Charlie Angus has proved that he is one of the few good politicians left in Canada by actually delivering on his promise to table a bill to guarantee net neutrality. Bill C-552 as it has been called, amends the Telecommunications Act so that it:
“prohibit network operators from engaging in network management practices that favour, degrade or prioritize any content, application or service transmitted over a broadband network based on its source, ownership or destination, subject to certain exceptions.”
This is exactly what Canada needs. But the battle is not over. This is a private members bill as opposed to something introduced by and with the full support of the government. This means that the odds of this making it through parliament are long. So if you’re Canadian, you need to make sure that your local MP understands that they need to support bill C-552. If your MP is a member of the NDP, no worries (but you should still give them a call just to make sure they understand the importance of this). If however your MP is a Liberal, then you should ensure that they understand how important this bill is. Ditto for those in Quebec who have MPs from the B.Q. party. Mr. Angus needs the support from as many MPs sitting on the opposition side of the house to support this or this bill will fail.
If you need help finding your MP, click here and search by postal code. If your MP needs a primer on net neutrality, you can send them this link.
Together, we can make a difference!
UPDATE: The full bill has been posted.