Harper Government Makes Partisan Appointment to CBC Board, CRTC

Tories deny plans to control CRTC By Mark Kennedy for the Ottawa Citizen The Harper government is under fire for trying to take control of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) by making a partisan appointment to the senior ranks of the regulatory agency. But the government continued with the same pattern by also appointing someone with a political background to the board of the CBC/Radio Canada.

Tories deny plans to control CRTC

By Mark Kennedy for the Ottawa Citizen

The Harper government is under fire for trying to take control of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) by making a partisan appointment to the senior ranks of the regulatory agency. But the government continued with the same pattern by also appointing someone with a political background to the board of the CBC/Radio Canada.

In the House of Commons, opposition parties said Tom Pentefountas, the recently appointed CRTC vice-chairman, lacked the necessary credentials for the job and is only there because of his political connection to the Conservative government.

A Montreal lawyer, Pentefountas is the former president of the Action Democratique du Quebec (ADQ), a political party with strong ties to the federal Tories. Moreover, said opposition critics, he is a friend of Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister's director of communications. Read more »

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Read more at ottawacitizen.com

Read our blog entry about the new CRTC appointment HERE.