I have a great deal of respect for Robert – for his intelligence, wit, enterprise, business sense and always principled defense of Canadian audiovisual culture.

I especially remember his decisive role in making sure that the production community had a place at the regulatory table (always meager fare, but sometimes life-sustaining) along with the broadcasters and cable folks.

Before Robert, and in spite of protests to the Cancon contrary, not a few people in Ottawa thought of producers as secondary to the much wealthier and more politically influential distributors.

Robert has a restless and creative mind, and a broad, eyes-open view of the world. Fine food and wine seem to fuel, not dull, his imagination.

I would not publicly claim that beautiful women are his muses. To do so would merely be to describe a well-known professional hazard and to betray an unseemly envy.

If I recall correctly, Robert, a civilized man, has spoken of moving his show to Tuscany. Not bad: he’s getting closer to ParisÉ

Keith Spicer was chairman of the crtc from 1989 to 1996. An associate of Ernst & Young, he now lives in Paris, where he runs his Internet consulting company KS Transmedia. He also teaches Internet issues at the Sorbonne.