GATINEAU – Leave it to CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein to set the record straight.
In a letter to the editor of the Globe and Mail on Wednesday, von Finckenstein strongly denied that the Prime Minister’s Office was in any way trying to pressure the CRTC on a decision around Quebecor’s application for its SunTV News channel.
“I would like to categorically state that no one at any level of government has approached me about the Sun TV application, the appointment of the CRTC’s vice-chair of broadcasting, or my own mandate”, he wrote. “Quebecor’s application is being treated according to the CRTC’s well-established processes. The application was published on Sept. 1 for comment, and a public hearing will be held in Gatineau, Que., starting on Nov. 19. The CRTC will then make a decision on the basis of the evidence on the public record.”
His remarks come in response to a recent Globe and Mail column that questioned the CRTC’s independence as a regulatory body, and suggested that Prime Minister Harper would like to cut short von Finckenstein’s term as CRTC chair.
Sources tell Cartt.ca that both the PMO and Industry Minister Clement’s office have stayed well away from the application in order to avoid any allegations of interference. But that has not quelled a flurry of gossip and innuendo surrounding the SunTV News application, as Cartt.ca has reported here and here.
– Lesley Hunter
