I can't support the subamendment for a couple of reasons.
First of all, Rogers management team had no hesitation, like this committee is showing right now, when it decided to enact weasel words in clauses to increase the cost to consumers. You look at the response that's come from Rogers on this practice.
If you're a single mom who has to go to work, and you don't have two to three hours to be on the phone to try to get your bill corrected or lowered, or to have it live up to the original contract that you expected when you signed, or if English is your second language or you're a person with a disability.... Their response to this has created a privileged system to reward those who can fight for their rights to get lower costs versus demographically challenged individuals who don't have the same luxury of time because they're not either semi-retired or fully retired and able to spend endless hours. Maybe they don't have consumer advocacy skills that can meet the professionally trained individuals on the other end of the phone.
With that said, I just want to move on. I think any time that we delay on this.... The seriousness of it is very significant, because it's a social justice issue to me as a New Democrat as much as it is a pocketbook issue for Canadians and consumers.
The failings of this are not just the cost of the box related to your personal contract. There's also the societal cost of pulling winners and losers out of Canadian citizens because of their skill sets related to how they can defend themselves and their families from these contractual arrangements. These contracts, which can be manipulated not only by what is put in fine print but also later on by phone, show how the fine print is measured and determined on your final bill. It's all wrong.
For all those reasons, I support Mr. Perkins' amendment to my original motion. I don't support this one that's being put forth, because it's this serious, and I want to move on. I don't want to be sending signals that we have some type of reservation about doing what we can do. Perhaps what we're suggesting here has to go even further, which I am prepared to do.