OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and Chimo Community Services (Chimo) want the CRTC to eliminate charges for Canadians who call helplines and crisis lines from their cell phones, and to protect helpline users’ privacy.
Currently, Canadians who call helplines from their wireless phones are charged for those calls or have those voice minutes deducted if they have a voice plan. Callers’ accounts can also identify the fact that a call was made to a helpline, as well as the number of that helpline.
In an application filed Wednesday, PIAC and Chimo argued that wireless charges and the inadequate protection of a helpline caller’s privacy were unjustly discriminatory towards helpline users, many of whom are from socially and economically vulnerable groups, and to celpline operators. Usage charges create barriers for callers who have low incomes, as many are subscribed to pay-as-you-go wireless plans.
“If someone were to make a local call or a call to a 1-800 or 1-888 helpline number from a landline phone, their call would be free for them”, said Jean-François Léger, counsel for PIAC and Chimo, in a statement. “That shouldn’t change just because they are now calling from their cellular phone. And more and more Canadians only have cell phones, not landline phones.”
PIAC and Chimo’s application is supported by eight other community organizations and associations including Ending Violence Association of B.C., Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses, Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, Richmond Youth Service Agency, Safe Communities Cranbrook Committee, Vancouver Coastal Health, and Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre.
