Mr. Speaker, I think this is an important circumstance in the list of amendments the hon. member has brought forward. It is important for a couple of key reasons.
The first is that we need to ask ourselves a question as we did in committee concerning the issue of international licensing as opposed to domestic licensing. What really are we trying to accomplish and what is the cost benefit of doing so?
As has been mentioned previously by the hon. member on the other side, numerous presenters at committee expressed concern around adding a new layer of domestic licensing to telecommunications service providers. Yet we could find no clear justification for adding this new level of licensing.
Today under the CRTC, the Telecommunications Act and the Competition Act, there are already vehicles through which the government can deal with any problems in the industry. These vehicles that currently exist if exercised expediently are all that are needed. To layer a new level of licensing on to business interests in the telecommunications industry which are currently not under a licensing regime is just an expansion of a bureaucracy for no clear benefit. That is what became so evident in the committee.
I believe that is why we stand against these particular amendments put forward by the Bloc member.
We always have to ask and we are going to continue to ask the question, whenever there is some new overlay of regulation or licensing and the cost that is involved in adding the new licensing or administrative overlay, what is the benefit derived for the consumer. Somebody is going to have to pay for this licensing process. Someone is going to have to administer it.
Ultimately we know who that someone is. It is the taxpayer. It may be passed on to industry, but industry just flows that back to the consumer. One way or the other the taxpayer or the consumer funds these new regulatory regimes that are layered on top of the ones that are already there.
That was my concern in committee and it remains my concern. Unless we can demonstrate a very clear payback to the consumer for having these new licensing powers or licensing restrictions placed on players who currently do not have them and have not had them, and there have been no significant problems that cannot be dealt with through existing legislation, then we should not entertain adding a new level of bureaucracy to what is already there.
Even at the international level there is some question as to how long the need for licensing will be there if we are truly moving to global competition. We feel it is a valid question to examine how long we will need the licensing regime at the international level.
In general, my thrust is to let us make the current restrictions and legislation which is there today and surrounds this industry effective, instead of adding on new layers of bureaucracy to try to add new restrictions to the industry. It is already doing quite well without it.