Foreign ownership

Industry Minister Tony Clement has said he will postpone any decision on foreign ownership restrictions in the telecommunications sector until he considers how to structure a planned 2012 auction of new wireless frequencies for mobile phones. CEP’s position is that linking foreign ownership to the availability of spectrum is just a manoeuvre to avoid making a decision until after a federal election because the government lacks the public and political support to loosen restrictions.

The premise that we need more foreign companies to compete for available spectrum is false. We already have 11 Canadian companies using the available spectrum and there is no need for foreign companies to join the fray, nor is there any evidence that allowing foreign companies to enter the process will be of any benefit to consumers. The best course of action for the federal government is to completely abandon the idea of opening up our borders to more foreign competition in the telecommunications and media sectors.