GATINEAU – CRTC vice-chairman, telecom, Len Katz, has been elected acting chairman of the CRTC, the Commission confirmed Wednesday morning.
He will remain as acting, or interim, chair until such time as the Government of Canada names a new chairperson. Katz has been serving as vice-chairman of telecommunications since October 2007, and was previously the executive director of broadcasting and telecommunications. Before joining the CRTC, Katz spent 30 years in the private sector as president and COO of Digimerge Technologies and president of Rogers Business Solutions, among other senior roles. (And Cartt.ca profiled him here).
Under the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, CRTC commissioners may authorize one of the vice-chairpersons as acting chairperson when a Governor-in-Council appointment has not been made. Since the feds have not yet made a selection, Katz, as most were assuming would happen, was made acting chair over vice-chair broadcasting Tom Pentefountas. The mandate of the previous chairman, Konrad von Finckenstein, ended Tuesday.
“I am sure that Len can count on your help and support during this transition. Please join me in congratulating Mr. Katz and wishing him well as Acting Chairman of the CRTC,” reads a memo to staff by secretary-general John Traversy.
