Mazier’s internet bill slated for royal assent

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This article was published 08/06/2024 (552 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A private member’s bill that seeks to improve transparency and accuracy regarding internet service information has passed third reading in the Senate and is slated for royal assent two weeks from now.

Bill C-288, an act to amend the Telecommunications Act, has spent more than a year winding its way through readings and the Senate committee before its passage on June 6.

But for Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa Conservative MP Dan Mazier, who brought the bill forward, it was well worth the wait. Bill C-288 is Mazier’s first piece of legislation to pass through both the House of Commons and the Senate.

“It’s so surreal, you know, when you stop and think about it,” Mazier said. “Here’s a farm kid from Justice, Man., you know, to be able to pass a piece of legislation in Canada’s Parliament is pretty — it sets you back for a bit, for what you just achieved.

“I often ask myself, I ask a lot of students or anyone — if you could pass one piece of legislation, what would it be? And sure enough, I guess I had to answer that call.”

Bill C-288 amends the Telecommunications Act to require broadband providers to give more realistic advertising of their services. It also directs the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to hold public hearings to inform decisions regarding how Canadian carriers are to fulfil this obligation.

“The legislation is written in a way that it gives very clear direction for the CRTC to work with,” Mazier said. “The problem is, when a government puts in regulation or doesn’t put in good legislation, it’s left up to the regulator to interpret this. It’s not a very clear path of what is expected.

“It’ll get prioritized. Everybody will know what is expected, and it’s legislation. So then, it can come back to the legislators if it’s not working, and get addressed.”

Internet companies currently advertise their speeds based on theoretical maximum numbers — the speed at which it would run under perfect conditions. Advertising phrases such as “up to” are used to convince consumers that a service is better than it is.

Mazier said the telecoms industry is the only one allowed in Canada to sell consumers “up to” speeds. Right now, they can make strong promises to consumers about their internet speeds, and still fail to provide the speeds they have advertised when their systems become overburdened.

Data released by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority found that only one-third of Canadians believed their household received the advertised speed included in their home internet package all or most of the time.

While the legislation is meant to help all Canadian consumers, Mazier said companies tend to oversubscribe in rural areas, something that became very apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic when internet use increased substantially as users spent more time at home.

“Everybody was really familiar with the little wheel that would spin in front of us when we’re trying to watch Netflix and all that,” Mazier said. “What happens is, they get oversubscribed and they have to manage the traffic, or they can’t handle the traffic so they start slowing it down.”

The idea behind the legislation, he said, is to send a clear signal to the consumer of what kind of service they’re buying, eliminate false advertising and force companies to be honest with their customers.

Once Bill C-288 is given royal assent, it will be sent to the CRTC, which Mazier says will then begin the work of holding public hearings at some point in the future.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com, with files from Miranda Leybourne

» X: @MattGoerzen