Abolish the CRTC

[BUZZSAW]

It is time to abolish the CRTC


As a Canadian I feel it is an outrage that we are subjected to a soviet-era style communist censorship of the airwaves.


The government has no right to tell me what I can watch, and what I cannot, and to restrict me from accessing International and USA channels. At least the government of any "free" society does not. I am a citizen of both countries (I am Canadian born and primary Canadian resident) and can confirm that Canadian networks and programming is second rate, trash compared to other networks around the world. The cost of telecommunications in Canada is amongst the highest in the world, due to the government enabled monopolies by the Canadian Telco Companies.


It is time Canadians send a message enough is enough, and demand competition. If 3 of the US Telco companies came to Canada the price of communications in this country would drop significantly. In the USA I pay half of what I pay in Canada, and get twice the service, options, channels, and phone packages that are far superior. If I want to buy and operate a US satellite in Canada, I should have the right by living in a free country to do so. It is NOT the governments business what channels I watch.

 

[taxslave]

Whatever made you think Canada is a free country?

 

[damngrumpy]

I am for keeping the CRTC but strengthening it. We should also have a national energy policy
and make decisions on who gets access to our resources and how much they can access.
We should have one price for Canadians and a world price. Come to think of it we could use
such an agency to dismantle some of the so called free trade deals and replace them with
fair trade deals. We should use the accesss to resources as a lever to who gets what and how
much we pay.but then I'm an economic nationalist who believes in Canada first

 

[tay]

I don't have cable.


I have free to air with 20 or so channels.


Instead of dumping the CRTC dump your Cable or Satellite.


Of course the dump the CRTC brigade'rs could just watch lots of foreign stuff via their computers so I'm not sure what they are pretending to be so excited about.


Actually I will never buy another TV once they die here............

 

[damngrumpy]

For TV I support the CRTC but there are areas where things have to be adjusted.
Phone service is an issue in this country and the reason is the phone companies
have joined forces to be against their customers where ever possible. The other
thing coming to more and more communities is internet radio stations in local
areas that are not subject to the CRTC. Interesting stuff coming in this field.
I am working on putting together an internet station myself and we will focus on
certain things more about that later, but radio is returning to its roots serving
local audiences, only thing different will be the internet allows one to also connect
to the world. Hope to have mine up and running sometime this spring.

 

[B00Mer]

The CRTC will never be abolished.. has to protect Canada culture from the big bad USA media..

 

[taxslave]

I don't have cable.


I have free to air with 20 or so channels.


Instead of dumping the CRTC dump your Cable or Satellite.


Of course the dump the CRTC brigade'rs could just watch lots of foreign stuff via their computers so I'm not sure what they are pretending to be so excited about.


Actually I will never buy another TV once they die here............

All the more reason to dump the crtc, as it is hardly relevent anymore.

 

[BornRuff]

I am for keeping the CRTC but strengthening it. We should also have a national energy policy
and make decisions on who gets access to our resources and how much they can access.
We should have one price for Canadians and a world price. Come to think of it we could use
such an agency to dismantle some of the so called free trade deals and replace them with
fair trade deals. We should use the accesss to resources as a lever to who gets what and how
much we pay.but then I'm an economic nationalist who believes in Canada first

Protectionism is regressive and will ultimately hurt us.

We can try to sit on our oil resources and screw around with anyone who wants to do business with us on that front, but they are in turn not going to be friendly to us on other fronts, screwing over every other sector of the economy that depends on access to foreign markets.

It is great to have natural resources and we should obviously exploit those resources to the extent that is reasonable, but we also don't want our economy to be dependent on resource prices. Having an economy that is too closely tied to whatever the market price of oil is really is not a recipe for stable prosperity. You really want a diverse economy.

Saying that you believe in "Canada first" doesn't necessarily mean that your ideas are actually good for Canada.

