Four tech industry groups have scheduled a gala dinner in Ottawa to roast the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Michael Binder.
This is because Binder is formerly Industry Canada’s Deputy Minister for Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications.
The dinner, dubbed Michael Binder Appreciation Night, which will cost $200 per person and $1500 for a table of 8, is scheduled Nov. 27 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
During the 1990s, Binder ushered in the Community Access Program, which offered federal funding for Internet access sites.
He was also the senior federal telecom civil servant during the digital PCS spectrum auction in the late 90s and the summer of 2000. He replaced Linda Keen as CNSC president last January, after she was fired by Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn in the wake of the shutdown of a reactor run by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
CNSC ordered the shutdown over safety concerns, but it caused a shortage in radioactive medical testing products.
The dinner, which is advertised as a roast, was organized by the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA), the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) and the Radio Advisory Board of Canada (RABC).