Category: Gun Control

Source: Government of Canada News

Nanaimo, British Columbia
March 18, 2025

Claire Anderson, Commissioner for British Columbia and Yukon
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

Check against delivery

Thank you for the introduction and the warm welcome. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered here today on the territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. I understand that in the Sarlequun Snuneymuxw Treaty of 1854, the British Crown recognized Snuneymuxw self-determination and Aboriginal title, and that today, Snuneymuxw governance is rooted in Snawayalth (teachings), and this model of governance upholds the Nation’s self-determination and territorial sovereignty.

It is a real pleasure to be here with all of you today. I want to thank the Indigenous Connectivity Institute for inviting me to speak and for gathering us all together to discuss this important subject. The Institute is an important, Indigenous-led voice helping to tackle the challenges that affect our own Indigenous communities. This includes the digital divide that disproportionately affects Indigenous communities and affects their ability to fully participate in the 21st-century global economy.

As participants to this Summit, many or most of you have insight into what those challenges look like and how deep their roots grow. And that places you in a unique position to examine solutions that work best for your own communities.

Access to wireless frequency ranges, or spectrum as we have come to call it, is critical to any telecommunications service provider. Access to spectrum helps a company provide its customers with reliable and clear wireless services. So it only makes sense that as more and more Indigenous-led companies and community groups look to improve connectivity in their communities, they are increasingly interested in spectrum management and access to this vital resource.

Spectrum management and the CRTC’s role

This is why I was so happy that we all had the chance to hear this morning from Mark Saunders at Innovation, Science and Economic Development (or ISED). ISED is responsible for managing spectrum in Canada, including how spectrum is allocated through the auction system that Mark touched on.

Indigenous communities and companies who want to create local solutions to their community’s connectivity challenges need spectrum access. ISED’s ‘use it or lose it’ policy and, most importantly, its announcement of a new licensing framework for unused spectrum in rural, remote and Indigenous areas, should improve this access. This included, as Mark touched on, the ongoing development of the Indigenous priority window spectrum policy framework. I look forward to the seeing the results and the final policy when it is released.

At the CRTC, our work focuses on telecommunications companies and the services they provide over spectrum, as well as the infrastructure that facilitates access to these services.

Support structures, small cells and access

For example, one of our areas of focus in the recent past has been working on regulatory measures to make access to telecommunications poles and other forms of existing infrastructure easier and more efficient.

In fact, less than two months ago we released a decision designed to make it easier for companies to deploy new communications networks. It laid out the terms and conditions which will allow companies to access the poles, lines and other support structures controlled by large telephone companies, so that smaller competitors – such as Indigenous-led companies and co-ops – can deploy their own networks.

There are several more granular and detailed changes that were made, as part of this decision, which I won’t cover today. But I will point out that all were made with the intent of making this new access as smooth and as easy as possible for new competitors to enter new markets. It will improve competition, lower prices, and provide high-quality telecom services to communities across the country, while also supporting continued investment.

Building on this access, we are working on another decision concerning wireless attachments to these poles. Ensuring high-speed wireless connectivity on 5G networks and beyond will require the deployment of thousands of additional cell sites across Canada.

We are now in the final stages of a consultation on whether the CRTC should allow third parties to attach wireless equipment like small cells onto poles across Canada. As this is still a matter before the CRTC, I cannot hint at the details of any decision that the Commission might make. But what I can say is that we expect to release a decision soon.

Broadband Fund

As we work on these key regulatory issues, we are also a part of the Government of Canada’s larger effort to connect all communities to reliable high-speed Internet services. In 2019, the CRTC launched the Broadband Fund to help connect rural, remote and Indigenous communities across the country. The Broadband Fund’s focus is broader than our scope today, focusing on wireline broadband services in addition to wireless services.

To date, the fund has improved high-speed Internet and cellphone services in more than 270 communities, connecting essential institutions such as schools, health care facilities and community centres. We are wrapping up our evaluations of the projects proposed in our third call for applications – a call that garnered applications seeking more than $1.9 billion in funding. In the past year alone we committed funding that will better connect Inuit communities in northern Quebec and Nunavut, improve access along nearly 100 kilometres of major roads in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Ontario, and improve connectivity along roads and to rural communities in Yukon, northern Manitoba, and right here in B.C.

