CRTC chairman under fire over one-on-one meetings with big telecom lobbyists
Anja Karadeglija
Meetings that Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission chairman Ian Scott had with lobbyists from big telecom companies – including a one-on-one at an Ottawa pub with the now-CEO of Bell – are further reasons to overturn a recent CRTC decision and fire Scott, a small internet provider told the Liberal government.
© Provided by National Post CRTC Chairman Ian Scott.
TekSavvy has filed a petition to the federal cabinet asking it to reverse the CRTC’s May decision not to lower internet wholesale rates. Critics have said that surprise ruling, in which the CRTC reversed a 2019 decision that lowered rates, will lead to higher internet service prices for Canadians.
MPs on the House of Commons industry committee also weighed in on the decision in a report released this week, saying they were “very frustrated with the CRTC’s decision to cancel the new wholesale rates.”
“The committee questions this change of direction by the CRTC,” it said.
TekSavvy announced Thursday it has filed additional evidence, based on lobbying records, that Scott held “numerous ex parte meetings with litigants with open CRTC files, apparently unaccompanied.”
“In particular, Mr. Scott held at least 11 reported solo meetings with Bell, Rogers or Shaw during the course of the CRTC’s open and active file,” TekSavvy said in a press release.
“Remarkably, at least one of Mr. Scott’s ex parte meetings took place in a social setting, alone, with the CEO of one of the primary litigants in the open file. Mr. Scott met one-on-one with Mirko Bibic, then chief operating officer of Bell (and now CEO) at D’Arcy McGee’s, an Ottawa bar on December 19, 2019.”
TekSavvy, which declined an interview request Friday, is urging the government to fire the CRTC chairman for bias.
Calls for federal government to reverse decision on internet wholesale rates, fire CRTC head
'Boggling' CRTC flip-flop on wholesale internet rates could mean higher prices for consumers: critics
The company pointed out the meeting with Bibic was held a week after the CRTC began the review of its 2019 decision to lower the rates. That review application was part of an effort by the country’s biggest telecom companies to fight the lower rates through every avenue available to them, including the courts and an appeal to cabinet.
Four years ago the Liberal government fired CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan for reasons including meetings with stakeholders who had open files in front of the commission. Shoan later argued in court documents that such meetings are commonplace, and that given some companies file more than a dozen CRTC applications a year, they’d never have a chance to meet with the commission if that rule was followed.
The meetings between Scott and the large telecoms were first reported by the Toronto Star earlier this month. A former CRTC chairman told the Star that when he was at the commission, his practice was to include a third party in meetings with lobbyists, while a former vice-chair said the recommended practice was to have such meetings in the office and have a third party present.
Asked whether the CRTC has any policies about meeting with lobbyists, spokesperson Patricia Valladao said that prior to accepting such meetings, “it is always established by parties that matters that are in front of the commission are not to be discussed.”
“To better understand the Canadian communications industry, CRTC staff and commissioners routinely meet with stakeholders, including consumer groups. These meetings must comply with the reporting obligations set out in the Lobbying Act,” Valladao said in an email.
A Bell spokesperson said Scott’s meeting with Bibic “in the public establishment, a busy and popular meeting place in Ottawa for government officials, public servants and news media,” was registered in the federal lobby registry, with broadcasting as the topic of discussion.
“Meetings between Bell representatives and government officials cover a range of topics including broadcasting and telecom policy, infrastructure development and technology issues. These meetings occur regularly and are registered in the federal lobby registry as required,” the spokesperson said.
In its report on the affordability of telecommunications services released this week, the House industry committee said that during its study, independent ISPs “repeatedly stressed the importance of implementing” the lower wholesale rates “to provide affordable services to their customers and thereby put downward pressure on the price of services offered” by incumbent telecom companies.
It said the decision not to lower rates, alongside a separate CRTC ruling on wireless wholesale access, doesn’t meet “Canadians’ expectations of affordability in the telecommunications sector.”
“They certainly do not advance this objective as much as they should, and the Committee believes that the CRTC should do more to address affordability,” it said.
The committee added the “federal government should intervene to encourage the CRTC to put in place decisions that promote specific objectives, including affordability and accessibility.”
Among 16 recommendations, the committee said the CRTC should set standards for what makes an affordable rate.
“While prices have gone down in recent years, they are still too high for much of the population. The Committee is aware that some people have to choose between buying food and paying their bills for telecommunications services,” the report outlined.
The committee also took aim at the process that has seen the implementation of new CRTC rates drag for years.
