Evidence of meeting #46 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was rural.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Chief Financial Officer, Telesat Canada
It is currently BCE, but we've been sold. Subject to regulatory approvals, we'll be owned by the Public Service Pension Fund and a company out of the States named--
Liberal
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Deregulation can't happen quickly enough and you're owned by Bell Canada right now.
Chief Financial Officer, Telesat Canada
For satellite services, that's correct.
Liberal
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Thank you.
That's my 30 seconds. I'll come back on the next round.
Independent
André Arthur Independent Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Good afternoon.
To Mr. Deane, Mr. MacDonald, and Mr. Stinson, I would like to confirm one impression I get from you, that in your respective markets at this time you are the eventual third party that will make deregulation possible.
Am I right?
Independent
André Arthur Independent Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Okay. So your moving into those areas--like Sudbury--will make it so that deregulation...according to the new rules, you're the third party, and there we go, the fight is on.
Then, Mr. MacDonald, when you talk about the win-back situation being crucial to your survival, there is something I don't understand. Will you be signing people on for short-term contracts, or will you be trying to sign them on for at least a year? When you have their signature for a year, what is the win-back situation? How is the win-back situation dangerous to you?
Persona Cable
Oh, it's usually dangerous. You're a consumer of products, I hope. If you went in to a company that's never offered a service before and they told you that you had to sign a contract for a year or two, would you sign it? You've never tried them. They've never offered the service before. As a consumer, do you really think you're going to sign that contract? I don't think so. I think you're going to say you're going to try it for a month or so and see if it works. If it does, then you're a very happy person.
So that's ridiculous.
Independent
André Arthur Independent Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Do you realize that in effect you're telling me that as soon as you're removed from under the dress of Mommy CRTC, you cannot survive; that as soon as the CRTC is not there as your Mommy to protect you against the bully on the street corner, you're going to die?
Independent
André Arthur Independent Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
No, I'm not joking. I'm just following your argument that says--
Persona Cable
You can't be a consumer. You can't be a consumer.
Let's say you phone me to switch your service. You want to buy phone service from me. I phone the telephone company. The same day the phone company phones you and says to you, look, don't switch to Persona; we'll give you $50 a month off your Internet, phone, and TV, and you don't have to do anything; I don't have to send an installer to your house or change your bill--nothing.
Are you going to say, no, I don't want it, I really want to switch to Persona?
Come on now.
Independent
André Arthur Independent Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
If we come back to your analogy of the rat's derrière of a few minutes ago, and if we look at the fact that in your area a big cable company and a big telephone company are all set to compete, can't do it before you get there, you are going to get crushed--
Persona Cable
The rules aren't fair. The telephone company gets to call the shots on my customer, who's actually, as we've explained here--
Independent
André Arthur Independent Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Unless the CRTC keeps the role of being your Mommy, you won't survive.
Persona Cable
I'm going to follow your logic here. What you're telling me is that you don't give a hoot about rural Canada, because there's not going to be competition there. You don't care.
You have to agree with me--
Independent
André Arthur Independent Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Are you telling me that in rural Canada, if there were only a big cable and a big telco, there would be no competition?
Persona Cable
No, I'm telling you there won't be if....
I don't know what your definition of “big” is, because--
Independent
Conservative
