Yale responds to criticism about review panel consumer reps

OTTAWA – Conservative senators doubled-down on a previously-raised concern with the makeup of the Liberal government's expert panel reviewing Canada's communications laws, telling panel members testifying before the Senate's transport and communications committee Wednesday that it lacked pro-consumer voices. "Consumers are dissatisfied when it comes to broadcasting and telephony because of monopolies and for other reasons," Conservative Sen. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu said in French, according to simultaneous translation. He said the government should have named one or two consumer group representatives to the panel so its conclusion “really matches the needs and expectations of consumers,” and complained it took the Liberals three years to launch the review. The comments resembled previous concerns raised by Liberal Sen. Terry Mercer last month, when he suggested there were no Atlantic Canadians nor average consumers on the panel. Committee chair David Tkachuk, a Conservative, also noted at the time there were no representatives from rural Canada. Janet Yale, chair of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel, said Wednesday that the panel didn't appoint itself – the government selected its membership. "We're making sure we meet extensively with consumer groups," she replied to Boisvenu, and added that Marina Pavlović, a University of Ottawa law professor and expert in consumer and digital protection issues, is on the panel. Those criticisms came after a week-long hearing at the CRTC over concerns from consumers or consumer advocates about telecom sales practices. During Yale's appearance, another senator grappled with how to set the Senate’s study apart from the very similar work by the government's appointed blue-ribbon panel. Liberal Sen. Dennis Dawson asked the panel members for "guidance" and advice so their congruent studies don't overlap too much or conflict. "We have to learn to live together," he said. “We don’t want to trample on our subjects or repeat too many things.” “We would like to get some parameters so that where we are going and where you are going does not overlap or conflict.” He noted the Senate committee wants its study out before the next election and will report back much sooner than the review panel. "At this point, we have lots of questions," Yale replied. "I wouldn't say we have answers we can give in the form of guidance to you." She sang a similar tune throughout the meeting, as senators of all political stripes quizzed panel members about their views on Canada's communications landscape and the scope of their review. Will the panel be looking at over-the-top providers and content production, or things that could 'level the playing field'? Yes, panel members said. What about net neutrality? Or renewing Canada's institutional communication framework? Or market competition and costs to consumers across the country? Yes, to those, too. But there were few hard answers on policies and the direction of the panel. "It's very early in our journey," Yale said. "We don't have conclusions. We have lots of questions," she said at another point. The panel began its work in June and consultations in September, and Monique Simard said they're still in a "listening" phase and can't reach any conclusions yet. "Is the legislative framework still the right one? Should we be integrating these three acts? Do we need to create other institutions? Time will tell. We haven't even really discussed these possibilities yet," Simard said in French, according to simultaneous translation. The panel has so far set more than 90 stakeholder meetings and expects more still to be scheduled. It has yet not been sent any written submissions since it issued a call for them late September, but panel members said they expect a flood of proposals at the end of November. The deadline to send a written submission to the panel is Nov. 30, after which they will become publicly available. Its first report of what it heard is due spring 2019 and a second, and final report will follow sometime before January 2020. — With reporting by Kyle Duggan at kduggan@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Yale responds to criticism about review panel consumer reps

Broadcast | November 1, 2018

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Yale responds to criticism about review panel consumer reps

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