Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has suggested the time has come for a review of the CRTC mandate. The fact that the government has intervened so many times in the last 18 months, obviously the review is long overdue.
The minister has suggested this review would be internal, a review conducted on the CRTC by the CRTC. Surely, this is a joke.
Last year the cabinet had no difficulty intervening in the CRTC process when satellite licensing became an issue. I suggest that was because Power DirecTv, also known as Desmarais, also known as the Prime Minister's son-in-law, was a licence bidder. In spite of cabinet interference, Power DirecTv still had to walk away from its licence.
Yesterday the cabinet was asked again to intervene with the CRTC on the satellite licensing process. It probably will not intervene this time because the Prime Minister's relatives are not involved.
This statement is an alert to the news media. Watch for the heritage minister to slip this cabinet non-decision passed you during the turmoil generated by today's budget story.