In addition to these funding commitments, we are also working to improve the fund itself. We want to make it easier for prospective recipients to apply for funding and make the evaluation process simpler and more transparent. And once an application is approved, we want to consolidate and simplify reporting requirements.

As part of this review, we are also looking at how we can better engage with Indigenous communities and facilitate their access to the Broadband Fund. This includes changing the way we consult and engage with Indigenous communities, and we have created our Indigenous Relations Team within the CRTC to help. Furthermore, we are in the process of developing a distinct Indigenous stream of the Broadband Fund. I look forward to sharing more details as it progresses.

Spectrum, telecom, and economic reconciliation

And as I continue today, I want to acknowledge the opportunities for reconciliation that are found through telecommunications. Historically, when we spoke about reconciliation, it seemed as though there was an expectation that one party to a relationship had to reconcile or compromise their values to serve a larger interest. But we are moving away from that understanding of reconciliation, and placing a stronger emphasis on hearing how Indigenous communities can heal from historically damaging colonial relationships.

I’ve been attending Indigenous connectivity conferences and learning from you about the opportunities that exist for communities to create revenue through telecommunications. The Commission has heard in multiple proceedings what communities stand to gain if they are included in the management and ownership of networks: jobs are created, skill sets are expanded, and relationships are nourished. Reconciliation is advanced through partnerships with existing telecom providers, but also when we have wholly Indigenous-owned service providers.

Often, Indigenous communities are on the fringes of society, geographically and, unfortunately, politically speaking. And a way for Indigenous nations to assert self-determination and sovereignty has been through ownership of major critical infrastructure, including telecommunications infrastructure and services. The importance of jobs in remote communities where services and employment opportunities are sparse cannot be overstated. Keeping money in the community can be a deciding factor in whether or not a family has food in the fridge.

One of the objectives of the Broadband Fund review that I mentioned earlier is to help advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. As we noted in one of our policy decisions resulting from that ongoing review, Indigenous groups told us of the barriers they face that discourage them from applying for Broadband funding. We have taken steps to streamline the application process and make it easier for Indigenous people to pick up the phone and call a point of contact in our Indigenous Relations Team instead of having to navigate our processes alone. We also are exempting Indigenous funding recipients from having to provide wholesale open access to transport infrastructure, because we believe they should have the choice to make that determination for themselves.

Additionally, we are providing funding for up to two years of technical training for Indigenous staff in communities that propose to serve as part of funded capital projects, and we aren’t requiring a 10% holdback on projects with approved funding of $5 million or less.

Furthermore, we are requiring each Broadband Fund applicant to obtain and show consent from any Indigenous community in which it plans to build infrastructure as part of its funded capital project. Meaningful consultation and community consent means that Indigenous communities are able to benefit from funded projects that happen on their territories.

These are measures that result in capacity training, job growth and economic opportunities for Indigenous communities and people.

Conclusion

I believe the Commission is on the right path of advancing reconciliation, because reconciliation is integral to the public interest, and at the CRTC, the public interest is at the heart of everything we do. In everything I have discussed today, from our regulatory work to our funding decisions, we are supporting continued investments in our networks while also putting the needs of everyone in this country first.

That includes our Indigenous communities. But while we can’t go back and change the past, we can ensure that the regulatory and funding decisions we make chart a course for a better future.

And everyone gathered here today can influence that future. Every decision we make is based on an extensive public record including consultations, hearings, and public outreach.

So I encourage you to get involved in our processes. Make your voice, and the voices of your community, heard. If you are unsure how to do that, get in touch with our Indigenous Relations Team or contact your regional CRTC Commissioner.

Because the only way we can build that brighter future is by doing so together.

If we have time for some questions, I’d like to invite any Indigenous youth to ask questions before moving on to questions from Indigenous participants and then all other participants.

Thank you. Gunalcheesh.

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