More consumer groups say they won’t participate in CRTC internet code proceeding

The list of consumer groups that say they won’t take part in the CRTC’s internet code proceeding is growing, as more come forward saying they don’t have enough time or resources to participate effectively. OpenMedia, the Consumers Association of Canada and its Manitoba branch, and Ageing + Communication + Technologies (ACT) all say they won’t participate because they don’t have the resources and face time constraints that are too tight. OpenMedia executive director Laura Tribe said by email her group won’t take part because of a number of factors: “the limited scope of the proceeding, the unreasonably short timeline overlapping with the Broadcast and Telecommunications Legislative Review, and the CRTC's disregard for other consumer interest groups' requests.” The CRTC proposed the code following a week-long hearing it held in late October on aggressive and misleading sales practices, which came in response to an order by the federal government to look into the issue and report back by Feb. 28, 2019. Last week, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said it plans to boycott the proceedings after the commission denied a request to extend the submission filing deadline. Gloria Desorcy, executive director of Consumer Association of Canada’s (CAC) Manitoba branch, who testified during the CRTC’s sales practices hearings, said her organization did a lot of soul searching before declining to participate. “We were really torn about what would be in the best interest of consumers,” she said in an email. “In the end, the decision was made for us as we looked at the calendar and realized we just could not provide credible, evidence-based input, that would include essential elements such as consumer engagement, within the designated time period.” The CAC’s national president Bruce Cran said his group does not currently plan to participate because of a lack of resources and time. David Fewer of the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) said his organization also does not intend to participate, citing a “resource allocation issue.” Others said they plan to outright “boycott” the proceeding over the timing. The group ACT said it would join with PIAC in boycotting the proceeding, citing the CRTC’s “unwillingness to commit to a process that allows for genuine public participation.” “That the CRTC expects us to drop everything and contribute meaningfully to something as important as an Internet Code in six weeks is unrealistic,” said Concordia University communications professor Kim Sawchuk, the research group’s director, in a press release. Last week, PIAC and Canada's Forum for Research and Policy in Communications both told the Wire Report they would not participate due to the timing of the proceeding. PIAC executive director John Lawford said the CRTC’s decision to “railroad” proceedings for the new code could lead to an “echo chamber” of one-sided arguments if no few or no consumer groups take part. PIAC’s boycott comes after the commission denied a request it and other groups made to delay the deadline for submissions. Lawford said his group and others are too “squeezed for time” and resources to participate. University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist also criticized the commission in a tweet over not extending the proceedings, calling it “simply out of touch with challenges faced by public interest groups.” A commission letter this month addressed to PIAC and others said it is rejecting their request for public hearings and to extend the filing deadlines. “The commission is not convinced that the current schedule, which allows 40 days before initial submissions are due, does not provide sufficient time for all parties to make their initial comments,” it said. Initial comments on the draft internet code are due December 19. Consumer groups had asked to extend the deadline until April 2019. Lawford and others also raised concerns about having the internet code proceeding before the CRTC reports on its sales practices hearings, which is due by February next year. “It is extremely awkward for the parties to this proceeding to be ignorant of the Commission’s reported views on the potential of a pan-service code of sales conduct before making submissions on an Internet Code that likely will overlap significantly with the potential sales code or similar regulatory controls,” PIAC’s letter to the commission said. But the CRTC said in its letter that the two issues are separate and maintained it is “not in the public interest to delay a proceeding on the possible establishment of an internet code.” — With reporting by Kyle Duggan at kduggan@thewirereport.ca and editing by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca

More consumer groups say they won’t participate in CRTC internet code proceeding

News | November 30, 2018

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More consumer groups say they won’t participate in CRTC internet code proceeding

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