The innkeeper is the one who comes up with the idea of the competition. He makes the suggestion and even comes up with a reasonable prize for the winner.
The character who proposed the story-telling competition that frames the remainder of The Canterbury Tales is the innkeeper.
Explanation:
Harry Bailey was the inner keeper and the owner of the Tabard Inn. He was the host who accommodated the pilgrims in his inn. He suggested them to play the game of telling the stories on their journey to the pilgrimage at the Shrine of the martyr St. Thomas Beckett. He accompanied them so that he can judge the stories and offer the prize of winning the game.
