The Paradox of Convergence

Panel Title: A New Canadian Communications Act?  Creative Destruction of Analogue Era Legislation? Abstract: Canada was one of the first countries to recognize the technological convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications when it mandated a single regulatory agency, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC), to oversee both sectors in 1976. Traditionally, Canadian broadcasting policy has emphasized sociocultural objectives while telecommunications policy has focused on economic concerns. In recent years, this has led to policy divergence in some areas; to cite one example, the broadcasting policy apparatus has consistently argued the need to keep foreign ownership restrictions in place while telecom policy advocates have been pushing for removal of those restrictions. While the consolidation of communication activity under a single piece of legislation and administrative oversight appears indicated as a rational policy approach, it is by no means certain that this would favour the historical public policy objectives that Canada has pursued over the past century. My talk will look at this aspect of the paradox of convergence in the Canadian context.