Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

Comité permanent de l'accès à l'information, de la protection des renseignements personnels et de l'éthique

For immediate release

Ottawa, May 09, 2018 — Today, Bob Zimmer, MP and Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, tabled in the House of Commons a report entitled The Protection of Net Neutrality in Canada.

The Committee’s report makes five recommendations to the federal government that pertain to the protection and application of net neutrality and highlights recent developments in this area, including in the United States. One key recommendation is to consider enshrining the principle of net neutrality in the Telecommunications Act.

The other recommendations of the Committee ask the Government of Canada to:

• consider using the authority provided for in the Telecommunications Act to ask the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to reconsider its decision, in the event that it would support FairPlay Canada’s application to create a piracy website blocking system;
• seek assurances from the Government of the United States that Canadians’ communications with people located in the United States, or passing through the U.S. networks to reach another destination, will not be undermined by U.S. Internet service providers (ISPs), highlighting current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) obligations to ensure fair access to Canadian businesses and consumers and stressing the importance of the free flow of communications between countries during NAFTA renegotiation efforts;
• continue to pursue a dialogue with other countries about transborder Internet commerce, competition and infrastructure issues to promote harmonization of open Internet best practices on an international scale, in light of the increasingly global nature of digital commerce and Internet infrastructure; and
• encourage the CRTC to proactively use its power to inquire, which is provided for in the Telecommunications Act, to ensure that the ISPs’ practices are consistent with Canadian law.

“As other countries re-examine their net neutrality policies, it was important that we as a committee study how these changes could affect Canadian internet users. We need to do our best to ensure net neutrality and protect Canadians’ unaltered access to the modern market square” said Bob Zimmer, Chair of the Committee.

“In the United States, we’ve seen how quickly net neutrality can be undermined by a change in leadership. Enshrining the principle of net neutrality in our Act will make a set of strong rules even stronger,” said Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Vice-Chair of the Committee.

“I am glad to join my colleagues in recommending the protection of net neutrality in Canadian law, outreach to the United States about ensuring a level playing field for Canadian businesses and the full protection of Canadians’ consumer rights, and in calling for more robust CRTC investigation and enforcement of ISP business practices” said Charlie Angus, Vice-Chair of the Committee.

The Committee held four public meetings as part of this study and heard from eight witnesses, including privacy experts and representatives from the CRTC and ISPs. The witness testimony heard by the Committee is available on the Parliament of Canada’s website: (http://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/ETHI).

The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics has 11 members. It is chaired by Bob Zimmer (Prince George–Peace River–Northern Rockies), with vice-chairs Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches–East York) and Charlie Angus (Timmins–James Bay). The other members are Frank Baylis (Pierrefonds–Dollard), Mona Fortier (Ottawa–Vanier), Jacques Gourde (Lévis–Lotbinière), the Honourable Peter Kent (Thornhill), Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Parliamentary Secretary – non-voting member), Michel Picard (Montarville), Raj Saini (Kitchener Centre), and Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West–Nepean).