A bill sponsored by Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier has passed an important hurdle in the parliamentary process with its second reading and will now move to committee for further study.
Bill C-288, An Act to Amend the Telecommunications Act, was introduced by Mazier in June. If enacted, the bill would require Canadian internet companies to provide Canadians with accurate and transparent information regarding the internet services they pay for.
The Conservative Shadow Minister for Rural Economic Development and Connectivity, said Canadians do not believe they are receiving the internet they are paying for due to misleading speed claims from service providers.
“Connectivity is essential to the safety of our communities, to the economic growth of rural regions and to the accessibility of services like education and health care,” Mazier said during Bill C-288’s final hour of debate in the second reading. “Canadians should know what they are paying for before they purchase an internet service, not after.”
Mazier felt a sense of momentum this month after the United States announced it would introduce an internet service label for consumers, a measure similar to his proposed legislation.
“The Federal Communications Commission today unveiled new rules that will for the first time require broadband providers to display easy-to-understand labels to allow consumers to comparison shop for broadband services,” read a Nov. 17 news release by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Mazier was pleased to receive all-party support from MPs across the political spectrum.
“Bill C-288 is truly a pro-consumer bill that will improve Canada’s telecommunications sector,” Mazier said. “I am proud to have worked with all parliamentarians to get where we are.”
Once Bill C-288 makes it through the committee stage, it will be sent back to the House of Commons for further votes. If the legislation passes these required stages, Bill C-288 will be sent from the House of Commons to the Senate, where it will move through the same stages of the parliamentary process.
“I look forward to working on behalf of Canadians to get Bill C-288 across the finish line,” Mazier said.
