Mr. Speaker, I am asking, under Standing Order 52(2), that we have an emergency debate in the House of Commons with regard to the takeover of Shaw Communications by Rogers Communications.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became obvious that online Internet and cellphone services are paramount to Canadian society, business and even to this chamber. We pay some of the highest prices among the OECD, and have some of the most challenging environments among ourselves, to be connected. There is no doubt that the elimination of Shaw by Rogers would reduce services. We have four major providers, and that would reduce them to three.
I am calling for this debate because this was the first opportunity to bring this into the chamber. This takeover was announced during our break week, or our constituency week, and members did not have a chance to raise it at that time. That started the gears in motion of the process that is now in play.
This will be the only opportunity for all members to participate in this debate because the CRTC, the Competition Bureau and other factors independent of this chamber are all starting their reviews. This is something that affects every Canadian, especially during the pandemic. Before this, New Democrats had declared the connection of Canadians to be an essential service. It is critical at this time that the expense, the connection and the type of connection are debated thoroughly, especially because telecommunications are a regulated industry. It has affected all Canadians as we continue to go through this pandemic. It will also affect the rollout of the spectrum auction that is taking place. This is definitely an essential service.
I would also argue that there has been a democracy change with regard to this issue. Our chamber will even vote this night with our own cellphones and devices. Mr. Speaker, you have been around almost as long as I have with regard to this. We can remember the old days with the BlackBerry and the track that we would get as part of our things. Today, it is different. Our cellphones, our Internet connectivity and the competition for it are crucial and paramount, and we have transitioned to them even in this chamber for the inclusion of society.
The reality is that some people still cannot follow Parliament right now either because they cannot afford the service or they do not have it in their community. The elimination of the fourth major service provider would reduce competition, and significant changes would take place out of this chamber. This will be the only opportunity for members to get on the record about that. There will be other vehicles to have some comment and discussion, but it will be after all those things. Those different agencies will be looking to Parliament for direction.
As a quick example, and I will not go on too much longer, Freedom Mobile would be affected. Two million people would be directly affected by that. Freedom Mobile has been known to reduce prices and provide additional services. The government and Canadian Parliament set the rules of how we connect Canadians. Whether using access rights through our ground communications or through selling our spectrum, those auctions to allow companies to do so are part of public policy.
Debating this is urgent, because this will be the only opportunity to do so for members of Parliament whose constituents are connected not just for social information or entertainment purposes, but for school, business and inclusion in society, as simple meetings have now moved to Zoom and other online platforms. It has been well documented that Canada has some of the highest prices for online services and some of the most difficult outreach problems. This affects all of us.
The fact that we would go from four players to three would set in motion a series of manoeuvres from other companies. We have even witnessed public policy, which was supposed to expand competition, result in previous takeovers. At that time, there were no voices raising this in Parliament. We did not deal with it at that point, but here is an opportunity for us to do so.
With that, I am calling for this section to be observed and for us to have this debate today. If we do not have it, it will be a missed opportunity. Canada has a closed market: We do not allow foreign competition to come into our telcos to own and operate with a dominance of shares. This is our only opportunity to have a public voice for the public policy that we set, including an investment of tens of millions of dollars into expanding broadband to rural and remote communities.
Again, this affects every member of Parliament. Even in urban settings, there is a lack of competition and service for some people. On top of that, there are the prices and costs, and our movement and democracy under COVID-19 have intensified things more than ever before.
I believe this chamber would do well to give members the chance to express the concerns of their individual ridings as this is debated among the structures we have and the minister starts to review the situation.