 

[BUZZSAW]

Agree with BornRuff


Protectionism in a global economy does not work. What this country needs is a total separation of government and economics. Regulation of the markets has allowed these and ALL monopolies to survive, against the interests of the people. I should be able to choose what services I buy, and have real choices. The CRTC and the large Telco monopolies in Canada are doing everything in their power to prevent competition, and to limit the choice for Canadians, and to deny foreign companies into the market. They know if the large US telcos ever come here, and the people see what service they can get, for a fraction of the cost, that their days of pro-liberal and pro-union censored, price gouging media are over. Any time an organization uses the term "we are just protecting our national interests" you have to really be worried. This is the type of garbage that all bureaucrats try to hide behind. They have no care for the Canadian people, they only care about their own, useless, overpaid jobs. They use this type of excuse to fool people into thinking they serve some purpose, and that they are looking out for them. Let Verizon, T-Mobil, Sprint, DirectTV and Nextel to Canada, you will quickly see the cost of communications go down significantly. Then when all Canadians have a choice, you will also see that people will go to who offers them the best value. Also I am sure then you will see a significant drop in the prices of Rogers, Bell and Telus, and their lousy programming, and customer service will actually improve, not like now when u call a Canadian telco, you have a better chance of getting an answer from a rock. The CRTC will be gone, and no one will even notice !!! we will then see that our preciouses tax dollars have been wasted all them years.

 

[damngrumpy]

Firstly more and more people are turning away from a global economy and in ten
years when they figure out their standard of living has dropped because of the
corporate free trade deals there will be hell to pay. Some thing the occupy
movement is dead but its not. I don't totally subscribe to the movement but it has
some valid concerns. I prefer using our resources to benefit us and we would
determine who we sell to and for how much and under what conditions. So much
for global economy, Global economy means a lower standard of living for those
who have the resources and I do not favour that. Secondly even in your rose coloured
world of a global economy, we have to maintain our national control of institutions and
political agenda. Before you shout it, yes I am an economic nationalist plain and simple.
National sovereignty is the most important thing we can maintain and global economy
should always take a back seat to that.

 

[BUZZSAW]

Canada, being a small populated and underdeveloped country, has no power to "fix" the price of its resources. The global market sets the price of commodities, it will determine what a barrel of oil, and what lumber is worth. Most of these Canadian resources go towards exports, as there is not enough demand in Canada to sustain these industries. If we would throw up a virtual wall around this country to trade, our exports would die, and so would all of the Canadian natural resources industry. US demand is what keeps Canada's economy alive. I do agree that Canada should become more developed, and then we could use more of our resources, we should be bringing in around 1 - 2 million immigrants steady per year. There is way too much of Canada that is not settled yet, almost all of the population is concentrated in a few centers. Even most immigrants still go to 4 major cities. Areas of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the north, and the prairies need to become more populated. There are millions of people around the world, who would be more than happy to come here, the government needs to strategically place these people across the country. This would raise the demand for infrastructure, roads, business, etc... Canada with its large land and resources, and stable society if properly developed could be a superpower. Right now I agree we are too dependent on the USA, but that wont stop until this government puts a plan in place to expand and grow this nation. Being a US citizen as well as Canadian I believe the best possible thing for all would be for Canada and the USA to merge into one country. I know that a lot of Canadians would quickly disagree with this, and it will never happen anytime soon, so the only other option for Canada is to expand on its own. State sponsored censorship, and monopolies, will never save us.

 

[gerryh]

. Most of these Canadian resources go towards exports, as there is not enough demand in Canada to sustain these industries..

well, you're wrong on oil,

Basic Statistics - Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers


Should we check other "natural resource" stats?

Naaaaaa...... how about YOU check the stats and back up your bullshyte.

 

[BornRuff]

Firstly more and more people are turning away from a global economy and in ten
years when they figure out their standard of living has dropped because of the
corporate free trade deals there will be hell to pay. Some thing the occupy
movement is dead but its not. I don't totally subscribe to the movement but it has
some valid concerns. I prefer using our resources to benefit us and we would
determine who we sell to and for how much and under what conditions. So much
for global economy, Global economy means a lower standard of living for those
who have the resources and I do not favour that. Secondly even in your rose coloured
world of a global economy, we have to maintain our national control of institutions and
political agenda. Before you shout it, yes I am an economic nationalist plain and simple.
National sovereignty is the most important thing we can maintain and global economy
should always take a back seat to that.

The problem with this point of view is that it doesn't consider how other people acting in this way will effect us.

Canada has an abundance of certain resources, which is great, but our current standard of living is based on being able to use those resources to obtain the many other things that we need as well. Our free trade deals allow us to do that at a reasonable price. If everyone starts putting up barriers to accessing the things that they do have, then it becomes a lot more expensive for everyone to get what they don't have. Ultimately, everyone ends up with less.

