Evidence of meeting #49 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 point.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
I think the opposition would like to vote, but my understanding is that the Conservatives have some more points to make.
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Actually to the first point of order, I would suggest that we could eat at some point in time, but I think at this time when we're actually not doing any physical work, eating would likely not be in our best interests, because we wouldn't have an opportunity to wear it off.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
But at some point in time we may want to consider that.
I want to go back to the point of the local interconnection region.
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
I think we'll continue with the debate for now, Mr. McTeague. I actually have another dinner I'm supposed to be at.
Mr. Shipley, continue.
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
On the issue of the local interconnection regions, I agree that we need to have those, as Mr. Crête indicated in his first recommendation. I think having regions is important, so that we can make sure we can supply the telecommunications to our consumers within the regions.
My only concern with the way this one is written--and I think we could actually sit down and work something out--is that if there were more regions that were smaller, rather than larger, because in the larger ones.... As I was saying just before the point of order, you're liable to have an urban area within that region that will have excellent and good service, and then on the outside or on the fringes of that, quite honestly, you're likely to have those areas that would not have as good a service. Part of this whole discussion is obviously about making sure, even through our forbearance, that we have good service for our rural areas and those areas on the outside.
So I would hope that in our negotiations and discussion around that recommendation we could have some talk about this. Why not make those smaller so that in fact those larger regions wouldn't leave out those areas that didn't have the same type of service? In those areas that fall out of it, obviously they would fall under the regulation, and that regulation then would protect them and make them able to stay in the business and have good communications.
So I think maybe we could have that type of discussion. In fact, I think yesterday one of the witnesses--
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
Gerry Byrne Liberal Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL
Mr. Chair, for the information of committee members, one of our colleagues, Maurice Vellacott, has booked this room for 6:30 for the parliamentary pro-life caucus, so I want to inform our colleagues of that point.
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you, Mr. Byrne, and that has been brought to my attention. Obviously it's problematic, but I understand that if the committee chooses to go on, the committee has precedence in terms of the room.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Even yesterday we had witnesses come forward and indicate those types of suggestions, having smaller areas, so that those that may not have the same competitive advantage as the urban or larger areas would be protected. I think that's a very strong argument for talking about having smaller areas for servicing.
Mr. Chair, that is only one recommendation, and we agree. I think the telecommunications sector needs to be reviewed and it needs reform. But unfortunately the recommendation that has just come forward today without preparation--and the way it's been put forward indicates it doesn't have preparation--is a way to get in the way of moving ahead, and not only for the government. The government is secondary to this whole issue. The consumers are truly important to this whole issue. This motion is really going to put everything we're trying to do here on the back burner.
At one point we wanted to move ahead on telecommunications as a committee, right from the start in April. That was certainly the desire of the government. Certainly the Conservative Party wanted to move ahead. It wasn't the wish of the rest of the committee. The rest of the committee opposed that and said manufacturing, because we had the high dollar at that time. It was reaching toward 90 cents. We had high fuel prices. We had a number of issues within the auto sector, the textile industry, and a number of those across this country were raising some issues with everybody in the opposition.
That being said, we went into a manufacturing study, so the manufacturing study put telecommunications on the back burner. Even though we had a telecommunications report that had been started by the past government, the Liberal government, and that had come forward with recommendations that I think we all agree are good recommendations, we've got into a bit of a match about whether there's something we should be providing by...some call it cherry-picking. Actually, it's very informative for the consumer and to the telecommunications people that we move ahead in a very professional and forthright manner and start to work for the consumers of Canada, start to work for the people up and down our roads, and start to give the people in this country the advantage of savings in the telecommunications industry.
So we forgot it or forgave it, I guess, and went ahead with the manufacturing report so that we could get that out of the way. Well, it was a great report, and this committee worked well and worked hard to make that happen.
I am on two committees, and this is the first one that came forward with a unanimous report on manufacturing. I sit on another committee, veterans affairs, and we set aside our partisanship, we set aside our political affiliation and we work for the people, the veterans. We have a concern for the veterans and what we can do to make their lives better, to make their lives as good as other Canadians' in this great country.
Some things have been neglected over the last number of years; in fact, not just a few, a lot. Arguments could have come across the table--you know, for 13 years you haven't done that--but we didn't say that.
6:05 p.m.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Sir, you haven't been there that long.
