This is an archive of news stories and research from the National Union of Public and General Employees. Please see our new site - https://nupge.ca - for the most current information.
'Net neutrality is a cornerstone of an innovative economy. The federal government must ensure that there is no interference.' - Charlie Angus, NDP MP.
Ottawa (4 June 2009) - The New Democratic Party continues to push the issue of net neutrality onto the Canadian parliamentary agenda.
Charlie Angus, NDP digital affairs critic, has introduced a private members bill - C-398 - entitled Network Management drafted to ensure that the future development of the internet is not impeded by unfair throttling or interference by telecom giants.
The proposed legislation is not aimed at regulating the internet but ensuring that a level playing field is available to all internet users, large and small.
"A neutral internet has paved the way for the unprecedented level of innovation we've seen over the last 20 years," Angus says.
"The principle is simple: it's the consumer, not the corporations, who should decide what content has value on the internet. 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."
A wake-up call
Angus says the recent issue of throttling 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," he argues.
"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 issues.
The National Union of Government and General Employees (NUPGE) has consistently raised this issue of net neutrality with elected politicians and policy makers over the years. Please use the links below to access NUPGE's online resources on this vital issue.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
More information: