Von Finckenstein’s unhappiest moments? Political controversies

Outgoing CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein says some of his unhappiest moments on the job involved miscommunications and distorted public perceptions of decisions and policies. Von Finckenstein made the comment in interview published Monday with Cartt.ca. In response to a question about his unhappiest moments on the job, CRTC chair, whose last day of a five-year term is Tuesday, referred to the CRTC's decision in 2010 to deny Quebecor Media Inc. a Category A “must offer” licence, which the commission is no longer awarding for specialty channels. “They applied for a type A licence, which we don’t hand out anymore, so we turned them down. So they applied for a type B and we give them type B. Simple story,” von Finckenstein told Cartt. “We get articles in the paper the PM is unhappy with me, wants to post me to Chile, etcetera. Somebody starts an Internet petition trying to prevent 'Fox News North' from coming here and suddenly uses my name. I finally issued a letter saying this is complete and utter bogus invention.” Von Finckenstein said that, similarly, as a result of the commission's decision on wholesale usage-based billing, he was “positioned as if I was at war with the government.” But he added, “I’ve never been at odds with them, and yet the public image became the CRTC is at war with the government.” He said that during his term as chair, he has never received a phone call from the Prime Minister's Office or a cabinet minister to issue orders or direction. “I’ve had two or three calls from ministers on a very technical, small issue where he wanted information, so I gave it to him. That’s it,” von Finckenstein told Cartt.

Von Finckenstein’s unhappiest moments? Political controversies

Briefs | 01/23/2012 9:54 pm EST

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