Mr. Speaker, Liberal backbenchers have written the heritage minister “When CRTC appointments come from an industry, make decisions favouring the same industry and then land jobs with companies which were subject to their decision, consumers can easily lose confidence”. What an understatement.
The Minister of Industry has said that he wants appointments to the CRTC to be people who share the Liberal vision. No fear Mr. Minister. The current board of the CRTC are Liberals and are connected either to former CRTC chair André Bureau, or to the person who appointed Mr. Bureau, the former Liberal minister of communications, Francis Fox, or to the heritage minister's former campaign manager's firm, Thornley Fallis, and they all have cable connections.
The Minister of Industry also said to the House “when you are before the CRTC somebody wins and somebody loses”. Right now Canadians are losing. I say to the minister: dismantle the current board before summer hearings, complete a thorough mandate review and if you can, make it politics free.