It is not an anti-spam law. So if we were to move in that direction, I think we'd be really going.... This legislation is almost informed by the failure of the anti-spam legislation in the United States, so let's not lose sight of that. This bill is good. Let's keep that.
On the comparative front, from a competitive perspective, there are two points. One, nothing in this bill says it doesn't apply to foreign spammers where there's a real and substantial connection to Canada. We had this fight over our privacy legislation some time ago, and we've seen, just this past summer, the Canadian Privacy Commissioner flexing her muscles and bringing social networking under control, out of the wild west into the era of civilized privacy behaviour. With respect, I think this bill will have a similar impact. Through this bill, we can control foreign nations, foreign competitors, and foreign businesses that are spamming Canadians.
Second, this bill will provide Canadian businesses with a competitive advantage in the use of electronic communication tools that other nations haven't seen fit to give their businesses. When we talk about whether we are disadvantaging Canadian business, the real question is, are we advantaging Canadian businesses? I would submit that we are. We don't want to throw that out in responding to some of the legitimate concerns expressed by businesses that will be subject to this legislation