CRTC patronage charged

Critics are calling the appointment of a one-time Conservative candidate to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission a case of patronage by the governing Conservatives. Federal Heritage Minister Josee Verner appointed Marc Patrone to the country’s broadcast regulator on Feb. 19. Patrone, a former legislative journalist and a country singer, was for a brief time in 2005 a declared Conservative candidate in Nova Scotia. Verner did not mention Patrone’s ties to the Conservative party in the news release. A Canadian Press story is here. Here is the government press release announcing the appointment.