Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise this evening to talk about the rules governing the placement of telecommunications towers.
I would like to congratulate my colleague, the member for Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, on behalf of all Canadians, mayors and MPs who are dealing with this problem and have been calling for some time for a transparent consultation process so that the public and elected representatives will be able to provide input regarding the location of telecommunications antennas.
To demonstrate the scope of the phenomenon, in Montreal, for example, there are approximately 2,000 structures with antennas. In Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, it is estimated that there are approximately 35 structures of this type. Moreover, some towers can easily house approximately 50 different antennas. The rapid proliferation of wireless applications and of new service providers is bringing increasing pressure to bear on existing infrastructure.
Canadians must be consulted because erecting telecommunications antennas raises a number of issues that directly affect their daily lives. The matter of aesthetics and respecting the built heritage is obvious: nobody wants to have that kind of structure in their backyard. But it is also a question of public health.
Moreover, it appears that the effects of these antennas on our health are not entirely known. Option consommateurs, for example, considers that the standards developed by Health Canada and imposed on service providers by Industry Canada are inadequate, and has argued that they only apply to the amplified thermal effects of radio frequencies that are emitted and not to non-thermal effects in the long term. Most Canadians I have met share this opinion and think that the current safety provisions are inadequate.
To illustrate the frustrations that Canadians and local elected representatives face, allow me to describe something that recently occurred in Saint-Eustache. I am singling out this case, but there are hundreds of similar cases across Canada. I could also list several other comparable cases in Rivière-des-Mille-Îles.
In the summer of 2011, residents of the des Jardins neighbourhood got the surprise of their lives when they saw a 27-metre telecommunications tower go up behind the car dealerships on Dubois Street, which is adjacent to a residential area. When questioned by angry residents, the elected representatives of the City of Saint-Eustache had to admit they were powerless. The negotiation process between Rogers and the municipality took place in 2010. The company first informed the City of what it needed to improve its network. The municipality proposed a number of available municipal lots, but the proposed lots were not suitable in the opinion of the Rogers engineers.
Faced with a deadlock, the telecommunications company turned to the private sector to find a location for its tower. Canadian law requires that for each telecommunications tower project of this type a 30-day public consultation must be held. All residents living within a radius of three times the height of the tower must be informed by letter and invited to comment by regular mail or email. Nobody voiced any opposition during the 30-day period. Industry Canada was therefore able to authorize the Rogers project. How is that possible?
The municipal council argues that, “neither the City, nor the provincial government have jurisdiction in this file,” and that, “since residents are consulted in this kind of process, it is they who are entitled to object to such facilities being built in their neighbourhoods.” The city has reminded residents on several occasions, by way of resolutions, that the council opposed the decision.
Rogers, for its part, claims that it met its regulatory obligations by contacting residents who were directly affected, by being courteous, and by mailing a copy of the consultation to the city.
In my opinion, the legislation and the circular published in June 2007 by Industry Canada governing the installation of antennas poses two problems. On the one hand, telecommunications companies are not forced to share existing towers. Competition is fierce and the companies do not want to share their infrastructure. This is understandable. However, legislators need to bring them back into line. This is public property. Its use comes with responsibilities.
The CRTC must be given the power to adjudicate disputes regarding the sharing of telecommunications towers.
The other problem with respect to the law is that consultations are not really public, to the extent that most of the time, residents and municipal elected representatives have not knowingly given their consent or had time to organize themselves.
The bill introduced by my colleague amends the Radiocommunications Act and stipulates that the construction of all new antenna bearing structures be preceded by a study to examine the option of using existing infrastructure. If this is impossible, all new construction projects involving pylons, towers and other antenna bearing structures, however high, must be subject to a public consultation.
The general idea is to halt the proliferation of antennas by forcing telecommunications companies to reach agreements to share existing facilities. In cases where it is impossible to use existing infrastructure, the bill requires that public hearings be held and forces developers to ensure they have the support of the municipalities before they proceed with their projects. In keeping with this legislation, developers will no longer be able to install antennas without taking into account the concerns of municipalities and their residents in the development of their projects.
Moreover, the bill introduces new obligations in terms of public consultations. For instance, a public consultation must be held on the construction of towers or antenna-bearing structures, regardless of their height. At present, towers that are lower than 15 metres are exempt from public consultation. Industry Canada must then publish confirmation that the public consultation process was respected.
In my view, the bill is a balanced approach that helps find a middle ground between the interests of citizens, municipalities and proponents. We hope to regulate the installation of new antennas, but we do not want to hinder the development of the industry. We want proponents to respect municipalities' lead-time and to respect and consider the concerns of the municipalities and their citizens.
This strategy is completely in line with the NDP's approach. For instance, I like the fact that it aims at strengthening the framework for the development of telecommunications towers by co-operative measures, among proponents, municipalities and citizens. In addition to promoting discussion and co-operation among all parties, the bill would provide the CRTC with the authority to intervene in order to minimize the effects of a new antenna in a community.
I also appreciate that the bill is flexible enough to allow for an antenna to be put up quickly, if necessary. Since there may be certain antenna systems that are not detrimental to the municipality or citizens, the bill provides that an exemption from public consultation could be established by local and government authorities.
Moreover, I have been told that the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association is drafting a non-binding protocol on the installation of telecommunications antenna. Wireless providers know that many people are grumbling about the current process, and they are trying to avoid legislation that is even stricter by preparing a framework for self-regulation.
However, history has shown that telecommunications companies have to be persuaded simply to respect their legal obligations. I am thinking, for instance, of the carriers' reluctance to comply with their own regional coverage improvement plan. How can anyone believe that a self-regulation system would allow citizens' interests to come before the interests of these huge corporations?
As I have been told that I have only one minute left to finish my speech, I would like to emphasize the fact that the industry must acknowledge that my colleague's bill makes sense for a lot of reasons. The industry should also work with him to make it better, because the alternative is likely to hurt even more. We have already seen, for instance, in Repentigny, where the city demanded that an antenna be dismantled, that a less heterogeneous approach could also be detrimental to the industry.
I am interested in hearing my colleagues’ comments and questions.