National Do Not Call List

CANADIAN RADIO-TELEVISION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-200 Route Reference: Telecom Public Notice 2008-14 Ottawa, 20 April 2009 Modifications to some Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules File number: 8665-C12-200814021 In this decision, the Commission modifies its Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules pertaining to telemarketing telecommunications made by or on behalf of non-party candidates. Introduction 1. The Commission regulates unsolicited telecommunications pursuant to sections 41 to 41.7 and 72.01 to 72.15 of the Telecommunications Act the Act. Pursuant to those provisions, the Commission, in Telecom Decision 2007-48, established a framework for the National Do Not Call List DNCL and set out the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules, which include the National DNCL Rules, the Telemarketing Rules, and the Automatic Dialing-Announcing Device ADAD Rules. The National DNCL and the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules became effective on 30 September 2008. 2. In implementing the National DNCL and the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules, the Commission identified three issues that, in its view, needed to be addressed. In Telecom Public Notice 2008-14, the Commission invited parties to comment on the following questions: 1 Should telemarketing telecommunications made by or on behalf of candidates in a federal, provincial, or municipal election that are not candidates of a registered political party non-party candidates be excluded from the application of the National DNCL Rules? 3. The Commission received submissions from Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership, Bell Canada, MTS Allstream Inc., Saskatchewan Telecommunications, Tlbec, Limited Partnership, and TELUS Communications Company TCC collectively, Bell Canada et al.; Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. Primus; the Canadian Marketing Association CMA and various organizations and associations representing marketing, financial, and insurance companies; the Coalition of Communication Consumers the Coalition; the Federation of Canadian Municipalities FCM; various associations representing municipalities across Canada collectively, the Municipalities; the Public Interest Advocacy Centre on behalf of the Consumers Association of Canada and the National Anti-Poverty Organization collectively, PIAC; and a number of individuals. 4. The public record of this proceeding, which closed on 19 December 2008, is available on the Commissions website at www.crtc.gc.ca under Public Proceedings or by using the file number provided above. 1. Should telemarketing telecommunications made by or on behalf of non-party candidates be excluded from the application of the National DNCL Rules? 5. Most parties that commented on this matter generally agreed that all candidates in an election should be treated equally, whether or not they are members of a political party, and therefore that telemarketing telecommunications made by or on behalf of non-party candidates should be exempt from the National DNCL Rules. 6. Individual consumers were generally opposed to the Commission making any additional exemptions to the National DNCL Rules. 7. PIAC submitted that, should the Commission decide to broaden the exemption to include non-party candidates, it should implement a review mechanism to ensure that this change does not result in abuse. PIAC proposed that the Commission require the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services Inc. CCTS to collect complaints under this exemption separately and provide a report that includes specific information about the frequency and nature of these complaints. 8. The Commission notes that in many provinces, legislation governing municipal elections does not provide for the registration of political parties and that consequently, candidates in municipal elections in those provinces cannot be candidates of a registered political party. The Commission also notes that some candidates choose not to be candidates of a registered party for the purposes of a federal, provincial, or municipal election. 9. The Commission considers that non-party candidates should have the same ability as candidates of registered parties to contact their constituents and potential voters. Indeed, the Commission can see no justification for treating non-party candidates and candidates of registered parties differently for the purposes of the National DNCL Rules. The Commission therefore concludes that telemarketing telecommunications made by or on behalf of non-party candidates should also be exempt from the National DNCL Rules. 10. The Commission notes TCCs submission that, given the exemptions set out in section 41.7 of the Act, extending the exemptions to the National DNCL Rules might contravene Parliaments intention. The Commission considers, however, that Parliament did not intend to limit the Commissions authority under section 41 of the Act to create further exemptions where appropriate. 11. Accordingly, the Commission adopts the following rule in the National DNCL Rules Part II: 3.1 In addition to the exemption set out in section 3d, the National DNCL Rules do not apply to a telemarketing telecommunication made by or on behalf of a candidate as defined in subsection 21 of the Canada Elections Act or a candidate under provincial law for the purposes of a provincial or municipal election, or by or on behalf of the official campaign of such a candidate. 12. As a consequence of adopting the above rule, the Commission replaces section 1 of the National DNCL Rules Part II with the following: For purposes of section 3, the terms candidate, existing business relationship, leadership contestant, and nomination contestant shall have the same meaning as set out in subsection 41.72 of the Telecommunications Act. 13. With regard to PIACs proposal that the CCTS be required to collect complaints related to telemarketing telecommunications made by or on behalf of non-party candidates, the Commission notes that it monitors complaints received by the National DNCL Operator in relation to violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. The Commission considers that it will be able to effectively monitor any concerns relating to the abuse of an exemption for telemarketing telecommunications made by or on behalf of non-party candidates.