Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in this House to take part in debate on this motion by the Bloc Québécois.
We are introducing this motion for adoption because we want to denounce the attitude of the government, which is refusing to invite representatives of the opposition parties to attend the United Nations conference on climate change that will take place in December in Bali.
It is our view that in a democracy all members of Parliament must be involved in developing government policy. It is really a denial of democracy. We have to insist that, in this House, all members, regardless of party, their riding or their office, have equal value. Each member has been elected by the public to represent them and to identify their needs. When they flout the right of members to speak about government policy on major issues, they are flouting democracy. For us, that is unacceptable.
In terms of the environment, the government has shown that it is incapable of proposing and implementing a plan that includes absolute targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We know that if there are no targets and no obligation to meet targets, it is impossible for us to have carbon trading. Yet, carbon trading would have made a significant economic contribution, especially for Montreal, which is ready to play host to a carbon trading exchange.
Against the advice of the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development, the government has rejected the Kyoto protocol. In our view, once again, that is a denial of democracy.
In the issue that concerns us today, the matter of broadcasting and telecommunications policy, it is our view once again that parliamentarians have an important contribution to make. In this motion, we state that “any new directive to the CRTC from the Governor-in-Council amending the interpretation of the Broadcasting Policy for Canada or the Canadian Telecommunications Policy be first put before the House through the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for its consideration,” which is how it should be done; how the rules should be applied in a democracy.
The Bloc Québécois considers that the Conservative minority government is making use of the instructions, directives and decisions of the CRTC to weaken the regulatory framework in both telecommunications and broadcasting.
Besides, the strategies are lacking in transparency and in courage. We want to see any changes to the telecommunications and broadcasting policies made through legislation. Let them table a bill and it will be debated and amended by a parliamentary committee. By proceeding in this way, the government appears to be afraid of being defeated in its attempts to pass bills, In our view, that is a perversion of democracy.
Let us have a bit of background. We saw that on December 11, 2006, the former Minister of Industry made an order in council, which allowed telephone companies to establish their own rates in geographic areas where at least three telephone companies were in competition.
This significant measure reduces the influence of the CRTC which, for years, controlled the rates of former telephone monopolies such as Bell and Telus. Once again, this is a denial of democracy and truly runs counter to the advice of parliamentarians and even of many witnesses who appeared before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology and were very critical of the minister in this regard.
Here are a few examples of what witnesses had to say.
On February 7, 2007, Yves Mayrand, a Vice-President at COGECO Inc., a very large company, stated:
First, let me voice our deep concern that political decision-making now appears to be the norm in Canadian telecommunications, taking precedence over quasi-judicial decision-making by the independent administrative body formally entrusted by Parliament with the job of ruling on telecommunications regulatory issues, including forbearance.
What I find most important in this quote is the mention of the independent administrative body. We would never think of negating the role of an ombudsman. In many areas, there is an on-going need for an independent administrative body. The reasons for the existence of these organizations are evident: to protect consumers and to ensure that the government has an interface where someone can look at the rules and make decisions. Thus, the independence of an administrative body, in this case the CRTC, is truly important.
Mr. Mayrand also said:
Third, the proposed order would immediately eliminate the incumbent telephone companies 90-day win-back restrictions throughout Canada, even where alternative local access services are still not available.
Why establish this order in council, which hinders rather than helps business, and why negate the role of the CRTC, this important advisory body?
Another witness, Chris Peirce, of MTS Allstream Inc., stated:
— the mere presence test is fundamentally incompatible with competition law. Nowhere else in the world, save in the now re-monopolizing U.S., would regulators consider deregulating an incumbent without looking at the actual state of competition in the market.
That raises a lot of questions and could potentially lead to legal action based on the Competition Act.
Why deregulate when so many have said it is a bad idea? That same witness was concerned about the legality of the proposed order, which would replace the CRTC's obligations under law with the mere presence test .
It is clear that regulation is necessary. I find it astonishing that a government that believes in law and order is deregulating this kind of thing knowing that we need regulations and order in our society to determine what role each element should play and what has to be done.
The government knows it has to regulate on three fronts: it has to set the terms and conditions, define activities undertaken, define accountability, and establish restrictions and administrative structures to ensure that ethics, rules and standards are correctly applied in a market as vast as the telecommunications sector.
Issues relating to this sector should always go through the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Furthermore, the House and its members deserve to be heard and respected because they are the ones who are in constant contact with the people and who have the ability to intervene.
All of this is making us very worried about the potential impact of deregulation on Quebec culture. We know how hard it is for Quebec to protect its culture and its language in this environment. We think that it would be best for Quebec to administer this important sector itself. Deregulation will certainly not solve the problem.
Therefore, we are asking the government to pay attention and respect the rights of parliamentarians to intervene in the best interest of the people. We think that Quebec culture is important, and we believe the government should protect it.