Open positions at the CRTC

The CRTC announced yesterday that two positions will soon be opening up: Vice-Chairperson, Telecommunications (replacing outgoing vice-chair Len Katz) and Regional Member. In addition to those vacancies, five (out of thirteen) CRTC Commissioners’ terms will expire this coming spring/summer: Marc Patrone on March 18, Stephen Simpson on June 22, Suzanne Lamarre on June 29, Timothy Denton on July 31, and Louise Poirier on August 10. The Conservative Government will appoint these Commissioners’ successors if their terms are not renewed. We at OpenMedia.ca strongly believe that the best guarantee of an open Internet is policy-makers who value processes that are open, citizen-centered, and public-interest oriented. To that end, in our Action Plan we recommend that the government include broad stakeholder and citizen participation, and by more accountable and transparent about the appointment process for CRTC Commissioners.

We’ve also written that the government’s criteria should include significant experience in the public interest or consumer advocacy community. This criterion is, unfortunately, not present in the position descriptions for the CRTC’s current vacancies.

Regardless of who the new CRTC appointees are, we need to ensure that they value the public interest strongly, and listen to the voices of the hundreds of thousands of pro-Internet Canadians who seek to participate in policy-making. Join the community here.