Regulatory Update: Will a stronger, yet still minority, Conservative government fulfill promises?

The Conservative Party of Canada secured a second mandate last month, but will another, albeit stronger, minority government be able to deliver on promises it made to Canadians and Canadian companies?The Tories vowed to introduce anti-spam legislation. While long-overdue - it's been four years since the Anti-Spam Task Force released its recommendations to government - it's certainly a step in the right direction to help corporations deal with the ever increasing number of unwanted emails, which as we all know has a direct impact on the financial performance of businesses, large and small.Spam represented about 80% of all commercial email in 2004, and the situation certainly hasn't improved since then. So to combat the growing problem, the Tories will introduce new legislation to reduce the amount of spam Canadians receive. The four key aspects of the legislation are: To prohibit the use of spam as a means for collecting personal information under false pretences, and to engage in criminal conduct To reduce dangerous, destructive and deceptive email and Web-site practices, like identity theft, the spreading of viruses, phishing and other forms of fraud  To set new fines for those who break the law  To establish a coordinating body to ensure the legislation is effectively enforced and to respond to consumers complaintsPassing this kind of legislation seems like a no-brainer, even through a minority parliament, but then again the devil is in the details, and of course without any specifics, we can only speculate how far this legislation will reach. Will the government consult with stakeholders or simply take four-year old recommendations and put them into force? That remains to be seen, but given the technological advancement since 2004, it might be a good idea to do a fact finding mission.Part of a larger picture on protecting consumersThe anti-spam legislation announcement was part of a larger initiative that - the Conservatives claimed - was about protecting consumers. The government plans to modernize the country's competition laws by adding a few more teeth to the Competition Act.Deceptive marketing is one item mentioned in the Tory platform that merits highlighting. What is deceptive marketing? Do some of the practices of Canada's wireless carriers such as the system access fee or short-term entry level discounts fall under the meaning of deceptive marketing? Some might say so, others not.But the key question here is, will the Conservatives take a look at carriers' practices, or will they go after the low-hanging fruit - the products that promise significant enhancements in our nether regions?Another key element of the Tories platform is the introduction of fines for companies that abuse their dominant market position. A Conservative government plans to fine first time offenders $10 million and repeat offenders $15 million. Using fines has been tried before: in 2004 by the Liberals and then again by the Conservatives in 2006. Will it work this time?In other news: Supreme Court grants leave to appeal deferral accountsLast month, Canada's highest court granted Bell Canada, Telus Corp. and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) leave to appeal the CRTC's 2006 deferral account decision.Earlier this year, the Federal Court of Appeal denied appeals from all parties, saying the CRTC had the authority to use the deferral account money as it saw fit. The ILECs want the Supreme Court to overturn a portion of the CRTC ruling that ordered customer rebates, while PIAC believes all of the deferral account money should go back to customers in the form of rebates.Bell under fire from rivals over wholesale telephonyCompanies such as Yak Communications and Primus Telecommunications Canada have told the CRTC that a decision to immediately deregulate Bell Canada's wholesale local service and features (WLSF) offering would cause them financial harm."Yak would not have invested substantial resources in acquiring a local service base using WLSF had Yak contemplated that immediate forbearance was imminent. Rather, it would have waited for forbearance and negotiated other terms including transition assistance provisions," reads Yak's comments. The company subscribes to Bell's WLSF service.Rogers Communications argued that the Bell application really forms part of a larger debate and therefore should be put on hold until a decision on the bigger issue is made. Earlier this year, Bell filed an application requesting a new regime for wholesale services that are to be deregulated as part of the essential facilities decision.MTS alleges overcharges from BellMTS Allstream has filed an application with the CRTC asking it to order Bell Canada to stop charging fees to wholesale network customers that it says are for non-existent services or for work that is already covered under another rate. The issue revolves around line coding, something that needs to be done to effectively transmit digital data signals.The Manitoba ILEC says Bell is essentially double billing the company for services. MTS notes that to acquire use of Bell's network, certain equipment needs to be installed that performs the line coding. As a result, charging for line coding is not required because it is done automatically by the equipment.

Regulatory Update: Will a stronger, yet still minority, Conservative government fulfill promises?

News | 10/27/2008 7:51 pm EDT

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