CTV lobbyists met with Moore, Ignatieff and Rae prior to ‘A’ station layoffs

Before announcing massive layoffs at its ‘A’ stations in early March, CTVglobemedia Inc. was involved in a busy lobbying campaign targeting Heritage minister James Moore, leader of the official opposition Michael Ignatieff, Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae and a host of opposition critics on the Heritage committee, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada (OCOL). The records show that in February alone, Ivan Fecan, CTVglobemedia president and CEO, was involved in 20 meetings with politicians, and senior policy advisors at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), including four visits with Harper senior policy advisors Patrick Muttart, deputy chief of staff, Dennis Matthews, manager of advertising strategy and Sabrina Anzini, a policy advisor at the PMO. CTVglobemedia also met officials from Ignatieff’s office three times. In total, from Jan. 13 to Feb. 25, CTVglobemedia was involved in 32 meetings with government officials. On March 3, CTV laid off 118 employees from its A stations in Ottawa, London, Barrie and Victoria to “address the grave financial reality.” The cuts represent 28% of the broadcaster’s workforce. In addition, it cancelled three-hour morning shows in London, Victoria and Barrie. In Ottawa, CTV cancelled newscasts broadcast at 6 p.m., 11 p.m. and on weekends. Although the OCOL records are rather short on details, the fact that the broadcaster discussed broadcast issues means it was doing its best to enlighten officials about the dire financial constraints brought about by the global recession and dwindling advertising, in the hope of winning some concessions. On Feb. 18, Fecan met Heritage minister James Moore to discuss “issues affecting the broadcasting industry”. The broadcaster has also met Gary Lunn, minister of state for sport to discuss issues regarding the 2010 Winter Olympics. A CTVglobemedia-led consortium won the rights to broadcast the games for US$153 million in 2005. The OCOL records also show that CTVglobemedia has met all the opposition critics on the Heritage Committee as well as chair Gary Schellenberger. In a related development, the records also show that Glenn O’Farrell, former CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, spent a busy January this year lobbying officials from Canadian Heritage on a slew of issues, top among which were copyright and broadcast licence regulations. O’Farrell left at the end of January, but not before meeting the Heritage minister on Jan. 17. Weeks later the CAB announced a major staff layoffs and also introduced a new policy direction which will result in less CRTC interventions and more political lobbying. The OCOL records show that since February, the association hadn’t yet jumped into the lobbying fray. The list below shows the officials CTVglobemedia met: Feb. 25, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Maurice Larioux from Michael Ignatieff’s office. Feb. 25, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Gary Lunn, Minister of State for Sport. Feb. 25, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Tanya Peat, policy advisor, Canadian Heritage. Feb. 23, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Patrick Muttart, deputy chief of staff, PMO. Feb. 23, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Dennis Matthews, manager of advertising strategy, PMO. Feb. 18, 2009: Ivan Fecan and James Moore, minister of Canadian Heritage. Feb. 12, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Charlie Angus, MP and NDP Heritage critic. Feb.12, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Namir Anani, executive director, CRTC. Feb. 12, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Robert Morin, secretary general, CRTC. Feb. 11, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Jean Pierre Blais, assistant deputy minister, Canadian Heritage. Feb. 11, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Scott Simms, MP and Liberal heritage critic. Feb. 10, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Ian Davey, from Michael Ignatieff’s office. Feb. 10, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Mike McNair, from Michael Igatieff’s office. Feb. 10, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Maurice Rioux, from Michael Ignatieff’s office. Feb. 4, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Bob Rae, NDP foreign affairs critic. Feb. 4, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Dennis Matthews, manager of advertising strategy, PMO. (twice). Feb. 4, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Sabrina Anzini, policy advisor, PMO. Feb. 3, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Pablo Rodiriguez, Liberal MP, sits on the Heritage Committee. Feb. 2, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Amanda Cliff, director general, Canadian Heritage. Jan. 30, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Tanya Peat, Policy advisor, Canadian Heritage. Jan. 29, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Michel Arpin, vice-chair, CRTC. Jan. 28, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Leonard Katz, vice-chair, telecommunications, CRTC. Jan. 26, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Robert Morin, secretary general, CRTC. Jan. 21, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Gary Schellenberger, MP and chair of the Heritage Committee. Jan. 21, 2009: Joshua McJannett and Deirdre McCraken, director of communications, office of the minister of Canadian Heritage. Jan. 17, 2009: Ivan Fecan and James Moore, minister of Canadian Heritage. Jan. 14, 2009: Ivan Fecan and James Rajotte, Conservative MP. Jan. 14, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Judith LaRocque, deputy minister. Jan. 15, 2009: Ivan Fecan, Tim Powers and Derek Van Stone, chief of staff to Jim Flaherty, minister of finance. (twice) Jan. 13, 2009: Ivan Fecan and Ian Todd, chief of staff to Heritage minister James Moore.

CTV lobbyists met with Moore, Ignatieff and Rae prior to ‘A’ station layoffs

Broadcast | March 23, 2009

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us