WHILE HIS NAME MAY have been on every submission to the CRTC over the last four-plus years, few, if any know what Robert Morin thinks of Canadian cultural and telecom policy. That’s because he won’t say. It’s beyond his role.
He likens his now-former job as secretary-general of the CRTC (he retired this month) to that of a plumber, where it’s been his duty to make sure the plumbing, or the nuts and bolts of the Commission, work seamlessly and efficiently while policy and other national matters are developed and problems solved all around him. Basically, the type of house built around that plumbing, what sort of paint color and wall paper, carpeting and furniture don’t and shouldn’t matter to a secretary-general, he believes.
With an organization like the CRTC which oversees such an important sector of our economy and culture, “you need a plumber,” he told us in a recent interview. “That’s how Konrad described it many years ago… someone’s got to keep the trains going and stay out of the way of the people who do policy. So in order for them to concentrate on what they must do, then you need somebody inside who makes sure everything is ready for them and that you remove as many obstructions as possible to make sure that things run as smoothly as possible.”
For example, are there “problems with a public hearing? Technical issues? Issues with translators? These are the kinds of things that you don’t want them to be focusing on. So it’s the plumbing, as we call it,” he said.
That, and he had to manage hundreds of staffers, too. “Robert (right) was the ideal secretary general. He is an inspiring manager whom people liked and trusted. He made the place function efficiently, seemingly without effort. He genuinely likes people and always made everyone feel good with his little touches. For example, on international women’s day he bought a carnation for every woman and personally went through the building and gave one to each female employee,” said CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein.
Von Finckenstein and Morin go way back, as they say. When the chair was appointed back in January of 2007, Morin had already retired from many years in public service and was working as an executive coach. But when Diane Rheaume stepped down as secretary-general that year, von Finckenstein called his old friend and colleague. “I always said there were a couple of people I would come back to work for and Konrad was one of them,” said Morin.
Morin worked with von Finckenstein at the Competition Bureau when the latter was Commissioner of Competition and Morin, Deputy Commissioner. Prior to that the two spent many years working at Industry Canada where Morin would become secretary-general of Industry Canada and von Finckenstein, Assistant Deputy Minister. Morin knew Ottawa and the companies regulated by CRTC policies well before his hiring as SG.
“He was the perfect liaison with our stakeholders and made them feel valued and respected,” continued von Finckenstein. “For instance he thanked them for coming to our hearings, something no one had ever done or thought of doing.
“He is a great networker, knows basically everyone in town and puts his knowledge to good use. Under him our relations with central agencies ( the bane of most departments) were always co-operative, friendly and productive. In addition he was the link between staff and commissioners who both relied on his advice and guidance. Most of all he was always cheerful, respected people and made them feel valued.
“For me he was the ideal colleague, confidante, problem solver and golf partner. If you allow me a bit of hyperbole, Florence was run by Lorenzo, il magnifico, the CRTC was run by Roberto, il magnifico.”
Morin, in case anyone was wondering, has no desire to be chair of the CRTC when his friend’s term ends in the new year. “I don’t think that’s a job that would interest me,” he said. “It’s a huge job. It’s with you 24 hours a day. In the last five years when you look at convergence and all these other things that are going on, look at what didn’t exist five years ago: over-the-top, UBB issues, and all kinds of these policy things that they have to deal with… It’s fast and it’s complex.”
But ask the former SG about his favourite hearing or his thoughts on telecom or broadcasting policy and you won’t get very far. “When I say I stay out of the policy side I really mean it. If I become involved in policy I lose my neutrality, and I need to be neutral for all the staff, the commissioners, for the industry, and for Ottawa… If I start getting involved and having opinions on some of those points, then I lose my neutrality and I think I become ineffective as a secretary-general,” he explained.
So what advice does he have for the new man, John Traversy? “I’ve always worked from four pillars in this job. One of them is you’ve got to protect the staff. You are really responsible for how people feel inside the organization. Another pillar is the relationship with the commissioners, which is very different than that of the staff. Another one is the industry. I think I’ve been accessible to the industry and never had an issue with the industry because I always knew what my role was. The last one is basically the central agencies in Ottawa – how Ottawa works. Those are the four things… that have been successful for me as far as I can see.”
The closest Morin came to a policy opinion is when we talked about the difficulty of a Commission trying to work as one while dealing with two well-worn, quite distinct pieces of legislation, The Telecom Act and the Broadcasting Act. “How you organize structurally inside is you try and converge those files as much as you can where they need to be,” Morin said, “but you still have, as you say, the silos of the way the Acts are. Maybe someday when they deal with the Acts, some of that will be fixed.”
And how should those Acts be rewritten, or dealt with? “Carefully,” he said.
What Morin is most proud of, though, is the level of transparency in CRTC proceedings (and as a long-time observer of the Commission, we can say its level of openness is unprecedented) and the work done to make them as accessible as possible to as many Canadians as possible.
“One of the great successes in this public hearing process is that it really is a transparent public hearing process. We call and people come – and to me that’s a huge satisfaction,” he said. “Another of the things that we’re very happy about is introducing the whole videoconferencing system a few years ago. It’s a bit of a burden on us from a technological point of view and even a cost factor at times (but) at the accessibility hearing, for instance, we had people all over the country who didn’t have to show up here, who were able to appear before the panel, and that was a huge satisfaction.”
Every regional commissioner’s office is now set up for videoconferencing and every CRTC public hearing is webcast so that any Canadian can at least listen in online. As well, the great stacks of binders that marked the hearing rooms for so long have been diminished over the past few years so that commissioners need only be armed with their laptops during hearings – which can also make those commissioners more timely with their questioning. “As you might notice if you’re at a hearing, somebody will say something and 15 minutes later a commissioner will come back and say, ‘hey, I just went on your web site, and that’s not what it says’,” recalled Morin.
Given the pride he has in the Commission’s transparency and technological progress, we asked him if there’s anything he would have done differently, if he could.
“I would have discovered this industry 20 years ago,” he said. “It’s a fun, fun industry. I like the attitude of the people in it. I like the staff here and how committed they are – and just the fact that it moves quickly. It’s so important to the whole Canadian community… It’s got all of those elements that I really like. I would call it my best experience, having discovered it, wishing that I would have discovered it many years ago.”
And to hear the regulatory folks from the companies in the industry, they will miss him as SG of the Commission, too.
“Robert Morin will be missed by the industry. He was able to manage a complex and extremely busy operation, a very heavy hearing workload, all the while ensuring the timely issuance of decisions,” said Mirko Bibic, SVP of regulatory and government affairs for Bell Canada. “In doing so, he treated industry stakeholders and all those with whom he came into contact with integrity, patience and respect. He brought a sense of calm to even the most highly-charged situations, thus drawing out the best in people. For that, he deserves our utmost appreciation.”
Added Michael Hennessy, senior VP of regulatory and government affairs at Telus: “Robert is without peer as a true gentleman and decent human being. I think the tremendous change in morale at the CRTC rests with him and his willingness to engage virtually every individual staffer at the CRTC from the heart. I am better for knowing him.”
