Liberal Supported TV Application Despite Conflict-of-Interest Guideline

Liberal MP Greg Fergus wrote a letter to Canada’s broadcast regulator to support a television channel’s application for mandatory carriage, despite federal guidelines that prohibit parliamentary secretaries from making such interventions.
The letter was submitted to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission last week to encourage required distribution of Natyf TV, which serves a multicultural francophone audience, as part of digital basic services.
Fergus, who represents the Quebec riding of Hull-Aylmer, is also parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Treasury Board President Mona Fortier, and he has served as head of the Liberal Black Caucus.
Written guidance from the federal conflict of interest and ethics commissioner says cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries “must not under any circumstances” attempt to intervene in the decision-making process of an administrative tribunal, such as the CRTC, on behalf of any constituent in any riding….