Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Former CRTC commissioner hired at Sun News

A commissioner at the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission has left his post after five years to join Sun News, as the broadcaster seeks “must carry” status.

Marc Patrone’s contract with the CRTC ended on March 18. He is now the Sun News Network’s director of news operations for Western Canada.

The Chronicle Herald reported Patrone’s new job Friday, and CTV confirmed the move.

Sun News vice-president Kory Teneycke sent an email to CTV News showing that the federal conflict of interest commissioner approved Patrone’s hiring.

In a letter, the commissioner’s office noted that Patrone’s dealings with Quebecor Media took place more than one year before his last day his last day at the CRTC and were not related to Sun News Network’s licencing interests. As a result, he was not violating his post-employment obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act, the letter said.

Sun Media is asking the CRTC to grant its news channel “mandatory carriage.” If approved, cable and satellite customers across Canada will be paying to have its news channel as part of their TV packages.

On Thursday, a well-placed source told CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife that Sen. Mike Duffy approached a Conservative insider with connections to the CRTC three weeks ago to discuss Sun Media.

“You know people at the CRTC,” the insider quoted Duffy as saying. “This is an important decision on Sun Media. They have to play with the team and support Sun Media’s request.”

Original Article
Source: ctvnews.ca
Author: CTVNews.ca Staff 

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