The communications industry was buzzing this week following a report that the Conservative government offered CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein positions as an ambassador or judge to encourage him to leave his post early.

Lawrence Martin, a columnist for The Globe and Mail, wrote this week that although von Fincksenstein’s appointment as chair of the CRTC does not end until Jan. 24, 2012, the Conservative government and Prime Minister Stephen Harper find him too “independently minded” and are trying to encourage him to leave “well before that date,” replacing him with “a rubber stamper.”

In confidential background interviews, The Wire Report canvassed six industry and regulatory insiders for their knowledge about the matter.

Two sources said outright that von Finckenstein has not held any discussions with the government about a new appointment, and that he has several big-ticket objectives that he wants to clear off his desk before 2012.

But another insider said rumours have been circulating that the government is prepared to offer the chairman a plum post—if he chose to leave early—and that the report about an ambassadorship in Chile is logical because he has family there.

The Wire Report asked Matthew Deacon, press secretary to Heritage Minister James Moore, whether the government had offered any new appointments to the CRTC chair, but Deacon did not answer the question directly.

Deacon sent talking points by email that said “Mr. von Finckenstein’s term ends on January 24, 2012,” and that “We continue to work at arms-length with the CRTC on broadcasting and telecom matters.”

Several insiders suggested that some industry stakeholders, not the government, are spinning the story about von Finckenstein leaving early in an attempt to diminish his credibility or even push him out early.

“I wonder whether there’s a little more mischief being played outside than in,” one industry source said, adding that the rumours could colour future CRTC decisions.

Another source agreed, saying: “The commission hasn’t created many friends in recent years.”

Insiders note that the Conservative government is at times frustrated with von Finckenstein’s independent nature, but point out that the CRTC arrives at its decisions through a 13-member commission panel, not at the discretion of the chair.

“It’s also not this government’s style to reward people they don’t like,” one industry source added.

In policy circles, it’s no secret that the Conservative government has disagreed with the commission’s approach to “fee for carriage”—or value for signal—with one regulatory source saying the Conservative government “hates” fee for carriage.

In an order-in-council in September 2009, the government asked the commission to study value for signal’s “impact on consumers.”

But the commission’s decision on the matter in March, if it is approved by the Federal Court of Appeal, will give private broadcasters the right to force open negotiations with cable and satellite distributors to determine value-for-signal deals.

The CRTC also deemed Globalive Communications Corp. to be foreign controlled after the Industry Department had awarded it spectrum during an auction in 2008.

The Conservative government overturned that decision last year, permitting Globalive to operate in Canada.

The Tories appointed von Finckenstein, former head of the Competition Bureau and former Federal Court justice, as CRTC chair in January 2007.

Two industry insiders said the Conservative government has not been happy with the way von Finckenstein has waded into legislative policy areas, such as his call for a converged telecom and broadcasting statute, a 49 per cent foreign investment restriction for the broadcasting and telecom sectors, or even weighing into the federal government’s 2009 copyright consultation with a submission.

Still, several sources said von Finckenstein is happy where he is and that he wants to see through major commission objectives such as the value for signal policy, group broadcasting licence renewals, the transition to digital television broadcasting, and basic telecom services policy.

Measuring von Finckenstein’s independence is a question of degrees, sources say, and CRTC policy decisions, they emphasize, are not his own.

“It’s all about the length of the arm,” one insider said, referring to the CRTC’s role as an arm’s length regulatory body. “And it’s not just this government.”

Previous Liberal governments have expressed frustration with the CRTC when it treaded into controversial policy areas or stepped on the government’s toes, the source said.

Insiders added that tensions between the regulator and the government are natural, and the government is likely to do what it can to "ease" those tensions.

CRTC vice-chair Michel Arpin, a Liberal-government appointee, is leaving the commission at the end of this month after the Conservative government did not renew his appointment.

But reappointments should never be assumed, one source pointed out, and the Tories naturally want to stack the commission with those who share their views.

As another insider said, stacking the commission is not really that different from stacking the Senate.

sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

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