When Jim Shaw and the other cable barons began announcing they would no longer make their mandatory contributions to the Canadian Television Fund, I thought, no problem. If they don’ t want the aggravation, they can hand in their cable licenses. Surely someone else could be found to step in to take up the burden.

So it was satisfying to see Konrad von Finkelstein, new head of the CRTC, say pretty much that: there are conditions, they are mandatory, and they must be met.

But in the Globe & Mail today, business reporter Konrad Yakabuski suggests the fix is in and the Television Fund is out. He points out that when Heritage Minister Bev Oda was a CRTC governor, she was against the Fund. He suspects with a bit of fiddling, the cable barons will be able to spend the money on themselves.

Bad sign.