Combine Heritage and ISED, move spectrum to CRTC: professor

The government should combine the Heritage and Innovation ministries, and give responsibility for spectrum to the CRTC, a Senate committee study into the modernization of Canada’s communications legislation heard Wednesday evening. Gregory Taylor, an assistant professor in the department of communication, media and film at the University of Calgary told senators the CRTC is better placed to oversee spectrum administration than Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. The Senate study is running concurrently with a study from an expert panel appointed by the heritage minister to review the telecom and broadcasting acts. “There’s a fundamental link between spectrum and Canadian connectivity and it should not be under the auspices of ISED, who also look over things like the auto sector,” Taylor said. While currently, the innovation minister has “god-like” powers over spectrum, he said, “we need to be thinking more about an arms-length approach that has much more of a forward-looking aspect to looking at the significant area of spectrum.” Taylor added the CRTC also has a “tradition of public negotiation and public involvement and public engagement… when you take a look at what happens at ISED, it’s often behind closed doors.” The idea of moving authority over spectrum to the CRTC was also suggested earlier by Carleton University professor Dwayne Winseck, who appeared in front of the committee in September. Taylor recommended the government consider bringing back a unified department of communications, like the one that the federal government disbanded two decades ago. “I do think that the department of Communication, which was self-described as representing a fusion of administrative and research units to provide a more coherent view of the needs of the Canadian public, is exactly what we need right now,” he said. Taylor said there should be one department in charge of the responsibilities currently split between heritage and innovation. “The current division, I think, is proving a hindrance,” he said. “The communication question is so vital right now for Canada that it should not just be part of one of several different pieces.” There should be a dedicated minister who is knowledgeable about the “intricate details” of the file, he said. “I have sympathy for those who get the file, either for ISED or for Canadian Heritage and then have to move on. By the time they learn that area, they’re ready to leave again,” Taylor added.

Combine Heritage and ISED, move spectrum to CRTC: professor

Brief | October 18, 2018

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Combine Heritage and ISED, move spectrum to CRTC: professor

Brief | October 18, 2018

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