Speech
Opening remarks
by Richard French
Vice-Chairman of Telecommunications,
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
at the Public Consultation in Whitehorse
Whitehorse, Yukon
July 10, 2006
(CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)
Order, please.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this public hearing. My name is Richard French. I am the Vice-Chairman of Telecommunications for the Commission and I will be chairing this public hearing.
Before I begin, I would like to say that we are happy to be here in Whitehorse and have this opportunity to hear your views on a number of important telecommunication issues for people living in the north.
With me on the panel: on my left, Helen del Val, Commissioner for British Columbia and the Yukon; on my far left, Ron Williams, Commissioner for Alberta and the Northwest Territories; Barbara Cram on my immediate right, Commissioner for Manitoba and Saskatchewan; on my far right, Andrée Noel, Commissioner for Quebec.
We have a number of Commission staff here as well. At the front table on my left are our Hearing Secretary Madeleine Bisson, Staff Team Leader Christine Bailey, and Legal Counsel, Peter McCallum and Leanne Bennett.
Several years ago the Commission held a public hearing in Whitehorse. In that hearing the CRTC considered, among other things, the implementation of long distance competition in Northwestel’s operating territory, a plan to improve the telecommunications network in the north, and the regulatory framework that would be appropriate for Northwestel.
In Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2006-1 Review of regulatory framework for Northwestel Inc., the Commission initiated this proceeding to establish a new regulatory framework for the company that will go into effect in 2007.
Some of the issues that we expect will be discussed over the course of this hearing include the following: a new regulatory framework proposed by Northwestel which focuses on price changes rather than profits (called price caps); rate changes proposed by Northwestel to local, long distance and other services prior to implementing this framework in 2007; the appropriate amount of funding for the provision of service to high-cost areas; long distance competition in Northwestel’s territory; and various financial and other issues related to this proceeding.
We wish to hear as many views as possible. To this end we will begin today by hearing from members of the general public who are here in person to speak with us. After we have heard from some or all of those who have come in person, we will be holding a teleconference to Northwestel’s offices in Fort Nelson, B.C., Yellowknife, NWT, and Iqaluit, Nunavut.
In the interest of ensuring that as many oral submissions as possible can be heard, the submissions will be limited to 10 minutes each.
After everyone is finished with their presentations, we will take a short break, approximately 15 minutes, after which Northwestel will be given the opportunity to respond to the comments heard today.
Northwestel can also address any comments raised by the general public in its written reply which is to be filed by August 4th.
I understand that just a few people have registered to provide their comments to us this morning. Unless there are additional people here today or by teleconference who wish to speak with us, we do not expect that phase of the hearing to go beyond an hour. After hearing comments from the general public, we will start with the cross-examination phase of the hearing.
I would like to take this opportunity to specifically welcome those who will be joining us either in person or via teleconference this morning.
We thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to be with us here today. I would like to assure you that your comments are important and will be taken into consideration when the decision is made.
All of your comments are important and valuable to us and we look forward to what promises to be a very interesting and informative hearing.
At this point, I would like to ask legal counsel to address the process that we will be following today.
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Date Modified: 2006-07-10
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