Industry Committee on May 11th, 2020

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Yes, we are looking very carefully at what France and Australia have done. As you may be aware, they've acted through their competition bureaus. We are looking at the mechanisms we have in Canada. Obviously, legislation and regulation among countries differs, so these types of bodies don't necessarily have the same types of powers, but we are looking at this very closely.

We've said for many months that we want the web giants to do their fair share, and clearly right now they're not. If we can use existing tools to make that happen, we will. If we need to create new tools, we will.

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Thanks very much. They should absolutely pay into our news media ecosystem.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much. That's the end of the round.

I will now yield the floor to Mr. Lemire.

Mr. Lemire, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to thank Minister Guilbeault and Minister Monsef for their presence, which is important to us today.

I would like to broach the topic of connecting all Quebeckers and Canadians to high-speed Internet, and about access to the cellular network. Madam Minister, would you be prepared to recognize that this is an essential service?

You mentioned that we need to learn from the past and that rights should not be dependent on geography. Could we say that the investments that are being made are not expenditures and that they are essential to the economic recovery of our cities, towns, villages and territory?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Yes, and it has been.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

So you recognize that this is essential. We can measure that by the answers to the following two questions: does the 2030 deadline seem acceptable to you, and should new money be invested?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

We put forward, in 2019, the first plan in Canada's history to connect every community to high-speed Internet. We've set aside $6 billion to date to get it done, and I can assure my colleague that our goal is to expedite the timeline as much as we can, particularly post-COVID.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

You mentioned that we must learn from past mistakes. I would suggest that perhaps an all-party committee should be set up on this issue, because I think all parties agree, particularly here, that there should be a concerted effort to work together to produce results, regardless of people's political stripe.

I'm wondering when the budgets for the Connect to Innovate program will be approved. Will there be a public and a private portion? The needs are estimated at between $5 billion and $6 billion. What will the Government of Canada's share be, and will there be new money coming in, in the short term, this year? I think it is unacceptable to hear that in 2022 there will still be 1.4 million homes that will not be connected.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Our plan hasn't been developed on the back of a napkin. It has been developed with partners across the country. It has been shaped by the feedback of colleagues such as Gudie Hutchings from the really small communities, colleagues from Quebec, colleagues from every corner of the country and from Canadians themselves.

Our dollars are meant to incent private sector investments. It's to our economic benefit to get this done and to get it done quickly. It's also part of the equity equation that all of us are working hard to address. Therefore, I can assure my colleague that we are on it. Now more than ever, the urgency to get this done quickly is apparent.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

How much do you think it would cost to finance the connection of 100% of Canadians?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

The investments we've put forward so far are meant to connect about 400,000 households. The $6 billion invested is going to get us closer to it. We estimate that about $8 billion is required, and our private partners, as well as provinces, territories and indigenous partners, are helping to further strengthen the federal investments made.

I want to let my colleague know, though, that this requires all players, all hands on deck, but it requires a strong role to be played by the federal government and we have been and will continue to play that strong role.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

What do you think would be an acceptable deadline to guarantee the distribution of the $8 billion? It's a huge number. It's going to take a combination of partners, and the federal government has a leadership role to play. When are you going to be able to disburse this money?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

My colleague and I agree that the federal government plays a leadership role. We are playing that role. That money has been invested. Since budget 2016, we have been adding to it, and there are tens of thousands of households that have access to the Internet today that didn't before we formed government.

By the end of this year, there will be an additional 50,000 households connected to the Internet. By the end of next year, there will be an additional 250,000 households connected to the Internet. By the end of 2022, there will be 400,000 households connected in nearly 1,000 communities, including 190 indigenous communities. This is something that should have been done decades ago, but we are on it, and we are on it with great urgency.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Since the beginning of the crisis, several ministers of your government have recognized the extent of the need, for all Quebeckers and Canadians, for access to high-speed Internet service and access to a quality cellular network.

Does this mean that the Connect to Innovate program, designed to connect Canadians, is not quite right? Doesn't that mean you need to move up the time line and invest some new money?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Unfortunately, we've run out of time for this round of questions.

I will now yield the floor to Mr. Masse.

Mr. Masse, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Ministers, for being here.

Minister Monsef, do you know how much money Canada has taken in with spectrum auctions?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

No, I don't specifically. I think my deputy is on the line and he'd be happy to share that.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

It's a relatively public number. It's over $20 million.

Do you know how much money you raised in the last spectrum auction you had?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

No, but I'm sure you do, MP Masse.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Yes, I do, again because it's actually important to know this file. It was $3.47 billion. Your government has committed how much of that $3.47 billion to use right now, in the 2019 budget?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Budget 2019 set aside over $1 billion both for the universal broadband fund and for the investments we're making in low-earth orbit satellites.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Yes, it was $1.7 billion. We're missing $1.77 billion from that spectrum alone. What did you do with the $1.77 billion? I'll point out that the one that you did put in, the lower amount, is over 10 years, so there still is that money available because only a portion of it, $170 million, is being spent this year.

Where is the rest of that money from that spectrum alone?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Madam Chair, if my colleague wishes to discuss spectrum, I highly encourage him to either connect with our officials or speak with Minister Bains, who has the lead on the spectrum file.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

You just spent the majority of your testimony talking about spectrum.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

I think I spent a paragraph talking about spectrum, but okay.