OPINION: Canada’s spectrum framework is failing Indigenous peoples

By Mark Buell and Phil Steinhauer-Mozejko, Connect Humanity Fund In its recently released five-year Spectrum Outlook 2023 to 2027, the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) makes several commitments to Indigenous Peoples. The Spectrum Outlook outlines ISED’s overall approach to managing radio-spectrum over the next five years. This plan could provide Canada an opportunity to demonstrate a genuine commitment to reconciliation and to implementing the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). Spectrum is a crucial component of the government’s plans to ensure all people living in Canada have access to the internet. However, how spectrum is allocated will affect how the unconnected get access to the internet, and who gets to connect them. For this reason, what was once an esoteric policy topic has been gaining traction among Indigenous organizations and experts in the telecommunications sector. Access to spectrum is critical to bridge the digital divide that far too many Indigenous communities face. Since 2018, delegates to the annual Indigenous Connectivity Summit (ICS) have called on the Government of Canada to recognize Indigenous rights to this natural resource, and to ensure Indigenous Peoples have access to spectrum in order for them to build and operate their own networks. This situation is not unique to Canada. From Canada to Mexico and the United States to New Zealand, Indigenous communities have been pioneering their own affordable internet access solutions, on their own terms. Key to the sustainability of these solutions is affordable access to wireless spectrum. Meeting Indigenous communities on their own terms is foundational to reconciliation, to which the Canadian government has committed. In the last 10 years we have seen Indigenous organizations gain access to wireless spectrum historically reserved for big telcos. For example, the non-profit organization Redes successfully argued for a change to Mexico’s telecommunication law that allows for non-commercial entities to obtain licenses to use GSM spectrum frequencies for social-purpose networks, paving the way for Indigenous communities to build and operate 16 mobile voice networks. The Rural Tribal Priority Window in the U.S. gave tribes access to the 2.5GHz band, resulting in numerous Indigenous-led connectivity solutions. Perhaps most significant though is the recent award of 3.5GHz spectrum to the Maori people in New Zealand after a campaign of more than 10 years. This award was negotiated on the basis of the right of the Maori people to assert sovereignty over the airwaves on their lands. These initiatives are a good start toward recognizing Indigenous self determination. But, Canada also has an even greater opportunity to take a leading role by decolonizing its approach to how it manages telecommunication resources and policies. In its Spectrum Outlook, ISED commits to better engage with Indigenous communities and to work with Indigenous organizations. We are reasonably hopeful that ISED intends to work in good faith with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. However, if ISED is serious about addressing the Indigenous digital divide and meaningfully engaging on issues related to connectivity, how they work with Indigenous peoples and organizations is paramount. The days of merely ticking the ‘consultation’ box on a crude colonial balance sheet are over. To achieve this, Canada needs a new framework. Fact is, telecommunications policy in Canada has failed Indigenous Peoples. Policy frameworks must be reformed to ensure the way telecommunications policies are developed, carried out, and enforced conform to national, international, and Indigenous law(s), local protocols, and that they recognize the unique roles Indigenous Peoples have as inherent rightsholders in the process. ISED must work with relevant Indigenous organizations to move from a consultative model to one of shared decision-making and co-management for the development and implementation of telecommunications public policy that affect Indigenous Peoples, lands, and their ways of life. The 2023 ICS Calls to Action provide a roadmap to effectively develop policies that will help the Government of Canada meet its commitments with regard to reconciliation and UNDRIP. The delegates to the 2023 ICS called on the Government of Canada to allocate some of the funds raised through spectrum auctions and license renewals to support an Indigenous office of telecommunications policy. This new office would co-manage all facets of telecommunications policy that affect Indigenous Peoples and lands with relevant government departments and agencies, such as ISED, the CRTC, and Indigenous Services Canada. Co-management of telecommunications policy with veto power is the best way to ensure that Indigenous Peoples in Canada have access to a critical resource that can begin to redress the socio-economic exclusion that have been imposed upon First Peoples and held them back for centuries. Indigenous self-determination through management of natural resources has historically been blocked, despite Treaties being entered into in good faith. The time is now for the spectrum to be handled not only differently, but equitably. Spectrum must be handled differently. Access has been denied for too long. Mark Buell has been the director of Indigenous programs development for Connect Humanity since April 2022. Before that he worked at the Internet Society as the regional vice president, North America and regional bureau director, North America. Mark also worked with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) from 2009 to 2016. Phil Steinhauer-Mozejko, has been the community manager of Connect Humanity and the Indigenous Connectivity Institute since Feb. 2023 and interned there a year prior. He holds a Master of Arts in communications and technology from the University of Alberta. THE WIRE REPORT ACCEPTS SUBMISSIONS BY OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTORS WHO ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE ON THE SUBJECT MATTER DISCUSSED. SUBMISSIONS CAN BE SENT TO JCOCULLO@THEWIREREPORT.CA.

OPINION: Canada’s spectrum framework is failing Indigenous peoples

News | September 1, 2023

By Mark Buell and Phil Steinhauer-Mozejko, Connect Humanity Fund

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OPINION: Canada’s spectrum framework is failing Indigenous peoples

News | September 1, 2023

By Mark Buell and Phil Steinhauer-Mozejko, Connect Humanity Fund

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

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