Law Times

Law Times • December 15, 2008 named Paff. He crossed the street and a car came along. And 'Paff' went the dog." Nobody laughed. Dion kept telling the story over and over until one day the Liberal Party asked him to resign: "And Paff went Dion." Michael Ignatieff has a very dif- S téphane Dion used to tell the dullest jokes: "There was this dog Different man in charge The By Richard Cleroux ferent sense of humour. There is bite to it. In fact, a nasty streak. The tip-off comes when Ignatieff smiles that pasted-on, straight-mouth grin of his with the slit eyes and boun- cing eyebrows looking like a heavy out of a James Bond film. "We have ways of making you talk. . . ." Ignatieff uses humour to evade embarrassing questions. Pierre Trudeau used to do that: "Mercedes: Do you mean the girl or the car?" At a news conference last week, fax Chronicle Herald asked how Ignatieff expected the Con- servatives to frame him nega- tively, just as they framed and redefined Dion to destroy him. "What, you want me to write the campaign for them?" Ignati- eff shot back. Then he added ominously, "It would be a very, very serious mistake to engage in partisan attacks at this time. I hope I make myself clear." Don Newman of CBC News the press gallery got its first real look at "Ignatieff the Leader." Stephen Maher of the Hali- asked Ignatieff if he would agree, if asked, to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper over the Christ- mas holidays. Ignatieff avoided a straight answer by posing whether Newman expects him to leave his family over Christmas to be with Harper. They both laughed. Actually, Ignatieff had already spoken to Harper, but he didn't want to announce it publicly. The joke saved him having to reveal what Harper had asked or to what they had agreed. A joke saved the day. Ignatieff is told the Conserva- tives are questioning his legitimacy as Liberal leader because he was not elected by the party rank-and-file. He could easily defend him- not necessarily a coalition," people thought it was about backing away from the coalition. It had nothing to do with that. Read the rest of the paragraph: COMMENT Hill W "I am prepared to enter into a co- alition if that is what the Governor General asks me to do." What? This guy is talking about throwing out the Harper govern- ment, and then considering the possibility of a coalition govern- ment . . . or an election. He isn't backing away from anything. If anything, he is upping the stakes. "I am really serious about vot- ing against the government if there is no serious budget in the national interest," he says. Arrogance, unseen among Lib- erals since the Trudeau days. Does he think a lot of himself? And the chances of the co- alition lasting until Parliament reconvenes? "No party can have the confi- Internet broadcasting CRTC to review nadian Radio-television and Telecommunica- tions Commission (www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/welcome. htm) took an interest. Back in 1999, the CRTC exempted from ith the increased availability of video programming on the Internet, it was only a matter of time before the Ca- regulation services that dis- tribute broadcasting content over the Internet [Public Notice 1999-197 (New Me- dia Exemption Order)]. In 2007, it extended the exemp- tion to broadcasting services that are received through cell phones and other mobile devices [Broadcasting Public Notice 2007-13 (Mobile Broadcasting Exemption Order)]. However, now that high-speed Internet access has been adopted by most Canadians, new technologies and applications are avail- able which offer high-quality broadcasting content. With Canadians spending more time accessing this type of content over the Internet and mobile devices, the CRTC re- cently launched a proceeding to gain a bet- ter understanding of broadcasting in the new media environment. Consider his warning to Harper: "He must not doubt my calm, quiet determination." dence of the country if it decides to vote now against a budget that it hasn't seen yet," said Ignatieff. Sounds like a knock against Dion? Yes it is, but Dion is gone. The target is really NDP leader Jack Layton who has "already decided." But in those words, at the same time, there's an open- ing, if ever so small, for Harper to make peace. There's a stranger idiosyn- cratic side to Ignatieff, a florid, literary style, with dime-store novel imagery. He begins waxing about the self by explaining the caucus se- lection process, or that 18 of the last 35 prime ministers in Great Britain were chosen by their cau- cus, but instead Ignatieff went on the attack. "I don't take lessons in legitim- acy from someone who has lost the confidence of the House of Commons," Ignatieff replied. His answers were rich in im- agery. He described Harper as a leader having to go back down the hill. (King of the Hill and all that.) "He must walk back down the hill." (Harper is a guy who has trouble even admitting a mistake, never mind walking back down a hill.) Harper will have to earn back the confidence of the Commons, Ignatieff says. Tough talk from a guy with only 76 MPs, who can defeat the government only with the help of two