Industry committee agrees to call Minister Bernier to testify

After what was at times a raucous meeting, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology agreed on January 29 to call Industry Minister Maxime Bernier before the committee to answer questions regarding his telecommunications deregulation agenda.Questioning the minister will kick off broader hearings on telecommunications deregulation, something opposition members say Bernier killed in December. They also want to call as witnesses Hank Intven, Gerri Sinclair and André Tremblay – the three members of the blue ribbon Telecommunications Policy Review Panel. Opposition members believe that calling the three experts will give the committee a better perspective on the deregulation agenda of the minister. It will also allow the committee to determine if the minister is taking the right path with respect to implementing recommendations of the panel, or is in fact doing more harm to competition than good. But for much of the 75-minute meeting, government and opposition members traded barbs over two of Minister Bernier’s recent decisions and his apparent cherry picking of recommendations from the TPRP to implement. The meeting culminated in opposition committee members succeeding in a six-to-four vote to call the minister as a witness and to hold further hearings on telecommunications deregulation. The vote came as a result of a motion, introduced by Bloc Québécois MP Paul Crête inviting the minister to explain his decision as soon as possible to disregard the committee’s October 2006 motion to conduct an in-depth study on the issue of deregulation in the area of telecommunications and report back to the House. Government committee members were open to having the minister appear before the committee but they were steadfastly opposed to studying the policy direction any further. They called for a "friendly amendment" that would divide Crête’s motion in two parts: one calling for the minister to appear and then another on the study. The amendment was defeated. Opposition MPs on the committee are upset that the minister disregarded a motion to further study the policy direction to the CRTC and report back to the House by March 2007. As well, they aren’t happy with the Bernier’s decision to throw out the CRTC’s local forbearance regime and propose his own (NL, Dec. 21/06). The Bloc, Liberals and the NDP believe the minister has to appear in front of the committee to explain his position on telecommunications deregulation and what the committee can expect next from him. "I believe that we have the right to hear from the minister to explain his disrespectful reaction to our motion, which we had transmitted to him last fall," Crête stated in French. He was referring to a motion adopted by the Industry committee on October 24, calling for a more thorough debate on the policy direction to the CRTC (NL, Oct. 27/06). Brain Masse from the NDP echoed the sentiment. "In my past experience being here, when we had a motion it wasn’t basically dished aside and brushed aside in the context this has . So I think it would be helpful to find out what exactly the minister’s expectations are from this committee," he said. Bloc Québécois MP Robert Vincent also expressed his frustration with the minister’s decision, asking whether there was any point in proceeding if the committee can’t fulfill its mandate? "We wanted to hear from people, but the opportunity has been cut off," he said in French. "Then why are we here in the first place if we don’t have any power to make our own decisions, or make our recommendations?" Liberal MP Dan McTeague suggested that if Bernier is going to make such fundamental changes to telecom regulation the committee should be consulted. "I would submit to you that the first place the minister ought to go in order to make such a change ought to be here in the committee. It is not something that can be done by executive fiat and certainly not something that one can contemplate doing without the consent of Parliament," he said. Government members noted that the TPRP conducted a comprehensive consultation with industry stakeholders that had more than 200 submissions. They are worried that if there are more consultations into the matter, it could delay the benefits that a deregulated market could bring to consumers. "The telecommunications industry is a fast-paced industry, it needs to move forward and there doesn’t appear to be any upside in delaying this further except for some type of political gamesmanship," Conservative MP Colin Carrie told committee members. Independent MP Andre Arthur was harsher in his assessment of the situation. The committee member predicted dire consequences if more debate takes place. Speaking in French to his fellow Quebec MPs Crête and Vincent he said, "You will have to explain to your constituents…that delaying deregulation will also delay reducing residential telephone rates throughout the country."

Industry committee agrees to call Minister Bernier to testify

News | 02/02/2007 5:00 am EST

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