In our situation, it would be particularly dumb, since like 80% of our imports and exports are with the US, while we make up a much much smaller portion of their trade.

I really can't begin to imagine how you might substantiate your claim that more involvement in the global economy lowers our standard of living. The economic data is quite strongly in opposition to that. Obviously whenever there is change there are some winners and some losers, but the overall benefits are clearly in one direction.

 

[BUZZSAW]

Re: Comment of "Gerry H"


Nowhere in my comment did I mention any "statistics". I was just making a general statement regarding the overwhelming amount of the resources exported, and the reliance on the exports. Not sure where I mentioned any stats, however it is true that the vast majority of the crude is exported, specifically to the USA. Actually 2/3 of all Canadian crude oil is exported... if you do not consider this a substantial amount, not sure... Both the National Energy Board, and Natural Resources Canada can confirm this


Additional Statistics on Energy | Natural Resources Canada


NEB - Statistics - Estimated Canadian Crude Oil Exports by Type and Destination


Also your own statistics seem to show the same picture...... clearly exports of the resources outweigh domestic consumption, as is the case with Natural Gas, and lumber An Overview of the Lumber Industry in Canada, 2004 to 2010: Main article which is why energy companies in Canada are now pushing towards new pipelines to the west coast destined for Asia. Also lumber exports to Asia are becoming increasingly important. Just look how many sawmills in Canada have shut down when the US housing market crashed, when the wood stopped moving across the border, everything crashed Higher US housing starts reflected in Canada's lumber trade | Condo.caCondo.ca Right now there is an energy boom in the US, especially Natural Gas, and this is having a negative impact on those exports, and in the future will get worse, which is why even harper is scrambling to get more pipelines built going to the west coast. Exports are an integral part of our economy, unless as stated in my last post we expand and grow the Canadian market, by removing regulation, and mass immigration, development of Canada's vast land. Canada needs to add at least 15 million to its population in the next 10 years. Closing borders, and restrictions lead to disaster. The same type of failed logic is what unions tried for years, the members fought to restrict the entry of new members, with the notion of "keeping the work for the few". All one has to do is look at the decline of the union market share, to see what this failed logic leads to, a future that is no future.

 

[gerryh]

Re: Comment of "Gerry H"


Nowhere in my comment did I mention any "statistics". I was just making a general statement regarding the overwhelming amount of the resources exported, and the reliance on the exports. Not sure where I mentioned any stats, however it is true that the vast majority of the crude is exported, specifically to the USA. Actually 2/3 of all Canadian crude oil is exported... if you do not consider this a substantial amount, not sure... Both the National Energy Board, and Natural Resources Canada can confirm this


Additional Statistics on Energy | Natural Resources Canada


NEB - Statistics - Estimated Canadian Crude Oil Exports by Type and Destination


Also your own statistics seem to show the same picture...... clearly exports of the resources outweigh domestic consumption, as is the case with Natural Gas, and lumber An Overview of the Lumber Industry in Canada,*2004*to*2010: Main article which is why energy companies in Canada are now pushing towards new pipelines to the west coast destined for Asia. Also lumber exports to Asia are becoming increasingly important. Just look how many sawmills in Canada have shut down when the US housing market crashed, when the wood stopped moving across the border, everything crashed Higher US housing starts reflected in Canada's lumber trade | Condo.caCondo.ca Right now there is an energy boom in the US, especially Natural Gas, and this is having a negative impact on those exports, and in the future will get worse, which is why even harper is scrambling to get more pipelines built going to the west coast. Exports are an integral part of our economy, unless as stated in my last post we expand and grow the Canadian market, by removing regulation, and mass immigration, development of Canada's vast land. Canada needs to add at least 15 million to its population in the next 10 years. Closing borders, and restrictions lead to disaster. The same type of failed logic is what unions tried for years, the members fought to restrict the entry of new members, with the notion of "keeping the work for the few". All one has to do is look at the decline of the union market share, to see what this failed logic leads to, a future that is no future.

here's what you said dingbat

"Most of these Canadian resources go towards exports, as there is not enough demand in Canada to sustain these industries.."


and that is what I was commenting on. We consume more oil than we produce, yet, we export the majority of oil we produce and then turn around and import damn near 800,000 barrels per day. You stated that there is not enough demand. The first thing I checked was oil and it showed your comment to be a lie.