Mr. Speaker, I appreciate your indulgence and that of my hon. colleagues.
In recent years Canadian producers have proved themselves to be formidable broadcasters, able to compete at home and around the world in the fields of drama and entertainment. Many of these new specialty channels licensed by the CRTC offer excellent programming and would have survived without having to be forced on anyone. However, I am afraid that the consumer backlash did little to enhance the popularity of the new specialty channels.
On January 5, 1995 a major cable company had partially capitulated, apologizing for its mistake in not presenting the new services as a separate discretionary package. It offered consumers the choice of keeping only their current package of specialty services at additional fees. However, the much disputed negative option marketing scheme used to launch the new line-up remained firmly in place, leaving the onus on the consumer to refuse the new package.
This brings me to my role as a parliamentarian and a representative of my constituents in this House. Some would argue this is a consumer rights issue under the jurisdiction of the provinces but provincial consumer laws do not apply to cable companies which are clearly under federal authority.
I do not understand how the protection of the choice of Canadian cable consumers is a matter outside of federal broadcasting jurisdiction, as some have suggested. Section 5 of the federal Broadcasting Act creates an obligation for the CRTC to regulate and supervise all aspects of the Canadian broadcasting system with a view to implementing the broadcasting policy set out in the act. Proposed changes to section 3 of the Broadcasting Act would ban the practice of negative option billing for new programming services.
There is no doubt that over the next decade the cable industry will change drastically. More and more consumers are beginning to demand that they pay only for those channels they want. However, I understand the technology to allow this is not to be realized until the turn of the century. Thus television and the cable industry are currently in a period of transition. Program selection is increasing but the technology to give viewers real choice has not yet arrived.
In May 1994 the CRTC chairman acknowledged that television consumers want more control: "Consumers want, deserve and will increasingly settle for nothing less than the maximum control possible over which services they select and pay for. As a consumer and the CRTC chairman, I agree 100 per cent with this goal".
Cable television services in Canada are distributed either as part of a basic service or on an discretionary basis. Basic cable service is a standard package of services provided to all subscribers within a cable company's service area. It consists of a number of mandatory or priority Canadian programming services, including the CBC English and French network services, local and regional stations, provincial educational services, a community channel as well as various optional services.
The proposed changes in my colleague's bill are timely because commencing May 6 of this year the CRTC will consider licensing more TV channels and all these new channels will be scrambling for an audience. My constituents must be allowed to make a positive choice to obtain these services. Some may not realize a response is necessary or even possible. Some may inadvertently forget. They do not want to have to call their cable company to say stop these extra channels.
I criticize the negative option billing approach used to introduce the new services on the grounds of fairness and consumers' right to choose. Consumers should have the right to select the brand of programming they want rather than having it imposed on them by a paternalistic regulator and monopolistic industry.
Negative option marketing favours corporations and disempowers consumers. The Broadcasting Act is too one sided in requiring the CRTC to protect only Canadian cultural interest, not consumer interest.
As MPs we have a golden opportunity to respond to Canadian consumers who demanded that we put an end to negative option billing for new programming services. Government have long recognized that consumers should not pay for unsolicited goods. No matter what the motive behind negative option marketing, it is an abuse that must be corrected.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.