A former chairwoman of the CRTC on Monday criticized Ottawa for demanding a reversal of the agency's decision on usage-based internet billing.

Francoise Bertrand told The Canadian Press she finds the Conservative government's rejection of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's decision "disturbing."

Francoise Bertrand, shown when she was chairwoman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 2001, did not have a decision overturned by cabinet during her term. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Bertrand said she has remained largely silent on telecom issues over the last decade since leaving her position so that she wouldn't be seen as an armchair quarterback. But she remains passionate about the CRTC's independence, she said, and felt compelled to speak out.

Bertrand said she believes the government's actions are based on electoral concerns and pleasing voters.

"The CRTC's great advantage was it was giving the possibility for the government to have an institution at arm's length," she said.

"It was not a political decision. It wasn't, 'I like your face, I don't like your face.' It's not based on an upcoming election. It was based on due process."

The government demanded the CRTC go back to the drawing board after the regulator ruled last month that large telephone companies could place price caps on how much bandwidth smaller internet service providers used on their networks.

The move would make it difficult for smaller ISPs to offer unlimited plans to their customers, some of whom are heavy uploaders and downloaders.

The issue created a wave of protest from Internet users across Canada, and from smaller ISPs.

Ottawa's option is to change the law

CRTC chairman Konrad Von Finckenstein announced the commission would take another look at the issue, but Industry Minister Tony Clement has bluntly said the government would not accept usage-based billing.

Last year, Clement also overturned a decision by the CRTC that barred Globalive from entering the cellphone market.

"I find that quite disturbing ... It's entirely the right of the government to say, 'I want a different role for the CRTC, I want to change the perspective,'" said Bertrand.

"Well then, the tools for them are the policies and the legislation — upstream, not downstream."

Bertrand, who under the Liberal government did not have a single decision overturned by cabinet, said that repeatedly questioning the decisions of the commission will only sow confusion in the telecom and broadcasting industries and potentially hamper investment.

"Now we have a minister, or I don't know who, who have not heard all the facts, all the elements, and decides arbitrarily that it's not a good decision and it should be the other way around," she said.

"What it means for business is that there is no longer predictability in the system. Right now there are rules, principles, policies, legislation and regulation, and businesses develop their business plans and they ... know what the parameters are, and they know how to calculate their risk."

Bertrand is now president of the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce.

With files from The Canadian Press