Text Message Fee Controversy Enters Canadian Political Party Wrangling

Although the Canadian Federal Parliament has adjourned until mid-September, representatives of both the Conservative and Liberal parties have weighed in on the increased texting charges announced by Bell Canada and Telus.

Last week, David Silverberg summarized the new fees that pay-per-use customers of both these telecoms will be subject to. The following day, federal Industry Minister Jim Prentice sent letters to the heads of both Bell and Telus demanding that they justify these fee increases no later than August 8th. The motivation for his actions have been called into doubt by members of the opposition Liberal Party of Canada. As reported by the CBC, Liberal critic Scott Bryson said, "This government loves to grandstand on these types of populist issues." He went further to imply that the ruling Conservatives were acting "more like [the] Opposition than government." Prentice had previously explained his actions as follows:

"While I have no desire to interfere with the day-to-day business decisions of two private companies, I do have a duty as minister of industry to protect the interests of the consuming public when necessary. I believe this was a poorly thought out decision."

While Brison compared Prentice actions to those of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in March, 2007, concerning increased ABM fees from Canadian banks, NDP Leader Jack Layton responded to the texting crisis by encouraging outraged customers to sign an online petition. Many petitioners accuse both Bell and Telus of colluding to force these fees on the public at the same time. The federal Liberals have opted to "monitor the situation" and are considering tightening the regulations on the Canadian telecom industry. A spokesperson for Prentice responded to criticism from the Liberals with this email to the CBC.

"[Prentice] was unhappy ... the government wants to ensure consumers aren't being overcharged for text messages. Our government is putting consumers first, whereas Brison and the tax-and-spend Liberals are only interested in their tax on everything."

There has been no official response from either of the involved telecoms, but it is reasonable to assume that the increased fees will remain. Fees are always "subject to change without notice", the effected customers are without any term-contract, and they always have the option to disable text-messaging on their phones. Perhaps this issue will be resolved before the fall session of parliament begins. The government will then be free to debate more pressing concerns for Canadians.