The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada is the latest group to oppose special treatment for U.S. companies looking to enter Canada's telecommunications market.
"Granting one of the biggest companies in the world special rights to public airwaves [spectrum], to buy small players and existing companies' networks may be the most ill-conceived policy the Harper government has come up with," says CEP president Dave Coles in a statement.
"In its ideological crusade to open the telecommunications sector up to foreign ownership the Conservatives are 'gaming the rules' in favour of a major US-based multinational."
On July 29, Bell Canada called on the federal government to address what it says are loopholes in the country's wireless policy framework that give an unfair advantage to U.S. wireless carriers wishing to enter the Canadian marketplace.
The rules are meant to encourage more competition in Canada's telecommunications sector and encourage smaller startups to enter the market. The federal government recently blocked Telus' acquisition of the financially troubled Mobilicity for those reasons.
Verizon, which with 100 million subscribers is more than 10 times the size of Telus or Bell, is considering purchasing Wind Mobile and Mobilicity.
On July 26, the Council of Canadian Chief Executives sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper opposing the policy, which they said "discriminate[s] against Canadian companies in favour of large foreign operators."
This September, Industry Canada will start a highly anticipated new wireless spectrum auction.
