Industry Committee on June 4th, 2019

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Can you put a rough estimate to it, approximately?

[Christine J. Prudham]

I'm afraid we'd have to go through and revive those calculations. I think I'd prefer not to say on the public record, to be perfectly honest, but—

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Would “significant” be over 50%?

[Christine J. Prudham]

Probably.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Mr. Masse, you have five minutes.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

I'll quickly go around the table. We're running out of time.

What would be your number one priority for the government to act on if there were a regulatory change that could take place right now? I know that narrows it down quickly, but the current Parliament has a short runway, and regulations can take place right away.

The minister has already said that motion 208 will not be implemented through any type of legislation, so it's basically a lame duck, and anything that would be required will need some type of renewal, but there are regulatory changes that can take place, especially given the fact that the minister has already identified that the motion will not have any type of statutory movement.

[John Lyotier]

For me, I think anything that increases competition and anything that opens up spectrum are the biggest issues in Canada.

Anyone else can add to that.

[Dr. Jason Ernst]

I'll add to that. I think the biggest thing is that it's easy for the big telecoms to focus on the average revenue per user, and they can make a lot of money from the urban consumer. However, those in the northern markets or those in rural communities have a lot to offer, but right now we're at risk of leaving them behind.

As a pure action item, keep on talking to groups like us. Talk to the witnesses you have here. We all want to make sure that the rest of Canada is connected. The best thing to do is keep on talking about it. There will be solutions come out other than from the big telecom companies.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you.

We're running out of time.

With that, Mr. Longfield brought up some interesting aspects with regard to emergency services. So I'm going to move the following motion:

That the Committee immediately hold two meetings for the purpose of understanding the current mobile phone services for Canadians during times of emergencies.

I can speak to the motion at the appropriate time, but I have moved the motion now, especially given the fact that we've had problems in the past with services, including in the Ottawa region.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Because the motion is in line with our subject matter today, it is a moveable motion. It will be up for debate.

Mr. Graham.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

I would just like to say that I agree in principle about what you want to do. That is the half of M-208 that SECU was supposed to deal with, and SECU is starting to deal with it.

I propose that we discuss it at the end of the meeting so that we don't lose our time with our witnesses, but I do want to discuss that further. It is what SECU was supposed to be dealing with, as it's half of the M-208 motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Okay.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

I will speak, and you can call the question on the motion when you can, Mr. Chair.

We have a chance to have two meetings. Given the emergency situations that we've had.... This committee passed on an earlier opportunity to study cellphone coverage services during the tornado this region faced before, and we've subsequently had other problems. We have enough time to have two meetings to have the large telcos and other service providers provide some testimony to educate Canadians about what they and their families should receive during times of emergencies and also potential cracks, stresses or problems in the current system that we have.

There's no doubt that there is a lot of misinformation. There are also concerns related to the fact that people can't even get the coverage they thought they would get. Also, there's the planning aspect for municipal, provincial and federal services that have to coordinate.

Having two meetings, I think, is a responsible and a meaningful attempt to at least provide that basic sense of information so that there would be some great clarity with regard to what takes place during times of emergencies.

Also, more importantly, we use this opportunity so that people can plan appropriately and the government can respond. This Parliament is going to be wrapping up soon. Without that direction, we will be leaving Canadians in a grey zone with regard to coverage for half a year at least before Parliament resumes after the election.

I think that having two meetings is appropriate, and we have a time frame wherein we can do that. It would provide an opportunity to at least place some expectations for service delivery.

Last, Mr. Chair, is the opportunity to raise concerns about those services for the greater public.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Thank you.

We have Mr. Longfield and then Mr. Chong.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

I move that the debate now be adjourned.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Okay.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Can we have the vote, then? We can have the vote and go from there. The vote will only take a second. Can we have the vote on the motion?

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

It is a non-debatable motion, so we will adjourn that motion, and we'll go back to our witnesses.

Yes, we'll go to a vote.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

What are we voting on? I'll ask for a recorded vote.

So we're not going to have a discussion on—

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Not with the witnesses here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

The motion is to adjourn the debate.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Before that, though, I called the question for the vote, so I called for the question to be.... Maybe you have an explanation of why, when I called the question before that, the debate was to adjourn.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

That's not procedurally valid.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Please, you gave up the floor. You can't call for a vote. Everybody has their chance. Mr. Longfield has asked to adjourn the debate, which is in line, so that's what we will do, and we'll put that up to.... Did I hear a request for a recorded vote?