Evidence of meeting #21 for Canadian Heritage in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was qualifications.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
I call this meeting to order.
I understand Mr. Fast has something to say first, please.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Chair, Mr. Patrone is here before us. His nomination was tabled in the House this morning, I believe. Can someone confirm that? Can our staff confirm that his appointment was tabled this morning? That's my understanding.
3:35 p.m.
A voice
Yes.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
All right.
I just want to confirm that this hearing is proceeding under Standing Orders 110 and 111, and that we will proceed on that basis.
3:35 p.m.
A voice
Is there a motion, Chair, as opposed to...?
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I think if he weren't an appointee, it would have to come under a different standing order.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
If you read the motion I presented, it said it's with regard to his appointment with the CRTC.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Welcome to meeting 21 of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Pursuant to Standing Orders 110 and 111, we are considering the appointment of Marc Patrone as a member of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the CRTC.
Welcome, Mr. Patrone.
March 11th, 2008 / 3:35 p.m.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
On a point of order, Mr. Chair, I'm confused now with the number of standing orders that have been thrown around.
The agenda today says “pursuant to Standing Order 108(2)”, and Mr. Fast has introduced some other numbers. Without a copy of the standing orders in front of me right now, I'm concerned that there is something I need to know about here. Could you explain why the agenda differs from what you just said?
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Mr. Patrone has been gazetted and then presented as a member of the CRTC. With that, he is a member of the CRTC and has been gazetted and presented to the House of Commons. When the bulletin was put together, he was not yet a member; he had not passed through that. He was then coming before the committee under Standing Order 108(2). Now he's under Standing Orders 110 and 111 as a member of the CRTC, and the questioning is pursuant to that.
Welcome, Mr. Patrone. We'll start with your opening statement, please, sir.
3:35 p.m.
Marc Patrone Designated as member of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), As an Individual
Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, and assembled guests.
l'd like to thank you all for the opportunity to meet with you and talk with you about my recent appointment as a full-time member of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
As you know, the CRTC oversees the broadcasting and telecommunications industries. These two industries employ thousands of people and occupy a vital place in the daily lives of Canadians, so this is, without a doubt, a very important appointment, and one I take very seriously. It's only natural that the members of this committee do too.
Before I get to my qualifications, please allow me a minute to tell you a little bit about myself.
I was born and raised in Toronto. l'm a first-generation Canadian. My parents came to this country from Italy during the 1950s. Were they alive today, I have no doubt they would be extremely proud of this appointment. Those with immigrant parents will know what I mean.
Many of my relatives came through Pier 21 in Halifax before moving on to Toronto, where most of them still live. While I was growing up, my family was very much involved in the city's Italian community, and my upbringing gave me a strong appreciation for Canada's multicultural society.
l attended Centennial College, where l completed a three-year broadcasting course. Not long after my graduation, l began working full time at Citytv and later at MuchMusic. My duties were mostly of a technical nature for the first seven years of my career. It was there the CRTC and its rules and regulations all became part of my daily working life. In master control, for instance, we had to stick to content and regulatory rules.
Those were the early days, especially in television, and Citytv was breaking new ground by airing cutting-edge programs, which meant we all had to be mindful of the CRTC's rules. Words like satellite coordinates, simulcasts, Canadian content, cable TV, and specialty channels all became part of my vocabulary and stayed there as l went to work for MuchMusic.
l later worked in the cable industry with CUC in Scarborough and gained an appreciation for community access television. Within nine months l'd caught the attention of what was then ATV and was soon working for CHUM all over again, this time in the Maritimes, managing a news bureau in Bathurst, New Brunswick. It was a one-person operation, and for two and a half years l pretty much did it all. It was everything from dealing with satellite feeds to meeting the editorial demands of a huge area stretching from Quebec to the fishing communities along the Acadian Peninsula and south to the Miramichi.
I quickly gained an appreciation for the issues associated with broadcasting in the regions. I also learned some French during my time in Bathurst, which has given me a foundation I intend to build upon.
I've spent the last 14 and a half years at CTV Atlantic, working as a reporter, producer, writer, and anchor. Nine of those years were spent covering the Nova Scotia legislature, during which time I covered three premiers and eight provincial budgets.
Business reporting became a keen interest of mine, and I filed for Report on Business TV, as well as for CTV National and Newsnet.