It said the government should “issue a directive to encourage the CRTC to revise its process for implementing and appealing new rates so that incumbent telecommunications service providers stop using the appeals process as a delay tactic.”
TekSavvy has filed a petition to the federal cabinet asking it to reverse the CRTC’s May decision not to lower internet wholesale rates. Critics have said that surprise ruling, in which the CRTC reversed a 2019 decision that lowered rates, will lead to higher internet service prices for Canadians.
MPs on the House of Commons industry committee also weighed in on the decision in a report released this week, saying they were “very frustrated with the CRTC’s decision to cancel the new wholesale rates.”
“The committee questions this change of direction by the CRTC,” it said.
TekSavvy announced Thursday it has filed additional evidence, based on lobbying records, that Scott held “numerous ex parte meetings with litigants with open CRTC files, apparently unaccompanied.”
“In particular, Mr. Scott held at least 11 reported solo meetings with Bell, Rogers or Shaw during the course of the CRTC’s open and active file,” TekSavvy said in a press release.
“Remarkably, at least one of Mr. Scott’s ex parte meetings took place in a social setting, alone, with the CEO of one of the primary litigants in the open file. Mr. Scott met one-on-one with Mirko Bibic, then chief operating officer of Bell (and now CEO) at D’Arcy McGee’s, an Ottawa bar on December 19, 2019.”
TekSavvy, which declined an interview request Friday, is urging the government to fire the CRTC chairman for bias.
Calls for federal government to reverse decision on internet wholesale rates, fire CRTC head
'Boggling' CRTC flip-flop on wholesale internet rates could mean higher prices for consumers: critics
The company pointed out the meeting with Bibic was held a week after the CRTC began the review of its 2019 decision to lower the rates. That review application was part of an effort by the country’s biggest telecom companies to fight the lower rates through every avenue available to them, including the courts and an appeal to cabinet.
Four years ago the Liberal government fired CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan for reasons including meetings with stakeholders who had open files in front of the commission. Shoan later argued in court documents that such meetings are commonplace, and that given some companies file more than a dozen CRTC applications a year, they’d never have a chance to meet with the commission if that rule was followed.
The meetings between Scott and the large telecoms were first reported by the Toronto Star earlier this month. A former CRTC chairman told the Star that when he was at the commission, his practice was to include a third party in meetings with lobbyists, while a former vice-chair said the recommended practice was to have such meetings in the office and have a third party present.
Asked whether the CRTC has any policies about meeting with lobbyists, spokesperson Patricia Valladao said that prior to accepting such meetings, “it is always established by parties that matters that are in front of the commission are not to be discussed.”
“To better understand the Canadian communications industry, CRTC staff and commissioners routinely meet with stakeholders, including consumer groups. These meetings must comply with the reporting obligations set out in the Lobbying Act,” Valladao said in an email.
A Bell spokesperson said Scott’s meeting with Bibic “in the public establishment, a busy and popular meeting place in Ottawa for government officials, public servants and news media,” was registered in the federal lobby registry, with broadcasting as the topic of discussion.
“Meetings between Bell representatives and government officials cover a range of topics including broadcasting and telecom policy, infrastructure development and technology issues. These meetings occur regularly and are registered in the federal lobby registry as required,” the spokesperson said.
In its report on the affordability of telecommunications services released this week, the House industry committee said that during its study, independent ISPs “repeatedly stressed the importance of implementing” the lower wholesale rates “to provide affordable services to their customers and thereby put downward pressure on the price of services offered” by incumbent telecom companies.
It said the decision not to lower rates, alongside a separate CRTC ruling on wireless wholesale access, doesn’t meet “Canadians’ expectations of affordability in the telecommunications sector.”
“They certainly do not advance this objective as much as they should, and the Committee believes that the CRTC should do more to address affordability,” it said.
The committee added the “federal government should intervene to encourage the CRTC to put in place decisions that promote specific objectives, including affordability and accessibility.”
Among 16 recommendations, the committee said the CRTC should set standards for what makes an affordable rate.
“While prices have gone down in recent years, they are still too high for much of the population. The Committee is aware that some people have to choose between buying food and paying their bills for telecommunications services,” the report outlined.
The committee also took aim at the process that has seen the implementation of new CRTC rates drag for years.
It said the government should “issue a directive to encourage the CRTC to revise its process for implementing and appealing new rates so that incumbent telecommunications service providers stop using the appeals process as a delay tactic.”
No comments:
Post a Comment