CRTC shouldn’t have ‘a particular slant,’ new chairman says

As the head of an organization that must hear and decide on issues that often pit industry against consumer advocates, CRTC chairman Ian Scott, at the beginning of his five-year term, is charting a neutral course. “Do I want good relations with industry? Yes. Do I want good relationships with consumer groups? Yes. Individual consumers The commission shouldn’t have, in my view, a particular slant towards any of these things,” Scott said in a phone interview Friday. “Yes, it’s important to have open and constructive communications, but not just with industry, with all groups that appear before us.” He added that the regulator hopes to continue and build on work his predecessor, Jean-Pierre Blais, did to reach out to Canadians. “So the whole aspect of consumer education, helping them make better choices and making them aware of their competitive alternatives is all very important,” he added. In his first statement after beginning his five-year mandate earlier this month, Scott said the CRTC’s role is to regulate in the public interest. “Pro-consumer and pro-industry are just labels, and I’m frankly uncomfortable with them,” he said Friday. “So when asked, what are you, I’m emphasizing the fact that the commission’s work is to regulate in the public interest, and the public interest by definition includes protecting consumers and promoting competition.” He added: “Our job is to balance all those competing objectives and come out with a decision in a timely manner that’s in the public interest.” In contrast, the previous CRTC chairman took an explicitly pro-consumer stance during his term, which led to a sometimes-antagonistic relationship with industry, while Scott’s background as telecom industry executive has lead to some concern from advocacy groups who had been hoping to see someone from a consumer rights background in the role. Scott said that when he’s asked about whether he’s concerned about appearances, given that industry background, “the short answer is no, I’m not. I have a pretty balanced career in terms of working both in the public sector and the private sector. I’ve had exposure to all these areas.” Regarding the benefits of having an extensive background in the industry — something that hasn’t necessarily been the case for previous chairmen — Scott said that “obviously, it’s helpful in this job to have some sector-specific knowledge. I do have a reasonable amount of knowledge about the telecom sector, as well as the broadcast sector. And frankly, consumer protection issues.” When it comes to his plans and goals he hopes to achieve, Scott pointed to what’s already on the commission’s agenda. “When asked, what’s the next step, what am I going to do, well, we have a whole bunch of work in front of us, whether it’s applications by various stakeholders, whether it’s matters referred to us by the government, or whether it’s our ongoing work protecting and educating consumers. I mean, we’ve got a full agenda, and we’re going to go to work,” he said. “It isn’t to me a question where is the commission heading. We’re just going to and set about and do our jobs.” He also declined to pick out issues or files that might be especially significant. “It’s because one area is not more important than the other… they’re all important. If it’s a small cable operator or a small broadcaster that comes to us with an application, it may be the most important thing for their company’s future or for their customers. For that matter, a customer complaint, what’s the most important thing for that customer? It’s their complaint. So it’s all in the eye of the beholder.” Still, there are likely to be significant challenges the CRTC will have to deal with over the next five years, from new technologies that are transforming consumer habits and the industry, to a potential change in the framework the CRTC uses to make its decisions, given the government’s plans to modernize the Broadcasting Act and Telecom Act. “We’re facing a time of fundamental technological change. All of the models are under pressure to a varying extent. We have changes in consumer demand. We have change in technology. Consumer expectations and even government policy framework is under consideration,” Scott said. “So the answer to which is most difficult, they’re all complex, but we’ll deal with them all as they arrive.” That includes any demands to reverse course from decisions made under the previous chairman, as some have predicted could happen. “I’m not going to provide commentary on past commission decisions. They speak for themselves, and we’ll deal with matters as they arrive in front of us,” Scott said. “As to specific matters, we go about our work in the way we always do. Someone makes an application, we develop a public record, and then we’ll consider it.” — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca

CRTC shouldn’t have ‘a particular slant,’ new chairman says

Broadcast | September 22, 2017

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