Industry committee  We know that many of our members are quite interested in the new funds and appreciate that changes have been made to try to reduce the complexity of the application process. We anticipate that many of them will be filing something by the deadlines.

Industry committee  If the goal is equal prices across the country, it's a laudable goal, but it can't be done without government support, substantial government support.

Industry committee  Yes, entirely. We entirely agree that universal access is a question of fairness and citizenship.

Industry committee  As an organization, we're entirely supportive of the notion of universal access and affordable access. If we can offer services at the same price in rural Canada as Canadians pay in urban Canada, that would be a fantastic accomplishment for the whole country. However, to the issu

Industry committee  I'll jump in. As others have already said, it's important to look to the smaller, locally based providers that are actually in the communities and fully understand the needs of their local customers. Money can be made available to them, perhaps in smaller amounts than have been

Industry committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair and members of the committee, with special greetings to my MP, Mr. Amos. It's nice to see you here, Mr. Amos. As said, my name is Jay Thomson, and I'm the CEO of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance, or CCSA, as we call ourselves. Joining

Finance committee  There are two parts to my answer. First, I would defer to the expertise of the larger telecom providers on the capital cost allowance question. It's not an issue we've addressed directly, but we're familiar with the presentations put forward by the other members of the telecom

Finance committee  I totally agree with that. It is an essential service for education, for social interaction, for access to health services and for entertainment.

Finance committee  I would certainly agree with that. To your colleague's earlier question about a national strategy versus a locally focused strategy, that's where a national strategy would be very important. We believe that if government at the high level sets the goals and the money's allocate

Finance committee  It's an interesting question, because we actually don't have any members in New Brunswick. The organization started 25 years ago with Fundy Cable, based here in Saint John, but Rogers now owns most of the cable companies in New Brunswick. I would say that Eastlink is a very b

Finance committee  There are a couple of reasons. One is the one that I mentioned in my remarks, which is that local private sector entrepreneurs are used to making money work for them, stretching a dollar, particularly in smaller communities where costs are already higher than in urban communitie

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. My name is Jay Thomson. I'm the CEO of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance. I'd like to thank all of the members of the committee for inviting me here to Saint John today to present our recommendations. While I'm based i

Industry committee  That's our message, yes.

Industry committee  One of our proposals is a use-it-or-lose-it approach so that after a certain period of time, if—

Industry committee  I don't necessarily have a time frame for it.