Senator Martin: Thank you, Senator Patterson. This is such an essential service that we take for granted in urban Canada. We’re complaining about the connectivity if it’s not within seconds of us touching a key. You raise some really important points of how the North and rural communities are impacted.

In terms of what you said, the government has a goal to have everyone connected by 2030. That’s eight years away. Would you further expand on this statement and whether your bill will help address this to speed up the process?

Senator Patterson: Thank you for the question. Yes, this is a stated objective of the government. It has been well presented and lauded in official government proclamations and promises. The problem is that the spectrum policy has not been reviewed for years. It has not kept up with successful nations, and we all know that cell phones and broadband are cheaper in other parts of the world. Canadians are often complaining about these extremely high costs. The reason we have not been able to successfully lower costs and deploy broadband to regions of the country, especially the remote regions, is because we have outdated policy, and because the government has treated the spectrum option, dare I say, as a significant source of revenue — I think it was $9 billion in the last spectrum auction — instead of deploying it in ways that promote good public policy.

We need to change the spectrum policy, and we will have a chance of reaching these laudable goals of connections in all parts of this great country by 2030.

Hon. René Cormier: Senator Patterson, I truthfully support the intention of your bill. I have a very simple question; maybe it’s too simple. When I read the bill, I see the holder must deploy the spectrum to provide service to at least 50% of the population within the geographic area covered by the spectrum licence within three years of the licensee’s insurance. How did you come to that 50%? The needs are so important in rural regions. How did you get to that percentage?

Senator Patterson: That’s open to study in the bill, and it may have been an arbitrary figure, but I have been in consultation with industry folks, and that was the recommended goal. It would do a lot to improve connectivity in our rural regions. Let’s study the bill, and, no doubt, it could be improved.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

[Translation]

The Senate proceeded to consideration of the first report (interim) of the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, entitled Amendments to the Rules — Speaker pro tempore, presented in the Senate on March 29, 2022.