Ian Scott will be named the next chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on Tuesday, according to media reports.
Sources of The Globe and Mail and the Financial Post confirmed the appointment on Monday. Following a stint as the director of regulatory affairs at satellite communications provider Telesat Holdings Inc., Scott is a telecommunications industry veteran and has previously worked in the CRTC as well as the Competition Bureau.
His past experience also includes executive positions at Call-Net Enterprises and the Canadian Cable Television Association.
Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, reacted the appointment on Twitter saying that he doesn’t know Scott, but that the appointment is “generating a lot of concern with civil society” and “the optics aren’t great.”
1/x CRTC chair appointment generating a lot of concern w/civil society. Don’t know Ian Scott but optics aren’t great https://t.co/LJyIJPENq4
— Michael Geist (@mgeist) July 18, 2017
In a series of tweets, Geist continued that the choice may lead to less drama and confrontation at the CRTC and the Liberals have been consistent with their approach in their stance on selecting commissioners at different agencies.
Recently federal Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains asked the CRTC to review its decision to bar Sugar Mobile from accessing a roaming agreement on Rogers’ network. That decision has to be revisited by January.
