Call me ‘pro-public interest,’ new CRTC boss says
There’s a lineup for attention from Ian Scott, the new chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
Whether stakeholders want to open the wireless market to more competition, stop U.S. ads from playing during Canadian broadcasts of the Super Bowl or expand funding for made-in-Canada television programming, Scott has a cacophony of voices to tune into as he leads the regulator that oversees the country’s $66-billion communications industry.
But when it comes to this balancing act, Scott, who started his career in the public service before becoming a telecom executive, said he doesn’t have top priorities. Rather, he sees his role as responding to files in a timely and fair manner whether industry or government raised the issue.
“I don’t really make the call about what the top priorities are … the agenda is already pretty well established, and frankly it’s quite full,” Scott said in an interview Thursday, his first with the Financial Post since he began his fiveyear tenure in early September.
“My priority is to get to work and do the best job we can do.”
Scott is taking the helm at the CRTC after the departure of JeanPierre Blais, a career public servant who was known for his proconsumer agenda, a commanding leadership style and priding himself on standing up to industry.
Scott previously worked at Telesat Canada and Telus Corp. in roles that included lobbying the government, as well as the Competition Bureau and CRTC.
Since the government announced Scott as chairman in July, speculation has floated over whether his telecom industry background will slant his decisions pro-industry. “Look, my CV is no secret,” Scott said.
But he pointed out he’ll have spent about half his career in the public service by the end of his term as chair. He always hoped to return to the public sector, he said, as he finds it “more fun and intellectually stimulating ” to deal with the issues from the public interest perspective.
“As to the pro-industry or proconsumer, I don’t really like those labels. If you’re going to give me a label, how about pro-public interest ‘cause that’s the one I’m most comfortable with.”
And no, he said he’s not “really a telecom guy as opposed to a broadcasting guy.”
“In a nutshell. I wouldn’t say one is more important than the other. They’re all equally important and we’ll do our job as well as we can in all of these areas,” he said.
Scott also emphasized that he is just one of a number of commissioners with one vote each (there are currently seven, with the CRTC looking to fill at least two more spots after an extended series of vacancies). The other part of his job is to run the agency efficiently and to make good use of taxpayer funds, he said.
He hopes to continue Blais’s push to include as many Canadians as possible in consultation processes, such as reaching out to people on online platforms like Reddit. Other than that, he wouldn’t comment on any of his predecessors’ decisions.
Scott takes the helm after the government took the unusual step of asking the CRTC to reconsider two decisions: one on opening the wireless market to mobile virtual network operators, the other on how much broadcasters must spend on Canadian television programming. The government also announced plans to revamp the telecom and broadcasting acts that govern the CRTC.
He won’t comment on any decision currently before the commission, but said any legislative changes won’t affect the pace of work as the CRTC moves forward under the existing rules.
He said the CRTC is “happy to help” if the governments wants any advice on proposed legislative changes.
The first shakeup could come as early as next week when Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, whose ministry is responsible for the CRTC, announces her long-awaited plan to promote Canadian content in the digital era.