Internet Insider: The consultation, consultation, consultation edition...
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- Published on Friday, 15 January 2016 08:15
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INTERNET INSIDER
January 15, 2016
... Whew! What a start to 2016 this has been! We knew things were going to be lively, but we’ve rarely been quite so pedal-to-the-metal this early in the new year here at OpenMedia. If this week had a theme, it’s “consultation” — seems like the powers-that-be in Ottawa are in listening mode on a number of fronts.
On C-51: Most positively, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced that public consultations on C-51—as demanded by thousands of Canadians—will indeed take place. As our Laura Tribe told The Guardian, “Canadians are not going to let this one slide” - we’re prepping an exciting new way to ensure your voice gets heard, so stay tuned!
On Internet access: The CRTC has just announced a large-scale public consultation on the state of Canada’s Internet. This positive development will finally enable Canadians’ voices to be heard after years of frustration with Big Telecom’s high prices and shoddy services. Sadly, Bell’s attempt to crush indie ISPs is casting a dark cloud across these proceedings, and we’ll need to keep up the pressure on government to reject Bell’s scheme.
On the TPP: Far less positively, our Meghan Sali attended what the government billed as a public consultation event on the TPP, headlined by Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland. Incredibly, Freeland refused to answer a single question from the audience, leading Meghan to conclude the event “vastly missed the mark” as a genuine engagement effort.
That’s it for this week… onwards!
It’s been a busy week, and this year is just getting started. At times like this there’s no better way to keep in touch with all your digital rights news than by r60