{"id":19303,"date":"2025-10-06T05:03:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T09:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19303"},"modified":"2025-10-05T12:44:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T16:44:54","slug":"is-it-time-to-disband-the-crtc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19303","title":{"rendered":"Is it time to disband the CRTC?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is it time to disband the CRTC? Has it outlived its purpose?<\/p>\n

Those questions were stimulated by an article I read last week about its US counterpart, the FCC. “It\u2019s Time to Disband the Federal Communications Commission”<\/a> was authored by Mark Jamison<\/a>, the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida\u2019s Warrington College of Business<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why disband the FCC? Because it has become a convenient political tool, it too often abandons its independence, and the very reasons for its creation in 1934 have disappeared. As others and I have noted, the FCC was designed to regulate the old Bell telephone monopoly and to oversee the public airwaves. Independence mattered because regulated businesses needed stability across administrations to make the massive infrastructure investments needed for expanding our networks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As evidence of the FCC’s loss of political independence, Professor Jamison cites a 2015 net neutrality decision as driven by the White House, saying that it was “widely derided for being devoid of sound economic reasoning.” You will recall that I have been critical<\/a> of the CRTC’s approach to a number of internet policy decisions.<\/p>\n

And so, we must ask: What is the FCC for today? The answer: very little. The telecommunications monopoly it was built to police no longer exists. Many of its consumer protection and equipment authorization functions could easily be handled by other agencies. Emergency services oversight does not require an independent body. International relations, homeland security, and policy analysis already overlap with other federal departments.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Professor Jamison says there are 2 remaining functions, saying that neither requires the FCC to manage: Spectrum management; and the universal service subsidy.<\/p>\n

Should we read his article and consider whether it is also time to disband the CRTC? We should at least be thinking about what reforms are necessary, and what efficiencies can be achieved through regulatory reform. <\/p>\n

Two and a half years ago<\/a>, the government issued a Policy Direction<\/a> to the CRTC. That Policy Direction refers to earlier Directions provided in 2006 and 2019 and states, “Whereas the telecommunications market and its regulation have changed since 2019 and the Governor in Council is of the opinion that new directions should be issued to the Commission as a result of those changes”.<\/p>\n

Some of the elements in the Policy Direction should have gone without saying, such as “The Commission should ensure that its proceedings and decisions are transparent, predictable and coherent.” And, “The Commission should base its decisions on sound and recent evidence and should exercise its powers to obtain necessary evidence.” What does it mean for the federal government’s confidence in the regulator for Cabinet to believe that such statements had to be explicitly set out within legislative Policy Direction? <\/p>\n

The Direction speaks to the need for reforms.<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. The Commission should conduct proceedings and issue decisions in a timely manner, in recognition of the need for market clarity. The Commission should consider whether adopting new processes or engaging external experts would help reach this objective.<\/strong> [emphasis added]<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    There is also language like “The Commission should revise its approach…”, “periodically review”, and “make any necessary adjustments”, among other language indicating a desire for ongoing reform. <\/p>\n

    There are considerable levels of duplicated effort at the Commission, where similar functions take place in Government departments, such as those headed by Industry Minister Joly, and Culture and Identity Minister Guilbeault. At the same time, various pieces of government “online” legislation have assigned new responsibilities to the CRTC, to distribute funds to news agencies, and to determine how to regulate streaming media services.<\/p>\n

    Returning to the question I asked at the outset, should we disband the CRTC? We need to at least consider what functions should be within the CRTC and how the agency should be structured to execute those functions.<\/p>\n

    We are coming up on the twentieth anniversary of the Telecom Policy Review Panel [pdf<\/a>]. That report recommended a review every 5 years. Canada\u2019s Telecom Act<\/a> was enacted in 1993 \u2013 more than 30 years ago. The Broadcasting Act<\/a> is 2 years older.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s long past time for a holistic review at how we guide and regulate the digital sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Is it time to disband the CRTC? Has it outlived its purpose? Those questions were stimulated by an article I read last week about its US counterpart, the FCC. “It\u2019s Time to Disband the Federal Communications Commission” was authored by Mark Jamison, the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the …<\/p>\n

    Is it time to disband the CRTC?<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIs it time to disband the CRTC? • Telecom Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it time to disband the CRTC? Has it outlived its purpose? 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