Federal Court Issues Warning About Private Meetings with Lobbyists in Decision Supporting CRTC

Federal regulators should be cautious of private meetings with lobbyists, as warned by the Federal Court of Appeal in a decision that criticized the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a meeting in 2019 between its CEO and the CEO of Bell Canada.

The photo taken by TekSavvy Solutions Inc. on Dec. 18, 2019 showed the CRTC’s CEO Ian Scott and Bell Canada’s CEO Mirko Bibic drinking beer together at an Ottawa pub.

Justice David Stratas questioned the purpose of the meeting and the lack of witnesses present, stating, “Meetings between a regulator and a regulatee without any independent witnesses or evidence of the discussions can lead to trouble.”

TekSavvy, based in Ontario, is challenging a CRTC rate ruling that it believes favored Bell Canada. The meeting between the two executives occurred shortly after Bell filed an application to review and adjust wholesale rates, which was later approved by the CRTC.

Although TekSavvy’s challenge was rejected by the Court of Appeal, it acknowledged that the private meeting could have been problematic under different circumstances. The judge emphasized that secret meetings where submissions are made outside formal settings and without other interested parties present are unfair and should be avoided.

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Despite the Court of Appeal’s concerns, TekSavvy’s bias allegation was dismissed as it was not raised with the CRTC until after the decision was released. The purpose of the meeting, according to Bell, was related to broadcasting and not telecommunications, so discussions on rate applications did not take place.

The CRTC denied any improper conduct during the meeting. In a ruling in 2022, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion concluded that the barroom meeting did not violate any rules.