It's no mere coincidence that the telecommunications sector in Canada is so highly regulated that to all intents and purposes, there is no country that can rival it in the Western World. Cuba and Zimbabwe do rival us when it comes to banning the installation of satellite antenna capable of transmitting US programs. Here in Canada, to satisfy certain dogmatic individuals, a very rigid regulatory system has been put in place, and the CRTC is viewed as a sacred cow.
My friends, at some point, we will have to explain to the voters that sacred cows make the best ground beef around.
When we first focused our attention on this issue, the CRTC sent us its clients, people who as a rule were rewarded for their servility, notably Vidéotron officials. In fact, Vidéotron representatives told the committee that it was important for the government to continue to paralyze Bell Canada in Quebec, so that the company wouldn't be able to compete with them. They even went so far as to send a political assistant to Brian Mulroney, another prime minister who inexplicably has become a multimillionaire, to speak on Vidéotron's behalf. When they testified, you seemed to believe that Vidéotron and Quebecor needed to be protected from Bell Canada. Quebecor wields an incredible amount of power in Quebec and in English Canada and yet, some seem to think that the company is in need of protection.
Cogeco representatives spoke to us about the dangers of deregulation, whereas in the broadcasting sector, an area that does not fall within the committee's purview, this company is totally subservient to the CRTC. Cogeco is constantly going before the CRTC to ask for favours when it comes to its telephone, cable, television and radio services as well as all of its speciality channels. This company earns its living kneeling before the sacred cow. Officials weren't about to come here to tell us of their plans to challenge the CRTC when it would mean having to pay the price for taking a stand, and given that they are waiting for rulings to obtain licensing improvements in Quebec City, Montreal and elsewhere.
Mr. Shaw was the only person who spoke frankly to the committee. He said that if you continued to give them gifts, they would take them, that if you continued to prevent Telus from operating within their territory, they would be forever grateful, but that he knew full well that it would have to come to an end one day. He said that in ten months' time, this would no longer even be necessary. All of this happened several months ago, and we're now talking about delaying deregulation.
Some consumers came before the committee with a survey in hand showing that Canadians and Quebeckers were horrified at the thought that telephone companies could be allowed to set their own rates. These consumers organizations, which happen to be regular CRTC customers and therefore part of the sacred cow process designed to convince Canadians of the need for increased regulations, neglected to tell their members--and we still don't know who they are-- that the next adjustment would result in lower rates.
They lied to you, and that suited you just fine. You listened to what they had to say, as if they had no interests in this issue. That wasn't the case. When you proceed to vote on a motion to further delay the deregulation of the telephone industry, I hope you have enough political smarts to come up with a way of explaining to the voters that your actions will again postpone a decrease, rather than an increase, in rates.