OTTAWA – A November 3rd deadline has come and gone for the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology to make its recommendations to the Minister on the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel report.
That’s because the Opposition parties, with their majority in the House and in committee, approved a motion to delay the whole process at least until March. After telecom industry players appeared before the committee last month (as reported by Cartt.ca), such a delay looked likely even then.
The late-October motion, put forward by Bloc Québécois MP Paul Crête and supported by the Liberals, asks for the delay in order to hear more witnesses and to conduct more study, before submitting a report on the impact of telecom industry deregulation by March 1, 2007.
Even with the support of Independent MP André Arthur, the three Conservatives on the Committee were unable to block the move. But the three, Colin Carrie, Bev Shipley, and Dave Van Kesteren, have subsequently issued a dissenting opinion.
Firstly, they say, the Review Panel, which travelled across the country for the better part of a year in 2004, already had ample time to hear all the witnesses required.
Secondly, they say, Opposition members of the Standing Committee declined an offer at the start of the session to set aside time to hear more witnesses.
After Industry Minister Maxime Bernier tabled a proposed policy directive to the CRTC in June, Opposition members never asked for more study, they say.
“In our view, [the motion] is irresponsible and a crude attempt to delay application of the policy direction to the CRTC for strictly partisan purposes, so as to obstruct the smooth operation of the business of the Government and then to criticize the government for not taking action,” they said.
