GATINEAU – The CRTC has re-opened – and gone to the Federal Court of Appeal for a ruling about – a decision it made back in November 2006 on levies paid to it by Canadian telecom companies.
Back in 2006, telcos Bell Canada and Aliant applied to the CRTC to have the fees they pay to the CRTC reduced or reconsidered, given changes in the overall telecom marketplace and rules they feel should apply to Commission levies.
In a public notice issued October 15th, the Commission said “that it appears that: (a) it failed to consider a basic principle which had been raised in the original proceeding, and (b) there has been a fundamental change in circumstances or facts since the decision.”
And after receiving competing legal opinions on one question, the telecom and broadcast Regulator has asked the Federal Court of Canada to step in with a final word.
Bell and Aliant – and others in their replies to the initial application – said “the current method for allocating telecommunications fees payable by each carrier is inequitable,” according to the CRTC release.
“Bell Canada et al. submitted that, consistent with the Treasury Board principles in its Policy on Service Standards for External Fees (the Policy) and adopting the User Fees Act as a guide, the Commission should consult with the industry to establish measurable service standards associated with its activities and publish the related performance results on a quarterly basis. Bell Canada et al. suggested that the Fees Regulations must be considered in the context of the User Fees Act, which, they suggested, applies to the Fees Regulations. Bell Canada et al. proposed a financial relief mechanism for fee payers to mitigate the harm that would result from Commission decision-making delays if it did not meet its performance standards,” reads the release.
Bell believes the User Fees Act applies to the Commission and that the way it decides on levying such fees and who must pay has to be re-examined. “Bell Canada et al. noted that the Treasury Board had established principles for government departments and agencies to follow in the development of user fees and cost recovery procedures. Bell Canada et al. were of the view that the Commission’s current fee-setting process is inconsistent with these principles,” reads the October 15th release.
In November 2006, the CRTC agreed and then tried to come up with a draft wording on changes to Fees Regulations, but couldn’t. “During the deliberations, the Commission received conflicting legal opinions with respect to the application of the User Fees Act to the proposed changes to the Fees Regulations. One opinion concluded that the User Fees Act applies to the proposed changes to the Fees Regulations and the other opinion concluded that it does not,” says this month’s new PN.,
The aspect the Commission now says it didn’t decide but should have is whether or not the User Fees Act is a higher authority than it is.
The query it has sent to the Federal Court asks: “Would amending or replacing the Telecommunications Fees Regulations, 1995, SOR/95-157 (the "Fees Regulations"), in the manner contemplated in the application dated 26 May 2006 by Aliant Telecom Inc. (now Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership) and Bell Canada (which requested that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission revise the Fees Regulations) and Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-71, and as more fully described in the Appendix to Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2008-13, dated 15 October 2008, amount to fixing, increasing, expanding the application or increasing the duration, pursuant to subsection 4(1) of the User Fees Act, of a "user fee," as defined in section 2 of the same Act?”
Once it gets direction from the Court, the Commission will finally issue directions for further procedures completing this particular matter.
It’s not immediately clear how much money may be at stake in this particular proceeding.
