OTTAWA – One of the most critical aspects of developing regulation is to actively engage Canadians in their formulation, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais told the annual workshop of the Community of Federal Regulators in Ottawa on Monday.
The CRTC’s new approach of “reaching out to Canadians as citizens, creators and consumers” has both taught some valuable lessons and helped the Commission to become “a more responsive regulator”, he said.
Sharing the process around the creation of the new wireless code of conduct, Blais said that the Commission used social media to solicit feedback and draw Canadians in to the issue, resulting in over 4,000 comments. It also used Skype to allow people to “appear” remotely at the hearing.
“We decided to leave the (online) discussion forum open during the public hearing itself – a first for the Commission”, he said. “This gave us the ability to bring the public’s input directly into the discussion, sometimes challenging corporate executives in real-time. They would claim one thing – and we could immediately question them using a message from someone listening to the proceedings with a very different story to tell.”
Encouraging regulators to know their audiences and to tailor their engagement approach to the issue, Blais admitted that trying new things is no guarantee of success. But engagement means that regulators must “shift from the status quo to experimentation”.
“One thing we can all count on is the need to continually re-invent ourselves to remain responsive to a fast-changing environment”, he concluded. “Consulting sincerely and with authenticity, and communicating openly with Canadians, will help to ensure we are the very best regulators we can possibly be in this age of relentless change.”