British-born accountant Ronald Osborne, named by past employer Bell Canada to the Canada Media Fund board, is the consummate corporate diplomat.

Having run Southam, Bell parent BCE, Ontario Hydro and Ontario Power Generation, Osborne first gained the public eye in 1994 as head of publishing and cable giant Maclean Hunter as it fielded a hostile $3.1 billion takeover bid from Rogers Communications.

At Maclean Hunter, Osborne had developed nimble managerial skills running a highly diversified media group that included Maclean’s magazine, Sun Media properties, 21 radio stations and CFCN (a CTV affiliate that gave Maclean Hunter a 14.3% stake in CTV and Osborne a seat on its board).

That corporate etiquette and tact proved useful when Osborne first explored ‘strategic options’ to foil the Rogers bid, and then convinced the Maclean Hunter board to accept the takeover.

Ultimately, Osborne did more than clear a path for a controversial takeover, then the largest ever for the Canadian media industry. He took care to appear as a Rogers team player as the cabler secured CRTC approval in Hull for the Maclean Hunter deal.

The takeover extended Ted Rogers’ cable empire and included broadcast and publishing assets that Rogers Communications built on in future years as an increasingly vertically integrated media group.

And that helped launch Rogers as Canada’s largest cable operator, and in the front ranks of North American media companies.

Then Osborne switched industries, first to the phone business and BCE in 1995 where he held various posts over the next three years, including president and CEO of Bell Canada.

And in 1998, he became CEO of Ontario Hydro, a public utility he attempted to wrestle toward privatization. In 2003, Osborne left Ontario Hydro successor Ontario Power Generation as CEO after the Pickering nuclear plant went vastly over-budget and behind schedule.

Osborne soon occupied himself with a raft of boardroom appointments, including at Torstar, Sun Life Assurance Company, Air Canada, the Shaw Festival and Roy Thomson Hall. And now, with the CMF, Osborne adds another boardroom post to help strengthen ties between the public/industry fund and its cable and phone giant stakeholders.