The parliamentary industry committee (known as INDU) is wrapping up its review of foreign ownership of telecom carriers later this week with an appearance by Industry Minister Tony Clement on Thursday.
Last week, the CRTC appeared and it delivered a message consistent with what it has said in the past: that Canada needs a common Communications Act (to replace the Broadcast Act and Telecom Act), and that foreign companies should not be permitted to control Canadian carriers.
Two years ago, I wrote about the CRTC’s position submitted to the Competition Policy Review Panel. At the time, the Commission wrote:
The economics of Internet production do not favour local content. As localism is eroded, the maintenance of Canadian capacity in the form of Canadian-owned and –controlled companies will become more critical. A branch plant economy for cultural production and distribution is difficult to envisage. Multi-national enterprises would have little incentive to create uniquely national content.
The CRTC does not appear to have modified its view. I think it is wrong. The presence of Canadian versions of global websites (Google, MSN, Yahoo among many others) demonstrates that attracting viewers has been an incentive to create “uniquely national content.”
Of course, no one seems to be screaming for liberalized ownership of broadcasters – the content masters. As Ken Engelhart of Rogers pointed out in its testimony last week, there is a different license for broadcast distributors (cable, IPTV and satellite companies) as contrasted with the broadcast licenses held by TV and radio stations. It is pretty easy to see how we can liberalize ownership on the carriage side, while retaining protections for content.
As William Watson asked in the National Post last week, “Do you sleep better at night knowing our communications companies are safely in Canadian hands?”
We aren’t going to have a unified Communications Act as quickly as we need to see liberalized ownership rules for the communications industry. With continually increasing capital requirements for network upgrades, why shouldn’t all carriers be able to increase their access to foreign capital?
Michael Hennessy of TELUS has posted his testimony on his blog.