Bill S-242
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S-242
Second Session, Thirty-ninth Parliament,
56-57 Elizabeth II, 2007-2008
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-242
An Act to amend the Telecommunications Act (telecommunications consumer agency)
first reading, June 18, 2008
THE HONOURABLE SENATOR OLIVER
0809
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Telecommunications Act to authorize the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to approve an independent telecommunications consumer agency.
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2nd Session, 39th Parliament,
56-57 Elizabeth II, 2007-2008
senate of canada
BILL S-242
An Act to amend the Telecommunications Act (telecommunications consumer agency)
1993, c. 38
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
1. The Telecommunications Act is amended by adding the following after section 46.5:
Telecommunications Consumer Agency
Approval of consumer agency
46.6 (1) The Commission may approve a corporation as the independent telecommunications consumer agency.
Mandate of agency
(2) The mandate of the agency shall be
(a) to resolve consumer complaints against telecommunications service providers that are members of the agency;
(b) to publish an annual report with respect to consumer complaints described in paragraph (a);
(c) to develop and approve industry codes of conduct and standards to improve consumer satisfaction, consumer protection and consumer choice; and
(d) to identify trends and issues that may warrant further attention by the Commission or the government.
Mandatory membership for some providers
(3) The Commission may impose, under section 24, a condition that a telecommunications service provider be a member of the agency if the provider is in a class of telecommunications service providers specified by the Commission.
Conditions of approval
(4) The following are conditions of an approval under subsection (1):
(a) the agency must be a corporation to which Part II of the Canada Corporations Act applies;
(b) the members of the agency must be telecommunications service providers;
(c) the majority of the directors of the agency, and its chief executive officer, must not be affiliated with a telecommunications service provider;
(d) the agency must be funded by its members; and
(e) the agency may not change its governing instruments without the approval of the Commission.
Conditions on approval
(5) The Commission may attach conditions to an approval under subsection (1), including conditions that clarify or add to the conditions set out in subsection (4) or that clarify or add to the mandate of the agency under subsection (2).
Conditions of approval relating to complaints
(6) Without limiting any other conditions that the Commission may attach to an approval under subsection (1), the Commission may make it a condition of such approval that the governing instruments of the agency provide for any of the following:
(a) that the agency may accept a complaint by a group of consumers or a complaint made on behalf of a consumer or group of consumers;
(b) that, in resolving a complaint, the agency be limited, in the manner specified by the Commission, with respect to how much compensation it may order a member of the agency to pay; or
(c) that, in resolving a complaint, the agency not be limited, to the extent specified by the Commission, by a term of a contract or agreement that limits the liability of a member of the agency.
Report to Minister on effectiveness
(7) Within three years after this section comes into force and at least every three years thereafter, the Commission shall deliver a report to the Minister on the effectiveness of the agency.
Tabling of report
(8) The Minister shall cause a copy of the report referred to in subsection (7) to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives the report.
Disclosure and transparency
(9) The agency shall commence, within 30 days after this section comes into force, an inquiry into the following issues:
(a) the adequacy of disclosure of the terms and conditions of service to consumers, including service limitations; and
(b) the transparency of prices charged to consumers, including surcharges, and the transparency of billing practices.
Publication
(10) The agency shall publish the results of its inquiry under subsection (9) and any recommendations it may have.
Authorization of previous decisions
(11) The decision of the Commission denoted as Telecom Decision CRTC 2007-130 (Establishment of an independent telecommunications consumer agency, December 20, 2007) and the variation of that decision denoted as Telecom Decision CRTC 2008-46 (May 30, 2008) shall be deemed to have been made under the authority of this section.
Definition of “governing instruments”
(12) In this section, “governing instruments” includes the agency’s letters patent, membership agreement, by-laws and procedural codes.
2. Section 41 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 41(1) and is amended by adding the following:
Enforcement
(2) The Commission may, by order to any telecommunications service provider, enforce compliance with section 46.6 and conditions it imposes on that provider pursuant to the section.
Published under authority of the Senate of Canada
Explanatory Notes
Telecommunications Act
Clause 1: New.
Clause 2: New.