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Federal Court of Appeal Justice David Stratas is warning federal regulators about having private meetings with lobbyists.
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According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Stratas made his remarks in a ruling following a Dec. 19, 2019 bar meetup between then-CRTC CEO Ian Scott and Bell Canada Enterprise’s CEO Mirko Bibic that was photographed by a passerby.
The meeting was documented by TekSavvy Solutions Inc., a Chatham, Ont. firm that was challenging a CRTC rate ruling in Bell’s favour.
“Quite simply, meetings between two people — one a regulator and one a regulatee — without any independent witnesses or other evidence to substantiate why the meeting happened and what was discussed can be a recipe for trouble,” wrote Stratas.
At the time of the meeting, Bell business was before the CRTC.
It “took place approximately one week after Bell filed an application to the CRTC asking it to review and vary its decision regarding wholesale rates which the CRTC later approved,” wrote TekSavvy.
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On May 27, 2021 the CRTC reversed its opinion on Internet rates to benefit Bell.
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The Court of Appeal rejected TekSavvy’s challenge of the decision but agreed drinking between federal regulators with lobbyists was problematic.
Private meetings should not be “means by which secret submissions can be offered outside of the hearing room away from the eyes and ears of other parties to the public,” wrote Stratas.
“This subverts fairness and should not happen.”
The CRTC denied any impropriety.
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