Three years ago I was invited to run as a Conservative in Dartmouth--Cole Harbour. As an immigrant son from a humble background, I was genuinely thrilled to have been offered this opportunity. I thought long and hard about it and considered several factors before reaching my decision. As a journalist, I had spent almost a decade covering politics and had developed a keen interest in public policy issues. I was also eager to take on a new challenge.
It soon became obvious that there would be no election, and rather than remain in limbo I returned to CTV after an absence of only four weeks. I was happy to return to what I had been doing for almost a quarter of a century by that point. That was three years ago, and I have not been politically active since.
I'm proud to say I went on to do perhaps much of my best work when I returned to CTV. I continued to increase my profile and gain the respect of colleagues in the industry. My stories were regularly picked up by CTV's national affiliates and other national networks.
One of the most important lessons I learned as a TV journalist was that I had to be accountable to viewers. I had to earn their trust each and every day. You can be sure that viewers let you know whether or not you're doing a good job.
Although my appointment to the CRTC marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life, I see my role in a similar light. We must never lose sight of the fact that the airwaves belong to the public. We must ensure that Canadian voices are heard and Canadian stories are told throughout our broadcasting system.
This is a critical time for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries. As you know, the world is changing when you can view TV clips on your cellphone or sign up for home phone service with a cable company. It's an exciting time to join the CRTC, and I'm absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to bring another east coast perspective to the regulator.
Given my understanding of the realities of life outside central Canada and my experience in broadcasting, I look forward to making a positive contribution to the commission.
I would be happy now to answer any questions you might have. Thank you.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Through you, Mr. Chairman, to Mr. Patrone, welcome to Parliament Hill. You have interviewed me in Halifax, of course, before. It's kind of interesting to have this reversal of roles, as you can imagine.
3:40 p.m.
Designated as member of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), As an Individual
“Interesting” is a good word.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
It doesn't happen a whole lot for us politicians.
As you understand, I'm sure, it is the responsibility of us on the committee to examine the decision of the government in relation to your appointment. So we have to talk about your qualifications and your background; you understand that. The intent here is to focus on the government's decision itself. That's what this is all about. So if I can—
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Excuse me. I think we're interested in the qualifications of the applicant, not the government's decision.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Mr. Chairman, with all due respect, the reason we're interested in the qualifications of the applicant is that we're here to hold the government to account to consider its performance in making decisions, and in this case the decision to appoint this particular applicant to the CRTC.
So I would argue that that's the reason we're looking at the qualifications.
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
I would argue that we want to know the qualifications, yes. Ask questions about the qualifications of Mr. Patrone.
3:40 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Thank you.
Now let me talk about your background a little bit in terms of your business experience, if I may.
Prior to February 26, what was your position with a company listed with the Registry of Joint Stock Companies as Alivion Entertainment Inc.?
3:40 p.m.
Designated as member of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), As an Individual
Mr. Chair, through you to the member, that was my wife's company. I had co-signed a loan because she needed my help in order to gain financing. She ran the company. As you can well appreciate, I had a career and a full-time job, so I was in no position to get too involved with my wife's endeavours. However, she did run it for a while, and I was listed as co-signing for financing. I believe I was listed as a director. I'm no longer listed that way.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Mr. Chair, through you, just to be clear, I don't think anybody would say there's a problem with the fact that somebody has had difficulties in a business; whether it was you personally, your spouse, or what have you, the fact is that there are lots of entrepreneurs who become multi-millionaires who had problems and setbacks along the way. That isn't the concern I have.
The concern is that you were listed as secretary of the company until February 26, which was the same day as the story appeared in the Chronicle Herald in Halifax that you were being appointed to that. The question I guess it raises is, were you in fact trying to sanitize your resumé by coming off the company at that time because it was having problems?
3:45 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
On a point of order, Mr. Chair, that's totally inappropriate.
What Mr. Regan is trying to do is dig into the personal life of Mr. Patrone and avoid focusing on the qualifications he brings to this job. We've already established that this is a review under Standing Orders 110 and 111. It's appropriate for Mr. Regan to address questions to Mr. Patrone on his qualifications. I think we're already starting to diverge from that.
3:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Schellenberger
Again, I must say we're worried about the qualifications of Mr. Patrone in this particular instance. We're not going to go off stream here. So ask about qualifications, please.