Demand Minister Champagne SMASH Big Telecom’s monopoly powers!

PM Trudeau and Minister Champagne think Rogers, Bell, and Telus are too big to hold accountable. There’s a fix for that: cutting them down to size.

For ages, people in Canada have suffered price gouging, abuses, and devastating service failures like the July 8 Rogers outage — and have been told to suck it up and take it. No longer.1-4

It’s time we took a shot back at these monopolistic giants. Sign the petition: Demand Minister Champagne pull out all the stops to end Internet and cell phone monopolies in Canada NOW!

To: Minister François-Philippe Champagne
CC: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

The scale of the July nationwide Rogers outage shows Canada can no longer tolerate monopolized private telecom companies that function without public accountability or oversight. As Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, you bear responsibility for what comes next. We demand that you immediately pull out all the stops to end Internet and cell phone monopolies in Canada.

That must start with blocking Rogers from buying Shaw, to keep our monopoly situation from getting worse — but it doesn’t end there. We call on you to fully explore all of the options on the table to promptly and sustainably reduce the size and market powers of Big Telecom, and bolster competition, choice, network resiliency, and affordability for all.

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NOW is the time to fix this deeply wrong, unjust telecom system — for good.

The July 8 nationwide Rogers outage left over ten million people without essential connectivity, halted our emergency services, and had our entire banking system scrambling.5,6 Regardless of how or why it happened, it’s incredibly clear: having one or two companies with so much unchecked power over our critical infrastructure is dangerous — and Canadians deserve recourse.

In light of this disaster, it’s more urgent now than any other time in Canadian history to finally dismantle Big Telecom’s monopoly powers — the ones that threaten our safety, abuse us through exploitative sales practices, and charge us some of the highest prices for Internet and cell phone services on the planet.7-10

Are we going to let Rogers get away scot-free after what happened on July 8 — and even REWARD them, approving their plans to buy Shaw?11 If we don’t put enough pressure on Minister Champagne and Prime Minister Trudeau to do something, that’s the Canada we’ll be living in.

The game is rigged to favour monopolies over ordinary people. That’s why it is so profitable for Rogers to build risky systems where the whole house of cards — cell phone networks, home Internet, and everything else — falls when something goes wrong. That’s why Bell can crush smaller providers, jack up prices, and leave regular people holding the bag.12,13 It’s why Big Telecom gets to snatch millions in public COVID-relief dollars, then turn around and pay it out to their shareholders, lay off employees — and suffer ZERO consequences.14 And it’s why Big Telecom seems to make the rules at the CRTC, holding hundreds of private lobbying meetings with officials while forcing us to pay some of the highest prices for basic connectivity in the world.15-17

It’s time for change, and the buck stops with Innovation Minister Champagne. As an elected official who serves Canadians first and foremost, it’s his responsibility to do everything he can to protect us from the monopolies that hurt us. Sign the petition NOW to demand that he pull all the stops to start smashing Big Telecom’s monopoly powers!

Sources

  1. Price Comparisons of Wireline, Wireless and Internet Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions: 2021 Edition - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
  2. Is Canada the most expensive wireless market in the world? - Rewheel
  3. CRTC acknowledges Big Telecom’s sales practices are problematic, but without any commitment for next steps - OpenMedia
  4. Hamilton man was unable to call 911 during Rogers outage as sister was dying - CBC News
  5. Rogers network resuming after major outage hits millions of Canadians - Reuters
  6. Rogers outage shuts down Canadian banks' ATMs, POS and internet banking - Finextra
  7. See 1
  8. See 2
  9. See 3
  10. See 4
  11. Bring down the Rogers-Shaw deal for GOOD: Email your MP NOW! - OpenMedia
  12. Bell acquires Longueuil-based Internet provider EBOX - Newswire
  13. Bell’s takeover of MTS will harm middle class consumers and businesses who rely on affordable telecom services - OpenMedia
  14. Rogers, Bell and Telus collected more than $240 million from Canada’s wage-subsidy program — and Bell and Telus raised shareholder payouts - The Star
  15. Is the CRTC getting too cosy with big telecom? Star analysis finds major telecoms met with government and CRTC officials hundreds of times prior to reversal on wholesale internet rates - The Star
  16. FAQ: Why it’s crucial Canada’s next CRTC Chair be a champion for the people’s Internet - OpenMedia
  17. See 1

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