CTV.ca
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Former Harper spokesperson quits Sun TVDate: Wed. Sep. 15 2010 10:29 PM ET
The former government spokesperson behind the proposed right-wing all-news channel Sun TV resigned Wednesday because he felt he was hurting the network's chances of making it to air.
Kory Teneycke, former communications director to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, stepped down from his position as vice-president of development at Quebecor Media "effective immediately."
During an Ottawa news conference, Teneycke suggested his resignation stemmed from potential conflict-of-interest concerns, given how closely his new role followed his time in government.
"The perception problems associated with such a quick move from active politics to overseeing a bureau covering the government you just worked for are obvious," Teneycke said.
Teneycke began his tenure at Quebecor last spring with a series of media interviews to introduce the proposed station in which he criticized its competition as "boring" and "politically correct."
Station brass then got into a war of words with author Margaret Atwood, who signed an online petition spearheaded by New York-based advocacy group Avaaz.org against the station, dubbed "Fox News North" by critics.
The petition called on Ottawa to refrain from granting special favours to the station as it works through the licence-application process. And earlier this week, officials with Avaaz.org asked police to investigate its allegations that someone using an Ottawa-based IP address entered bogus names on the petition.
Teneycke has previously acknowledged that a "source" claimed to have posted the names and then told him about it right away. With the news that former Brian Mulroney spokesperson Luc Lavoie will replace Teneycke, a spokesperson for Avaaz.org said "nothing has changed about this project."
"We had two former prime ministers' spin doctors running a biased media outlet that will advance seeking a special government favour," said Ricken Patel. "One of them has stepped back, the other has stepped forward." Lavoie said Wednesday that Teneycke's departure "won't affect the operations one way or another."
"It's full steam ahead," he told reporters.
The company goes back before federal regulators on November 19, when it will ask the CRTC for a so-called "must offer" licence, which has never before been granted. The company is asking that all cable and satellite companies be required to offer Sun TV in a package for three years. With a report by CTV's Richard Madan in Ottawa and files from The Canadian Press
Click here to see Teneycke's resignation announcement. It's priceless. The link also contains footage from PowerPlay discussing Teneycke and his very hasty resignation within 24 hours of an RCMP investigation. LOL <--click meCTV National News: Richard Madan on the move
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former communications director has resigned from his post as Sun TV's Vice President of Development. Kory Teneycke says he made the decision because he had become a liability to the channel's launch.
Power Play: Journalists on Teneycke's departure
CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife, Jim Travers of the Toronto Star, and Chris Waddell of Carleton University discuss Kory Teneycke's decision to quit as vice-president of development at Quebecor Media.
I guess this settles the question of whose allegations were credible or not.
Avaaz - 3
Canadians - 2
Teneycke - 0
