Bell Canada's Plan to Play Politics with Your Internet Bill

Bell Canada's Plan to Play Politics with Your Internet Bill

by OpenMedia.ca

Today we're asking you to to urgently take action and tell the government to reject Bell Canada's plan to play politics with our Internet bills.1,2

As you know, the government has announced they will hear Bell's case to undo new Internet choice rules using a little-known, rarely-invoked parliamentary procedure.

If successful, Bell could kill Canada's smaller Internet providers so they can price-gouge you at will.3

But we're running out of time to push back. We only have until December 21 to get as many people as possible to tell the government to stop Bell's plan.4

There are only 9 days left on the Internet Emergency countdown. Speak out NOW by signing our petition while there's still time.

If Bell gets its way, it will mean the death of affordable Internet access for households and businesses.5 Smaller more affordable indie Internet providers would be forced out of business - leaving the way open for telecom giants like Bell to hold our digital economy hostage.

We've stood up against Bell at the CRTC6 and sent an open letter to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains, urging him to listen to Canadians and reject the telecom giant's appeal to Cabinet.7

Now we're ready to stand together with the over 40,000 Canadians who have already spoken out. At this point, the only missing ingredient is you.

Please speak out now before we run out of time [ https://act.openmedia.org/emergency?src=158868 ], and we'll ensure the name of every signer goes on the public record to oppose Bell's power-grab in time for the December 21 deadline.

We've called this the #InternetEmergency on purpose – it's a big one, and we need all the help we can get.

–Josh, on behalf of your OpenMedia team

P.S., Can you chip in today to our Internet Emergency defence fund to stop Bell's plan to control our entire Internet market? Your donation will fund a crack team of policy experts to knock down Bell's arguments, and get as many petition signatures as possible on the public record before time runs out.

Footnotes:
[1] Bell playing politics with your Internet bill by appealing CRTC ruling. Source: The Globe and Mail [ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/bell-playing-politics-with-your-internet-bill-by-appealing-crtc-ruling/article27030604/ ].
[2] Petition to the Governor in Council concerning Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-326. Source: Industry Canada [ http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf11141.html ].
[3] Bell is lobbying the Canadian government for a "free pass". Source: Medium [ https://medium.com/@jdtabish/bell-is-lobbying-the-canadian-government-for-a-free-pass-from-new-customer-protection-rules-3417259b3a7c ].
[4],[6] OpenMedia is fighting Bell at the CRTC and Parliament on your behalf. Source. OpenMedia [ https://openmedia.org/en/openmedia-fighting-bell-crtc-and-parliament-your-behalf ].
[5] Bell appeals CRTC ruling forcing company to sell fibre internet access to small ISPs. Source: CBC News [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/crtc-bell-fibre-1.3350885 ].
[7] Minister Navdeep Bains: Listen to Internet users and reject Bell Canada's appeal. Source: OpenMedia [ https://openmedia.org/en/minister-navdeep-bains-listen-internet-users-and-reject-bell-canadas-appeal ].