Published on 08/24/2022 at 14:52
CRTC Chairman Ian Scott (Photo: The Canadian Press)
Ottawa – The ethics watchdog says the president of the Canadian Commission on Radio, Television and Telecommunications (CRTC) did not violate the Conflicts of Interest Act when he held meetings with major telecoms providers that had cases before the regulator.
One of the encounters examined involved CRTC Chairman Ian Scott and BCE and Bell Canada executive Mirko Bibic at an Ottawa bar in December 2019.
A week before the meeting, Bell Canada filed a motion with the CRTC to review and amend a telecommunications order issued in August 2019 and May 2021. Mr. Scott was a member of the panel that issued a decision amending the 2019 order.
The report concludes that Mr Scott’s relationship with the Bell board does not meet the law’s definition of friendship and that the relationship is “strictly professional”.
The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner referred the matter to Conflicts of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion in April this year.
Mr Dion notes in a report that the question of whether the meeting raised a “reasonable concern of bias” is before the federal Circuit Court of Appeals and is a separate matter.
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