Committee studies, reports on hold as Parliament prorogued

With Tuesday's prorogation of Parliament, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has put the brakes on a number of telecom-related studies underway in various House of Commons committees. The House industry committee had been working on a pair of reports, one about how to deal with the threat of fraud and scam calls, and another about the accessibility and affordability of telecommunications services in Canada. The committee had not yet called witnesses on its study of the affordability of telecommunications services, but the committee's report on fraud calls was under consideration in a meeting last week. Though both efforts had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee had also been working in recent months on assessing the response to the pandemic, including its impact on fraud, the response by telecom companies, and the government agencies that regulate them. At the House ethics committee, MPs had been due to begin a review of facial recognition technology, but had yet to hold any meetings on the topic. In March the NDP called for a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology in the country, after the federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner opened two separate investigations into Clearview AI in February. Those studies will now be put on hold until at least Sept. 23, when the government will deliver a speech from the throne with a fresh articulation of its priorities, which may include previously-announced promises that the government has not yet acted on. On the broadcast side, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault had said he planned to table legislation this fall requiring Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc. to compensate news organizations for using their content, a key 2019 election promise. In June, Rural Economic Development Minister Maryam Monsef had said that the government would launch applications for its Universal Broadband Fund "in the coming days," though the launch has not since materialized.

Committee studies, reports on hold as Parliament prorogued

Brief | August 18, 2020

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Committee studies, reports on hold as Parliament prorogued

Brief | August 18, 2020

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