NDP leadership candidate proposes national public telecom options, sparking debate amongst advocacy groups

New Democratic Party leadership candidate Avi Lewis’ idea for a public option for telecommunication services has sparked debate on how the government should address affordability and connectivity issues facing the telecom industry. Lewis announced the first policy proposal of his campaign earlier this week, making a call on social media for public options to “break the power of corporate monopolies.” A Lewis-led NDP would push for a network of public telecommunications providers, specifically inspired by Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. (SaskTel), “to guarantee universal, affordable and high-speed connectivity, including in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.” But consumer advocacy groups pushing for a more accessible telecom industry wonder whether the idea is realistic. Keldon Bester, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project, a think tank dedicated to addressing monopoly powers in Canada, is not so sure. While he is glad to see conversations about making telecoms more accessible, he says creating an entirely new network doesn’t make sense. Bester argues that Canada already has the system and baseline infrastructure to generate competition on existing networks. “What we really need is targeted infrastructure investment and a much more aggressive approach to wholesaling, specifically on the home internet side,” he says. To achieve the goals in Lewis’ pitch, Bester offers instead a solution similar to the system in the United Kingdom, which regulates wholesale access rates based on the competition level in each region. “We already have the wires in the ground, so to speak. So the question is, how do we make the most of those existing networks while incentivizing the continued build out of future ones?” The Wire Report reached out to Lewis’ campaign for more details on his proposal, but did not receive a response. Monica Auer is the executive director of the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications, an organization advocating for strengthened access to high-quality Canadian programming and low-cost broadcasting and telecommunications systems. She says building a cross-country public network would be a tall task, requiring all 13 provinces and territories to get on board and buy into the plan. Instead, she echoes Bester’s idea of capitalizing on existing resources, and wonders if there’s a way to build upon CBC/Radio-Canada infrastructure, which already has reach across the country. “This is a complex area,” she says. “If it were easy, there wouldn't be any problems.” Matt Hatfield, executive director of OpenMedia, an organization advocating for an affordable, surveillance-free and democratic internet, is more open to the idea. While he agrees that creating a public option could be difficult, he argues there are multiple ways of approaching it. He suggests that the government could provide funding for separate provincial initiatives, presented as an option to each government, rather than mandatory, instead of trying to get all provinces and territories to buy into the same plan. Another approach, he says, is for the federal government to ensure public funds are available to get all networks up to a certain standard, and maintain that standard. A third option, he suggests, is that the government could purchase the most monopolistic portions of the telecoms system, and resell wholesale access itself. No matter what system it chooses, Hatfield argues that access to telecommunications services is a “human rights service,” and the government should ensure the accessibility of those services at whatever cost. “The government always has more money to throw at the problem, if that is the thing that's necessary,” he says. SaskTel result of province’s ‘unique’ circumstances, CTA says In an emailed statement to The Wire Report, the Canadian Telecommunications Association (CTA) said that while it supports the goals of Lewis’ proposal, “creating a network of new government-owned telecom providers is not the right approach.” The CTA instead argued that the government can make the greatest impact by “partnering with experienced providers to support network builds in communities where connectivity is most challenging and where market forces alone cannot sustain viable projects.” It also said the success of SaskTel is reflective of “unique historical circumstances” in Saskatchewan and argued the model would not work across the rest of the country. The Wire Report reached out to SaskTel following Lewis’ proposal, but the company would not make anyone available for comment. Auer says any proposal would have to consider that there are people in major urban centers who cannot afford telecom services. She also says it would need to identify where the underserved communities are, and says the CRTC needs to address the challenges people in northern and remote communities face. “They've had to endure unacceptable levels of service and quality of service,” she says. “And why is that? Just because they happen to live in another part of our country?” She further argues that discussions around reforming the affordability and accessibility of telecoms are lacking real evidence. She says rather than looking at each province or territory, the government needs to go closer and start allocating resources by county. Auer also says there is no clear plan on how the country is going to move away from inadequate coverage, expensive services, and lack of competition, and toward a system that better serves Canadians. “Anything we do now, we should not be planning for 2026,” she says. “We need to be planning for 2035 and 2045, and we're not doing that.” mcollins@thewirereport.ca

NDP leadership candidate proposes national public telecom options, sparking debate amongst advocacy groups

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By Maria Collins
|November 27, 2025

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NDP leadership candidate proposes national public telecom options, sparking debate amongst advocacy groups

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