While these arguments didn’t convince the CRTC to grant SNN mandatory carriage, the network still claimed a victory of sorts because the CRTC did embark on a comprehensive review of, among other things, where news channels are found on the dial. Apparently there’s no remedy for over-regulation like more regulation, at least not in the eyes of government.
Now Canada’s three big wireless providers — Bell, Telus and Rogers — are playing the same game. Their massive pr campaign to “level the playing field” of entry into Canada’s wireless market preys on two similar fears: injustice and invasion.
For believers in the free market, they claim that allowing foreign owners to snap up smaller telcos will allow them unfair access to Canadian wireless infrastructure and allow big players back-door entry to the Canadian market. For Canadian nationalists, they offer up the American bogeyman in the form of U.S. telecom giant Verizon — which until Thursday was intent on buying smaller carriers Mobilicity and Wind Mobile. The company has now shifted gears and plans to bid in the upcoming Canadian spectrum auction instead — which the Big Three complain is also unfair, since two of four blocks of spectrum are reserved for players other than those which currently dominate the market.
This sudden passion for “justice” and “Canadianness” not only rings hollow but inevitably leads governments down a well-trodden and disastrous path: protectionism.
Canadians heard a similar debate over market share and “national interest” when Industry Canada forbade the acquisition of Saskatchewan’s Potash Corporation by Australian conglomerate B.H.P. Billiton in 2010. Politics also played a role in that decision, with the minority Conservatives choosing to safeguard 11 seats in Saskatchewan instead of respecting market forces.
Fast-forward two years later. With the withdrawal of a key Russian player from one of the world’s two potash cartels in July 2013, prices of the commodity plummeted from a high of $470 last year to potentially less than $300 a ton. Potash Corporation’s share price also dropped, from $39 to $29; as of August 15 2013, it had inched up to $32.
In other words, Ottawa’s meddling resulted in a major loss of value for shareholders, while providing no guarantee that Canadian jobs will be ‘protected’ in an environment where commodities prices are set by the world market.
Today, while Industry Minister James Moore is right to call out the Big Three telecoms on their hypocrisy, it is worth remembering that his department (then headed by Tony Clement) acted in just as self-serving a fashion two years ago. When Moore says Canadians “know dishonest attempts to skew debates via misleading campaigns when they see them”, he could just as well be talking about the federal government’s past rhetoric.
Telecom-bashing is also an easy stance for the Tories to take, considering most Canadians feel that they are paying too much for wireless compared to other countries, particularly the United States.
Regrettably, both companies and politicians will champion fairness and patriotism when it suits their interests. Meanwhile, shareholders, employees and consumers suffer the consequences. Instead of micromanaging Canadian industry — whether it’s broadcasting, telecommunications or commodities — the federal government should let true market forces dictate the terms of engagement. And corporate Canada should stop confusing “fairness” with favoritism.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca
Author: Tasha Kheiriddin
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