QUESTION PERIOD — Transport and Communications
Business of the Committee
November 23, 2022
My question is for Senator Housakos in his capacity as the Chair of the Transport and Communications Committee.
We all know the internet is critical for building businesses and engaging in the digital economy. In this age, the internet is vital to our everyday lives in key areas like health, education and justice. That has actually led to the UN recognizing internet connectivity as a fundamental human right.
I met yesterday with the Rural Municipalities of Alberta. Everybody knows that rural Canadians receive slower internet speeds at much higher prices than folks in urban areas. This year, they ran some tests in their member municipalities and found median speeds were about one third of what would be considered acceptable in an urban environment — less than one third of what would be a minimum standard.
It’s a complex issue. We know that. Wireless access and spectrum access are critical. There are a number of companies that have purchased wireless spectrum in rural markets and have not used it; they are hanging onto it, with no intention in the short or even medium term of putting it to use.
Bill S-242, the “Use It or Lose It” bill, is part of the equation for a solution. It is before your committee now. Can you advise the Senate when the committee will begin its review of that bill?
Thank you, Senator Tannas, for your important and timely question.
As you know, our committee is currently seized with government legislation — we have before us Bill C-11 — and, as always, government legislation is our priority.
I say your question is timely because one of the biggest criticisms we have been hearing on Bill C-11 is the inclusion of user-generated content. The government keeps claiming that this legislation is one of the driving forces to give more voices to under-represented people in this country.
However, the opposite seems to be being achieved, particularly when it comes to digital creators. We’ve heard from many of them, including those typically under-represented voices who are doing a number of interesting things right now using the internet. They’ve been telling the Senate committee that Indigenous creators and cultural communities are getting opportunities they have never had before thanks to digital platforms. But numerous digital creators we heard from also told us that the government should really just stay out of the way of marginalized and Indigenous Canadians’ and allow them to continue to use those media to prosper and grow.
But your point is very well taken. They brought up on a number of occasions that the biggest problem that Indigenous communities in the North and Canadians in rural Canada are facing is the lack of connectivity. Of course, the cost of connectivity is significantly higher as compared to the rest of the world.
So your question is relevant. The bill is in the queue. Unfortunately — or fortunately — we have a number of pieces of government legislation that we’re dealing with. But I hope to get to this bill, because I agree with you and the stakeholders in question with whom you’ve met that instead of our government in Canada putting so much time and energy in living in the past — because Canada, once upon a time, was a world leader in communication; that was a time when I was a young boy. Today in 2022, we have fallen behind the digital curve. I think the government should refocus its efforts toward increasing connectivity in rural and Northern Canada and allow the under-represented voices to continue to use the internet and the digital market to grow.
I wish I could give you a better answer in terms of the timeline, but I will take it to our steering committee and I will write back to you on this issue.