We set that aside, and we were able to work for the veterans. And in the manufacturing, we were able to work on a unanimous report. So now we've had two. I thought we were, and hopefully we were, working in the same system in the telecommunications report as we had been in the manufacturing.
So when Mr. Crête brought forward these recommendations that we have in front of us today, I thought, this is good; this is what negotiations are about. Is there a principle that's right within these...? I think there are five of them. We might even have to spend some time and read through these a little later.
6:15 p.m.
Liberal
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Well, I might have to come and borrow that report.
But in saying that, I was hoping we would have that talk about how we can negotiate to move this ahead.
So with that, my disappointment rises again in terms of having a motion come forward that's really going to just stonewall this, and I don't think that's the intent. I know it's not the intent of my colleagues opposite to do that. I think they have got tied up and wound up in a scenario where they have their backs up. It's unfortunate if that has happened, because really what we want to do is work for the consumers of Canada and work for the people up and down your street and up and down my side roads in rural Canada and in urban areas, because telecommunications are about everything that we seem to live on.
There are days when I have this thing that I wish I didn't have it. But it's now become a reality of life. It not only talks to me, it writes to me, and I don't know what else it might do in the future.
Mr. Chairman, I don't know if my other colleagues happen to have any other comments or not, but I'd be glad to carry on, because we haven't quite finished with the recommendations yet.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
The only person I have on the list right now is Monsieur Arthur.
Monsieur Arthur.
6:15 p.m.
Independent
André Arthur Independent Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Given that I promised to be quiet, obviously I should apologize to you for not remaining quiet at this time and for going back on my word. However, I must do what I must do and take this opportunity to explain to the committee members how this is related to my disappointment about what is happening currently.
I am an independent member of Parliament and I was invited by the Conservative Party to join the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, and that is what makes me most proud since having been sent as a member of Parliament to Ottawa.
Usually an independent member of Parliament is not a full-fledged committee member and I'm very aware that I am the beneficiary of an exception that was probably made out of some sort of sympathy. Allow me to say that even though I do not know why I was invited, I know full well why I accepted the invitation.
I accepted the invitation because after 35 years of experience in telecommunications and broadcasting, I became a member of Parliament and I knew that the Minister of Industry, Maxime Bernier, was going to take steps that would potentially reduce the disastrous impact of excessive, abusive, and above all capricious regulations established by not very honest people in the CRTC, that I had an opportunity to become familiar with.
The pride I had in participating in your debates, was that of showing you that after having worked for 35 years in the communications sector I could perhaps contribute to reducing the power held in Canada by a regulatory body, one that I lost all respect for a while ago.
During our recent hearings, we heard the Vice-Chair of the CRTC, Mr. Richard French, and you probably heard me ask him about the commonly held and inappropriate relations between members of the CRTC and the clients that they are responsible for supervising, regulating and monitoring on our behalf.
I was trying to get Mr. French to comment on the relations that existed not so long ago between certain CRTC commissioners and an extremely powerful organization in the cable and broadcasting sector in Quebec, Quebecor, Videotron, TVA, Mr. Péladeau's group. I tried to get him to comment on the fact that three years ago, all the CRTC members except one had attended an extremely luxurious gala that was held in Montreal by the TVA network. All the CRTC commissioners were celebrated, transported, dressed, lodged, and fed by the Videotron, Quebecor, TVA organization, for the Star Académie program's gala.
When some reporter friends of mine discovered this and published it, the CRTC members, who were embarrassed and ashamed, decided to provide retroactive expenditure accounts in order to create the impression that they had paid for their own participation in the Star Académie gala. They accounted for the rental of their suits, their hotel rooms, their airplane tickets, their meals and other amenities that some convention delegates sometimes receive from powerful people.
I was not trying to prove, through my questions, that Mr. French is a dishonest man. I was trying to show you—
6:20 p.m.
Conservative
Daniel Petit Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Point of order, Mr. Chairman.
When a colleague is speaking could those who wish to speak please do so in the hallway, if that's what they want to do.
6:20 p.m.
Conservative
Daniel Petit Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Yes, point of order, please.
I would ask that those who want to speak with each other do so in the hallway, out of respect for those who have the floor. I think that is normal in any committee.
6:20 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Mr. Dhaliwal, Mr. Bevilacqua, if we could have members, especially at the table.... If there are conversations, people can go outside for their conversations.
Monsieur Arthur has the floor.
