A reading list for free market telecom policy

Congratulations to Pierre Poilievre, the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.

Over the past few years, I have been somewhat critical of some telecom policy position papers to emerge from the Conservative party. Truth be told, I have been critical of a lot of telecom policy… full stop.

Let’s face it, Canadian telecommunications policy hasn’t won a lot of fans among consumers, or among service providers for that matter. Yet here we are, continuing to pursue the same approach, with spectrum set-asides and using number of competitors as a lazy substitute to measure competitive intensity.

But, with a new leader of the opposition, a “champion of free markets”, it just might be an opportunity for a fresh look at developing a “free market telecom policy”, as a key enabler of Canada’s digital economy.

So, in the spirit of the start of a new school year, let’s review our initial reading list, kicking off our graduate-level course in Free Market Canadian Telecom Policy.

• Telecom Policy Review Panel: Report [pdf, 1.6MB], 2006
• The Logic: No downside to making Bell, Rogers and TELUS compete with foreign companies, according to secret government analysis, Zane Schwartz, November 2018
• Financial Post: Telecom policy needs to be rebooted, Jack Mintz, September 2013
• Toronto Star: Should foreign telecoms be allowed into Canada?, Walid Hejazi, Daniel Trefler, Vass Bednar, April 2021
• Rotman School of Management: Foreign investment limits cost Canadian economy almost $10 billion a year says new study, Walid Hejazi, Daniel Trefler, June 2019
• Journal of International Business Policy: Implications of Canada’s restrictive FDI policies on employment and productivity, Walid Hejazi, Daniel Trefler, April 2019
• Conference Board of Canada: Competition in Canadian Telecom, implications of consolidation, June 2022
• Fraser Institute: Eliminating barriers to competition—the overlooked remedy for high cellphone bills, November 2019
• Fraser Institute: Governments should stop shielding Canadians from benefits of competition, May 2019
• Macdonald-Laurier Institute: Turning the channel on failed telecommunications policy: MLI analysis by Paul Beaudry and Sean Speer, March 2016
• Macdonald-Laurier Institute: Making the Connection Between Smart Telecoms Policy and the Innovation Agenda [pdf, 986 KB], Paul Beaudry and Sean Speer, March 2016
• CD Howe Institute: Canada needs a better approach to foreign direct investment, Globe and Mail Op-Ed, July 2018
• Business Council of Canada: Compete to win: the Wilson panel report six years later, March 2015
• Canadian Chamber of Commerce: Canadian Chamber urges independent review of Competition Act, June 2022

There you go.

That should be a good start for some background reading on a more free market approach to Canadian telecom policy. I’m happy to hear if there are others to be added.

Be ready for a pop-quiz in the next few weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing proposed topics for your term papers. And don’t forget – class participation represents a significant piece of your final grade.