Former Bell executive Alain Gourd dies at 66

Alain Gourd, an independent broadcasting consultant and former chair of an industry-led working group on over-the-top services, died Dec. 8, a release from his firm Alain Gourd Communications Inc. said Tuesday. In the release, the firm said that after successfully battling cancer for about 10 years, Gourd succumbed to bacteria that caused severe pneumonia. He was 66. Gourd served as president and CEO of BCE Inc.'s satellite services (then called BCE Media) in 1998, the release said. He went on to become executive vice-president, corporate, at the former division Bell Globemedia from 2001 to 2004. Mirko Bibic, chief legal and regulatory officer at Bell, said in a phone interview that Gourd was a “kind, sincere and thoughtful man” who will be sorely missed. “It’s terribly terribly sad,” Bibic said. “The industry I think has lost a great man, and many of us have lost a very very good friend.” Bibic said Gourd was an “absolute” expert in broadcasting who took Canadian broadcasting and Canadian content to heart. “It was his professional heart and soul,” he said. Gourd announced his retirement from Bell in February 2004, when he also held responsibilities for Bell Globemedia's regulatory affairs in Ottawa. A Bell release at that time said he would continue to work as a consultant to Bell. Gourd headed his own consulting firm, Alain Gourd Communications, and was most recently listed in the federal lobbying registry as working for BCE as the company sought approval of its deal to acquire Astral Media Inc. for $3.38 billion. Bell's initial proposal was blocked by the commission in a decision on Oct. 18. Bibic said Gourd was good at uniting people in the industry. He would “get them together and come to common ground on issues where sometimes there wasn’t common ground. I think it was one of his great personality traits, to be able to bring people together,” Bibic said. “I don’t think there was one person in the industry who ran into him who didn’t think he was a thoughtful, sincere man with a lot of value to add,” he said. Gourd chaired a broadcasting working group of about 30 executives that looked at whether the CRTC should consider regulations on over-the-top, online content services that compete with traditional broadcasting services. In an interview with The Wire Report last year, Gourd said he believed over-the-top services will have a significant impact on Canadian broadcasting. Gourd, who previously taught philosophy, cited American 20th century researcher Roy Amara, who said, “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.” Prior to working at Bell, Gourd held the position of president at Cancom, a communication and satellite broadcasting services company, from 1994 to 1998, the release said. Gourd taught philosophy and law at the University of Ottawa. The release Tuesday said Gourd began his career in broadcasting in 1973 as president and CEO of Radio-Nord Communications. In 1981, he worked as president and CEO of Radiodiffusion Mutuelle Canada Ltée and vice-president of Civitas Ltée. From there, the release said, Gourd held several influential positions in the federal public service such as deputy minister of communications, associate secretary to the cabinet, and deputy clerk of the privy council. Gourd was a founding member of the Université du Québec en Outaouais and chair of the Hexagram Centre for Research-Creation in Media Arts and Technologies, the release added. He received an honorary doctorate from the Université du Québec en Outaouais in 2005. Visitation for Gourd will take place at Maison funéraire Serge Legault in Gatineau, Que., on Dec. 16 and 17 and a funeral service will happen at the St-Joseph de Hull church, also in Gatineau, on Dec. 17. —With reporting by Danika Grenier at dgrenier@thewirereport.ca and editing by Simon Doyle at sdoyle@thewirereport.ca news@thewirereport.ca

Former Bell executive Alain Gourd dies at 66

Broadcast | December 12, 2012

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Former Bell executive Alain Gourd dies at 66

Broadcast | December 12, 2012

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