Mr. Speaker, I am happy to speak to Bill C-216, an act to amend the Broadcasting Act, which was introduced by my colleague from Sarnia-Lambton. I am happy to participate in this debate both as the member for Richmond-Wolfe and as the official opposition's critic on heritage and cultural industries.
I would like to tell my colleague from Sarnia-Lambton that I applaud his initiative because it clearly shows his concern for consumers, who are too often left to fend for themselves when dealing with organizations such as the CRTC. Also organizations like the CRTC and others often let things slide without taking a stand.
The purpose of the bill introduced by the hon. member for Sarnia-Lambton is to protect consumers against a questionable business practice called negative option billing that forces people to pay for a cable service they did not request. They receive this service and, if they do not ask for it to be stopped, they are considered to have bought it.
For the benefit of our listeners and my colleagues, I would like to put the situation in context. I would remind you that, by amending section 3 of the Broadcasting Act, this bill provides that a cable distributor should not demand money from a person for the provision or sale of a new programming service where the person has not agreed to receive the new service. It seems to me that, in our society, people should not have to pay for a product or service they did not ask for.
This business practice of selling programming services to consumers who have not asked for them, which is called negative option billing, started in 1994 when the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission or CRTC granted eight new special cable service licences.
Why were eight new licences issued? The CRTC had one main goal, namely to strengthen the Canadian presence in the Canadian broadcasting system in anticipation of this system being inundated by American services, thus preventing an American invasion of Canadian distribution systems.
This goal in itself is certainly commendable. However, after this decision was made by the CRTC, in many cases, new channels were added to cable subscribers' discretionary service package. This means that those who already paid for a cable package now had this service added, and that made them angry. Why? Protests were sparked by this marketing strategy used by cable operators, which consists in imposing new and unrequested services on consumers and charging them extra for it.
No one in this House has to pay nor wants to pay for services they never asked for, that appear out of nowhere.
The CRTC decision resulting from the public hearings on the industry's structure released in 1993 kicked off a number of regulatory reforms that were implemented when the eight dedicated cable broadcasting licences were issued. Marketing strategies based on negative optioning were debated and tacitly agreed to, since the CRTC did not take a stand.
The CRTC never regulated or attempted to regulate the negative optioning marketing practices of cable operators.
It seems obvious that a deliberate choice was made not to make public statements on the appropriateness of such practices. The CRTC did not react. It gave tacit approval by letting cable distributors set the rules themselves. It seems that, in the past, such practices helped new specialty services succeed on the market, while also promoting the cultural development goals set out in the Broadcasting Act.
So, the CRTC said: "Since this has worked before, we will leave them alone". Monopolizing consumers' ability to buy at their own expense is definitely a curious way to protect the culture of Quebec and Canada. Consumers are the ones who should decide on the content and the services they want.
During the 1993 public hearings on the industry's structure, however, some witnesses expressed their concern regarding the negative option billing for new services. Later, consumer protection groups expressly asked that the Broadcasting Act be amended to force the CRTC to protect the interests of consumers, not just cultural interests, when regulating the monopoly that the cable television industry is.
We agree that the content should be Canadian and should protected from neighbouring countries, but not at the expense of consumers, not by leaving them at the mercy of cable distributors. This does not make sense.
Cable television subscribers had already started rebelling. The CRTC's way of looking after their interests was to merely urge cable distributors to pay greater attention to consumers' requests. It said to those who provide the service and make money in the process: "Set your own rules, but please act properly".
In reality, the marketing component in the Canadian cable distribution industry is left to the association itself. In the end, the association is the one that sets the marketing standards advocated by the national Cable Television Standards Council. As regards this issue, it is clear that not only the CRTC but also the Liberal Party dragged their feet and did not take their responsibilities on time, since consumers had to send a wake up call.
On January 5, one year after consumer associations protested against negative option billing, Rogers Broadcasting Ltd., the largest cable distributor in Canada and the initiator of that practice, gave up the idea and apologized for its mistake. The company called itself to order, which is a good sign. But it was the result of pressure from consumers and not the government acting responsibly and declaring that, in this field, the commercial practice was unacceptable. From now on, says the Canadian Cable Television Association, in an attempt to reassure us, the practice of negative
option billing is a thing of the past and the cable distribution industry will listen to consumers.
Thus, the bill introduced by the hon. member for Sarnia-Lambton merely confirms a single practice. This brings me to the question of duplication. A single practice. The bill confirms an intrusion into the jurisdiction of provinces that have already taken responsibility in this area. This is not the case in all the provinces, I admit, but for Quebec particularly, where the Consumer Protection Act is strong and has been around for a long time, the proposal of similar legislation in the House of Commons represents a direct intrusion into one of Quebec's areas of jurisdiction.
I am pleased to see this initiative by the hon. member, because he is, to all intents and purposes, reminding his own government of its responsibilities. He has just told it: "You have neglected the situation". And unlike in Quebec and in another province that has a consumer protection act, in all the other provinces, no action is taken and cable distributors are asked to regulate themselves and decide on their own what the rules should be.
The Government of Quebec has already established its jurisdiction by way of its Consumer Protection Act through a general prohibition on the sale of any service through negative option billing. Paragraph 230 (a) of this act is very clear. By regulating the commercialization of cable distribution services through an amendment to its Broadcasting Act, Ottawa reveals once again its determination to interfere in an area of provincial responsibility.
In Quebec, however, any contractual agreement between a consumer and a cable distributor has been subject, since the introduction of these services, to the Consumer Protection Act.
I must therefore reiterate that any such bill tabled in this House is very clearly a duplication of regulations and an intrusion of the federal government into the jurisdiction of the State of Quebec. It is not ill will on the part of the member. It is because his own government has not taken its responsibilities and he is calling it to order. He is also reminding the government that many provinces have no consumer protection legislation and that the present government, with the CRTC, is sending a very clear signal to cable distributors to take whatever action they see fit.
In terms of the content of the bill and the concerns of the hon. member for Sarnia-Lambton, I would say to him that we think alike. But as for the principle of tabling a bill in this House that represents a direct intrusion into the province's area of jurisdiction, we have no choice, as the official opposition, but to vote against Bill C-216.