New Democrats introduce net neutrality bill

OTTAWA— New Democrat Digital Affairs Critic Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay) has moved to get the issue of Net Neutrality onto the political agenda in Ottawa. Angus tabled Bill C-398 today, which will ensure the future development of the internet is not impeded by unfair throttling or interference by telecom giants.

“A neutral internet paved the way for the unprecedented level of innovation we've seen over the last 20 years. The principle is simple, it's the consumer, not the corporations, who should be deciding what content has value on the internet," Angus said. "We can't sit back and allow the telecom giants to arbitrarily decide which content should be in the fast lane and which content should be pushed to a slow lane."

Angus says the recent issue of throttling of third-party ISP competition should be a wake-up call for Canadian consumers.

“The telecom giants didn’t invent the internet. They don’t own the internet and they shouldn’t be able to use their position as service providers to give priority to their own content.”

Angus says the bill is not about regulating the internet, but ensuring a level playing field.

"Net neutrality is a cornerstone of an innovative economy. The federal government must ensure that there is no interference with the unprecedented level of economic, democratic and innovative enfranchisement that has occurred as a direct result of a neutral internet."

Angus has been the New Democrat's Digital Affairs Critic since 2006, focussing on Net Neutrality, Copyright and other internet-age issues.