communications technologies, which helps him understand related policy. Moore will also have an opportunity to push through the government’s long-promised digital economy strategy, which could impact a wide range of industries. The minister was a key figure behind the government’s copyright modernization law last year, after the government failed to reform the Copyright Act several times over the past decade. Manitoba MP Shelly Glover will take over as the new Heritage Minister, marking the first cabinet appointment for the former Winnipeg police officer known as a loyal Conservative and a trusted spokeswoman for the party, Stewart said. She was also appointed to the cabinet committee on priorities and planning, an important committee that approves major policies and is chaired by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “That’s a big position for her to be on and shows the importance of the portfolio, to some degree, but more the way Prime Minister Harper views her, which should be helpful in her getting her job done,” said Stewart, who is a Conservative. Paradis and Moore remained members of the priorities and planning committee in the shuffle Monday. Norquay said he expects Glover to follow the party line on hot-button heritage issues, like the government’s approach to funding and dealing with public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada. “I expect she has some views, but it’s way too early to speculate. She hasn’t had a briefing yet,” he said when asked whether Glover has expressed an opinion on public funding for CBC. “Whatever position she takes on CBC would be emblematic of what the Prime Minister wants her to take in terms of the position,” he said. According to a compilation of Conservative MP responses to questions about CBC funding during the 2011 election campaign, as compiled by watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, Glover told constituents the she believes CBC “plays a crucial role in Canadian news coverage.” “hat is why I am proud to be a part of a government that works to ensure that the CBC remains a strong national public broadcaster that provides Canadians with the best service possible,” she said at the time, according to Friends. CBC spokesman Angus McKinnon said in an emailed statement Monday that the public broadcaster will “look forward” to working with Glover in her new role as heritage minister. —With reporting by Nicholas Kyonka at nkyonka@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Glover the new heritage minister as Moore moves to industry

News | July 15, 2013

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Glover the new heritage minister as Moore moves to industry

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