Grab the mic NOW to shape the future of Internet prices in Canada!

A HUGE opportunity just opened up for affordable Internet. Until July 19, our government is seeking the voices of ordinary folks like you. They want to hear your thoughts on how Canada’s telecom regulator — the CRTC — will shape competition, choice, and affordability for YEARS to come.¹

We won’t get another shot like this to chart Canada’s course towards cheaper, fairer Internet and cell phone bills. If we stay silent, Big Telecom could swamp this consultation with all of their reasons why our prices should stay some of the highest on the planet.^2,3

Have your say before it's too late. Tell Cabinet what you want the CRTC to do about our lack of affordable, accessible connectivity!

Use the form below to start writing your comment to the government's consultation — we’ve already got one started for you!

PLEASE NOTE: The government will be posting all submitted comments to the Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) website, so avoid including any personal info in the main body of your message.

ISED

Consultation

CRTC Policy Direction

I’m a concerned person in Canada submitting my comments on the Order Issuing a Direction to the CRTC on a Renewed Approach to Telecommunications Policy.

I believe the CRTC must work for the benefit of ordinary people in Canada — not the interests of telecom and media giants. Our government’s direction to the CRTC to defend consumer interests and deliver increased competition and affordability is long overdue. Now, it must be fully implemented. To transform the intentions of the new direction into real change for Canadians, I’m asking our government to:

1. Back the new policy direction up with concrete affordability targets – pinned to Canada's performance compared to our international peers, not our own poor history of sky-high prices;
2. Lower cell phone prices by explicitly directing the CRTC to move to a full MVNO model. Open our cell phone market to let low-cost alternative providers in — without the debilitating restrictions set in 2021;
3. Prioritize undoing the 2021 Internet price hikes still felt by Canadians. Cabinet should explicitly guide the CRTC to promptly re-calculate fair, lower wholesale rates;
4. Don’t let the CRTC throw out the one telecom affordability measure that partly works. That means maintaining the new direction’s instructions that the aggregated wholesale wired Internet system should not be phased out;
5. Appoint a new CRTC chair to oversee the new policy direction who understands the job. The next chair must be someone with a documented history of standing up for the interests of ordinary people, not telecom giants.

I trust you will take my feedback into consideration.

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Check out the footnotes for a link to the full Order outlining the new policy direction!

On May 26, our federal government announced a new policy direction for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), alongside an open consultation for ordinary folks, industry, and experts to weigh in before it goes into effect.⁴

But what does that mean exactly? With this new policy direction, the government is choosing what instructions they’ll be giving the CRTC moving forward — and those instructions impact your Internet and cell phone bills.

In the past, without clear and binding instructions to promote affordability, choice, and competition, the CRTC made decisions that hurt people in Canada and benefitted Big Telecom.⁵ That’s why it’s absolutely critical that we speak up to guarantee the new CRTC policy direction has the best interests of people in Canada front and centre.

The version of the policy direction we’ve seen so far needs work — and that’s where you come in. While it has some good bones (Affordability? Consumer interests? Now we’re cooking!), it’s WAY too general. Instead of concrete methods to hold the CRTC accountable, it offers vague instructions that the CRTC must do more to make competition and affordability a priority.

Talk is unfortunately cheap. People in Canada need the new policy direction to include actual details, targets, and enforcement.

Fixing this policy direction would be a big win for Canadians — but a HUGE loss for Big Telecom’s price gouging tactics. You can bet that their lobbyists are already hard at work picking this order apart, and whispering in Minister Champagne’s ear about why affordability, competition, and empowered consumers are dangerous (*cough cough* for their profits).

We can’t afford to stay silent. This is our chance to chart Canada’s course towards cheaper, fairer Internet and cell phone prices — and help put an end to Big Telecom's capture of our CRTC. Tell our government what you want the CRTC to do about making connectivity affordable and accessible. Submit your comments to the consultation NOW!

Sources

Proposed policy direction to the CRTC for competition, affordability, consumer rights and universal access - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
The state of 4G and 5G pricing, 2H2021 – country rankings - Rewheel
Canada among top five highest costs for 100Mbps internet speed - MobileSyrup
Order Issuing a Direction to the CRTC on a Renewed Approach to Telecommunications Policy - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
FAQ: Why it’s crucial Canada’s next CRTC Chair be a champion for the people’s Internet - OpenMedia

Image credits

Boy Microphone scream Image by freeillustrated at Pixabay and modified by OpenMedia.
Speaker chair image from ourcommons.ca and modified by OpenMedia.
Commons chamber photo by Makaristos via wikimedia and modified by OpenMedia

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