CAN’T. HELP. MYSELF.
I’ve told everyone who’s listened to me of late that I won’t write any more speculation on who will be the new chair of the CRTC. “I look foolish,” and “I’m tired of being wrong,” is what I keep telling people. We’ve speculated here throughout the year, we’ve been wrong quite a bit, and since these are real people with real feelings and aspirations, we do take these sorts of stories seriously before putting names out there into the ether, even if our tone sounds a little flippant.
That said, a good publication is also supposed to reflect what its readers are talking about and good lord, are people talking about this! Not for attribution of course, but jeepers, it is on everyone’s minds and is invariably the first question I am asked these days.
Last month, Jean-Pierre Blais was the latest “about to be announced any day now” candidate. A former executive director, broadcasting at the CRTC (during CRTC chair Francoise Bertrand’s tenure), former assistant deputy minister of international and intergovernmental affairs and former ADM of cultural affairs both at the Department of Canadian Heritage – and current assistant secretary of the government operations sector at the Treasury Board, he is still thought by most to be the next CRTC chair which the federal government will announce just before Parliament breaks for the summer near the end of this month.
He was the senior bureaucrat in charge of the federal government’s pre-budget strategic and operating review, so he is quite familiar now to the Conservative cabinet and MPs. However… since he has not been announced as yet, other theories are bubbling to the surface. Ottawa being Ottawa, some believe that because his name appeared in the media, he was immediately dropped as a candidate for CRTC chair because the Prime Minister’s Office was angered by the leak. Some others think his name was simply floated as a trial balloon by those who would like to see him hired (or by those who don’t want to see him hired) to see what would happen.
Following on that, there is a cabinet shuffle in the works for this month, many in the nation’s capital believe. Part of that shuffle, our sources say, will see Heritage Minister James Moore promoted to the Department of Defence, or Transportation, and former Industry Minister Maxime Bernier named as Heritage Minister. The Conservative MP from Beauce, so continues this theory, would then spearhead the appointment of current vice-chair broadcasting and fellow conservative (small-c) Quebecker Tom Pentefountas as chairman of the CRTC.
Honestly, this is all a bit exhausting to follow but it is on the tips of many tongues this week in cable, radio, television and telecom. Take it with the biggest grain of salt you can find.