other parties. When Ignatieff spun out the line, "A coalition if necessary, but greatness of Western Canada, where he intends for the Liberals to make a breakthrough, prais- ing the "entrepreneurial spirit" of westerners (is he talking about an old Saskatchewan grain farmer?) He wants to win back their votes. Ignatieff is just getting started. Next it's "the people in the beating economic heart of the country" (and you thought it was Toronto) and of the beauty of the "Big Sky" in Western Canada. Isn't it the same sky over On- tario, or did it shrink lately? One feels like saying, "Oh Michael, it's bigger than both of us!" He hopes people in Western Canada have "forgiven" the Liber- als and forgotten what the Liberals did to them. Is he talking about the National Energy Policy or the Green Shift? Whatever. Mea culpa. In any case he will be going from town to town, he promises, and just can't wait for someone to invite him to the Brandon Fair. (Actually they do sell tickets.) He says he sees his aides in the back of the hall wincing. He's lucky they aren't throwing up. Definitely a different man in charge. LT Richard Cleroux is a freelance re- porter and columnist on Parliament Hill. His e-mail address is richard cleroux@rogers.com. commission wishes to use the proceeding to examine broadcasting in new media to deter- mine whether the New Media Exemption Or- der and the Mobile Broadcasting Exemption Order continue to be appropriate or to what extent those orders need to be revised. The proceeding follows the issuance by the commission on May 15 of Broadcasting Pub- lic Notice 2008-44 (including the release of Perspectives on Canadian Broadcasting in New Media, which provided a compilation of re- search and stakeholder views on broadcasting in new media) to narrow the range of issues that should be considered. Public comments collected during May and June were compiled into an e-consultation report (www.crtc.gc.ca/ eng/media/nmbcr.htm) that was published in September along with another report [TV or Not TV: Three Screens, One Regulation? (www. crtc.gc.ca/eng/media/noam2008.htm)] commis- sioned by the CRTC to provide background to the current proceeding. The commission is now looking for public comment on a number of issues. The first has to do with the definition of broadcasting in new Specifically, the Bits and By Alan Gahtan Bytes media. The commission has expressed a view that it is not concerned with user-generated content (eg, YouTube videos) but is trying to ascertain what type of broadcasting content it should pay attention to. For example, should it draw a distinction between professional versus non-professional content, or content aimed at commercial versus non-com- mercial use? incentives or regulatory measures should be considered for the creation and promotion of Canadian broadcasting content in new media. For example, Canadian broadcasters may ask for bans on Internet videos coming from out- side Canada by saying they own the distribu- tion rights in Canada. I suspect the commission will not likely consider means to block foreign broadcasts being sent across the Internet for a number of reasons: (i) regulation of the Internet is difficult from a technical perspective, (ii) such concerns are more of a copyright issue, and (iii) a number of U.S. web sites which stream televi- sion programs already block access from users not located in the U.S. However, I suspect the commission may consider the imposition of a tax or fee on Internet connectivity (one of the suggestions contained in the TV or Not TV re- port), which would then be used to help fund the creation and promotion of Canadian con- tent. Hopefully Canada's Internet service pro- viders and cell phone companies will quickly mobilize to oppose this approach. Over the past couple of years, there has been The commission is also expecting to review the sig- nificance of broadcasting in new media and its impact on the traditional broadcasting system, including whether PAGE 7 growing public concern regarding network neu- trality, meaning that the Internet service provid- ers should not filter or give priority to certain content or Internet services over other types of services. While the commission does not wish to tackle the broader issue as part of this proceeding, it will examine access issues relevant to the achieve- ment of the broadcasting policy objectives of the Broadcasting Act. Hopefully, this opening will be exploited to push the commission into examining the network neutrality issue generally. LT Alan Gahtan is a Toronto-based technology lawyer. His web site is www.gahtan.com/alan. FIRM UP! 10% 15% Purchase 5 or more subscriptions for your law firm to Law Times or Canadian Lawyer and save Purchase 20 or more and save 1 year $135.00 + gst, go online at www.lawtimesnews.com $65.00 + gst 1 Year $105.00 + gst 2 Year Special rates for students and international subscribers. go online at www.canadianlawyermag.com or call 1-888-743-3551 www.lawtimesnews.com LT - 1/4 x 3.indd 1 12/11/08 5:15:15 PM Digital Editons FREE with each BONUS paid subscription Receive the

• Cover
• Remembering Irwin
• Benchers Diary
• Focus On Criminal Law