CRTC chair OK with being ‘disruptive showman’

OTTAWA — With more than six months left in his term as CRTC chairman, Jean-Pierre Blais isn’t ready to start using the word “legacy” in relation to his term as head of the Canadian regulator, but in a speech to a communications conference Wednesday, he gave a glimpse into a self-awareness of his own CRTC epitaph. During a keynote at the Canadian branch of the International Institute of Communications’ (IIC) annual conference in Ottawa, Blais outlined what he called creative and innovative ways the CRTC has tried to reach out to Canadians on issues, including having hearings with sign language, staging events using Facebook Inc.’s live-video platform and opening discussion threads on Reddit Inc.’s forum. “We did all of these with the goal of transforming our hearing room in the National Capital Region into a national forum for open debate,” Blais said during his lunch-hour remarks that opened the two-day event. “If this is being a disruptive showman, so be it. I’m in. It was the thing to do.” Making changes to help shift Canadians towards a focus on exportation, rather than protectionism, was also the thing to do, according to Blais, referring to this summer’s decision to make changes to the certified independent production fund (CIPF) framework. “There’s talent here. It’s abundant. Canadian producers and creators just need to change their tacks to exploit it,” Blais said, citing criticism that “a difference of two points on a scale will cause entire industries to crumble.” Blais also used his speech to address the closure of Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.’s joint over-the-top service (OTT) Shomi, which will stream its last video at the end of the month after two years in operation. “Far be it for me to criticize the decision taken by seasoned business people, but I can’t help but be surprised when major players throw in the towel on a platform that is the future of content—just two years after it launched,” he said during his remarks. In an interview following his speech Blais elaborated, saying he was “disappointed” in the decision. When asked about the prospect of Amazon.com Inc. bringing its OTT service into Canada, Blais said the company, like him, recognizes that the “future is in streaming.” “I was disappointed that didn’t stay the course a little longer to fight like entrepreneurs normally do for market share,” Blais added. “Even if it means a lot of investment up front.” Wednesday’s speech was “intended to be taking stock of where we are,” Blais said. “It seemed like a nice four-year bookend,” to his previous address to the IIC audience in 2012 that served as a forecast for where the CRTC was heading. Blais said there is still a great deal of work ahead of him and the commission over the next few months — too much to start thinking about how he’ll be remembered. “It’s not a word I use,” he said, adding “I’m not in legacy thinking at all.” But the word did crop up during his remarks — as a symbol of thinking that’s stuck in the past. “We as a nation have to stop spinning our wheels on legacy issues and embrace where we’re heading,” he said during his speech. “We have to get ahead of the curve.” Part of that forward motion was the CRTC’s decision to mandate wholesale access to incumbents’ fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks for competitors. Blais said those incumbents who “grumble” about the decision are invited to look at examples overseas, such as Australia or the United Kingdom, where policy changes are leading to structural separation. “If the winds of change blow too hard and they refuse to bend in the wind, the tree may break at the trunk rather than lose a few leaves,” he said. Looking to others is part of the job for the Canadian regulator, with Blais meeting with counterparts from about 40 other countries last month. “We compare notes,” he said, acknowledging that “the Canadian regulatory framework has had a significant impact.” “We were the first to adopt French-language quotas for music on radio. The French then adopted them,” Blais said. “Our regulatory framework for supporting indigenous made-in-Canada content inspired a lot of the work of the South African regulator.” Canada’s proximity to the United States has helped in that respect, he said. “Perhaps because geography put us so close to the largest exporter of cultural product, we’ve been an innovator on some of the broadcasting issues and people look to us.” During his remarks, Blais called the differential pricing practices hearing held at the beginning of the month the “most crucial” on the CRTC’s fall schedule. While appearing in front of the panel on the final day of the week-long hearing, Barbara van Schewick, director of Stanford Law School’s Centre for Internet and Society, agreed with Blais that the outcome of the proceeding could be precedent setting. “On the telecom side, we had net neutrality rules, the framework was adopted even before the did anything on net neutrality,” Blais said. “I’m happy and everybody at the commission is proud of the fact we are seen as leaders in the regulatory sphere.” Blais also said he wasn’t expecting any changes to the relationship with the American regulator following last week’s federal election. In an interview with Scientific American published last week, Robert Atkinson, president of American think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), speculated that Jeffrey Eisenach, who has consulted with Canadian telecom companies, would be a likely candidate to lead the FCC under president-elect Donald Trump. “I’ve exchanged on a number of occasions with Tom Wheeler. He’s a nice guy. I like him,” Blais said, noting that the CRTC and FCC have memorandums of understanding and much in common. “And whoever is down there, we will work with. That’s the nature of our relationship.” — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

CRTC chair OK with being ‘disruptive showman’

Broadcast | November 16, 2016

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CRTC chair OK with being ‘disruptive showman’

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