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Clement: “momentous decision” wasn’t about Globalive
Back on December 11th Industry Minister Tony Clement overturned the CRTC’s decision and gave Globalive the green light to launch their WIND Mobile brand. He stated “It is a Canadian company that meets Canadian ownership and control requirements”.
It’s been several weeks and he’s still getting some flack for this choice… and probably will for some time. The main reason for the backlash is the fact that the foreign-ownership rules have somewhat been rewritten and bent to accommodate the governments 2008 wireless auction.
Clement stated in an interview “This government made a decision a couple of years ago that we wanted more competition in the wireless space, that this was important for consumers, it was important for our economy… So the momentous decision wasn’t the Globalive decision, the momentous decision was the decision we made a couple of years ago to set aside spectrum for auction to new entrants, rather than the current incumbents.”
I’m sure Dave Wireless, Public Mobile are feeling pretty good at this point. They’ll be launching their networks and will bring in more competition (although not national players)…however if it was not a “Globalive decision” then why were the rules re-written? Regardless, WIND Mobile is here now and bringing on new customers and offering Canadians more choice.
This will be a defining year for Canada and we will see our rate plans drop and hopefully customer service increase.
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12 comments for “Clement: “momentous decision” wasn’t about Globalive”
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More competition = lower price = worst customer serivce = more outsourcing !
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Whenever a government chooses to ignore the democratic process then yes, I agree, it is momentous.
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The foreign ownership rules makes little sense in the first place. The equipment is resident in Canada, the people running the equipment and providing the service are resident in Canada (off-shore call centres notwithstanding). What difference does it make where the money for funding the initial capital costs and salaries comes from?
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There is no democratic process involved in CRTC rulings as the Canadian people have no direct say in the composition of the CRTC. OTOH, we do have a say in the composition of the government, thus I would argue it is MORE democratic for the government to be making those decisions.
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We are not getting “more competition” by the addition of Wind. We are finally getting some competition. The big 3 act as oligopoly and do not attempt to compete against each other in any meaningful way. Just look at the how amazingly similar the plans of the big 3 are and how they all cost about the same to see that.
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@Jim R
Canada has foreign ownership limitations enacted in legislation, which is administered by the CRTC. The proper (democratic) process for changing the laws is for parliment to pass a new law. So yes, there is a democratic process controlled by Canadian voters via their elected MPs.
The Conservatives did an end-run around the democratic process by overturning a CRTC ruling that was clearly correct and lawful.
Not that we should expect anything different from our Conservative government. They don’t even acknowledge the purpose of parliment anymore. We should jst prorogue it forever. Then we won’t have to worry about pesky things like laws and the wishes of Canadians.
I couldn’t care less that Wind is operating. My point is that we shouldn’t celebrate our government for ignoring our laws and our democratic processes.
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There is a reason for Globalives entrance into our country and why the CRTC was ignored. The answer is in who the lobbyists were and who has money tied up in this foreign company. Check it out for yourself but here’s a hint…they are all conservatives. Thats right, pardon the pun. This was allowed just to make some friends rich. Hope no one is surprised because you shouldn’t be. This country is only for the elite apparently.
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TNSF: The CRTC is appointed, not elected. Nothing democratic about it. Suggest you re-check your dictionary.
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Jason: Show me evidence. One could also say Big 3 has their hands in many lobbyists that ARE members of the Conservative Party. Evidence on that you ask? Check where the money goes, one example: donations.
What Tony should of done, is actually be clear. He should of instead throw the existing laws into question. Yes, the CRTC was correct in their ruling. So now it’s the government’s job to either change the law or not. It’s all or NOTHING. This half a job makes the government a joke.
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The CRTC are the lapdogs of the Big 3. Finally someone in government is there to shorten their leash. It’s uncountable how many small upcoming businesses the CRTC ruled out of existence over the last 20 years. Mine being one of them.
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Don’t forget the anti-consumer ruling the CRTC made concerning net neutrality. The US’s FCC actually looks quite good when compared to our Big 3 lapdog CRTC.
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okay folks I have spoken to the crtc . sent them an email and asked for a callback on this question. I got it so hears the situation call your member of parliment tell them you wan’t wind to stay . tell them wind has put canadians to work by creating real jobs. wind has made cellular affordable to the masses. why should people who pay up front get less services then those that get a bill each month thats how it is with the big three cellphone service providers. tell them the big 3 cellular companies appear to be engaged in price fixing with is illegal by the way .suspend thier operating permits and see how quickly they change thier tune. Wind is here right or wrong they should be allowed to continue to operate in Canada.
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