A huge win for Bell

Details: Published on Wednesday, 27 February 2019 08:28; Written by editor

OpenMedia r1

Paov,

Parliament is currently reviewing the laws that govern our Internet. But instead of addressing the digital divide that keeps half of the low-income households from having home Internet, the CRTC is recommending a new tax that would... put Internet access further out of reach.1

We can't afford higher Internet prices. Fortunately, it's an election year, and OpenMedia has launched a campaign to make the Internet Tax such political poison that our members of Parliament won't touch it.2

Will you chip in to help axe the Internet Tax?

Internet access is critical for lifting families out of poverty. Adults without the Internet at home are at a disadvantage when applying to jobs and keeping connected to the workplace. And children in those families tend to have lower digital literacy and more difficulty in completing their homework and keeping up with the tech-infused curriculum in schools.3

And yet 58% of low-income households lack Internet at home, thanks to the fact that Canada pays some of the highest Internet prices in the world.4

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) should be addressing these inequities in access and working to bring Canada's Internet prices down. Instead, the agency has proposed a new Internet Tax on ISPs that would almost assuredly be passed on to consumers.5,6

This Internet Tax is being pushed as a way to help Canada's content creators, but in reality, it is just another recycled idea for lining the pockets of huge corporations.

OpenMedia is pushing comments to Parliament and preparing ad campaigns to stop the Internet Tax. We need to show solidarity with low-income families, First Nations communities, and people in rural areas who will be disproportionately affected by this tax.7 Will you chip in?

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For fair access to the Internet,
Marie, and the whole team at OpenMedia

Footnotes:
[1] Canada’s Digital Divide: How Wide is it and Can it be Solved?: Kajeet
[2] Tell your MP: Axe the Internet Tax: OpenMedia
[3] Anti-poverty advocates call for affordable Internet: The star
[4] Household access to the Internet at home, by household income quartile and geography: Statistics Canada
[5] CRTC written public submission to the Legislative Review Panel: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
[6] The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
[7] Anti-poverty advocates call for affordable Internet: The Star

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