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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS BEFORE
THE CANADIAN RADIO‑TELEVISION AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
TRANSCRIPTION DES AUDIENCES DEVANT
LE CONSEIL DE LA RADIODIFFUSION
ET DES TÉLÉCOMMUNICATIONS CANADIENNES
SUBJECT:
Proceeding to establish a national do not call list
framework and to review the telemarketing rules /
Instance visant à établir le cadre de la liste nationale
de numéros de téléphone exclus et à examiner
les règles de télémarketing
HELD AT: TENUE À:
Conference Centre Centre de conférences
Outaouais Room Salle Outaouais
140 Promenade du Portage 140, Promenade du Portage
Gatineau, Quebec Gatineau (Québec)
May 4, 2006 Le 4 mai 2006
Transcripts
In order to meet the requirements of the Official Languages
Act, transcripts of proceedings before the Commission will be
bilingual as to their covers, the listing of the CRTC members
and staff attending the public hearings, and the Table of
Contents.
However, the aforementioned publication is the recorded
verbatim transcript and, as such, is taped and transcribed in
either of the official languages, depending on the language
spoken by the participant at the public hearing.
Transcription
Afin de rencontrer les exigences de la Loi sur les langues
officielles, les procès‑verbaux pour le Conseil seront
bilingues en ce qui a trait à la page couverture, la liste des
membres et du personnel du CRTC participant à l'audience
publique ainsi que la table des matières.
Toutefois, la publication susmentionnée est un compte rendu
textuel des délibérations et, en tant que tel, est enregistrée
et transcrite dans l'une ou l'autre des deux langues
officielles, compte tenu de la langue utilisée par le
participant à l'audience publique.
Canadian Radio‑television and
Telecommunications Commission
Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des
télécommunications canadiennes
Transcript / Transcription
Proceeding to establish a national do not call list
framework and to review the telemarketing rules /
Instance visant à établir le cadre de la liste nationale
de numéros de téléphone exclus et à examiner
les règles de télémarketing
BEFORE / DEVANT:
Richard French Chairperson / Président
Elizabeth Duncan Commissioner / Conseillère
Barbara Cram Commissioner / Conseillère
Rita Cugini Commissioner / Conseillère
Stuart Langford Commissioner / Conseiller
ALSO PRESENT / AUSSI PRÉSENTS:
Madeleine Bisson Secretary / Secrétaire
Stephen Millington Legal Counsel /
Conseiller juridique
HELD AT: TENUE À:
Conference Centre Centre de conférences
Outaouais Room Salle Outaouais
140 Promenade du Portage 140, Promenade du Portage
Gatineau, Quebec Gatineau (Québec)
May 4, 2006 Le 4 mai 2006
TABLE DES MATIÈRES / TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE / PARA
Presentation by The Companies 689 / 4597
Questions by the Commission 773 / 5127
Closing Statement by Mark Obermeyer 820 / 5438
Closing Statement by Canadian Life and 826 / 5471
Health Insurance Association
Closing Statement by Consumer's Association 827 / 5479
of Canada
Closing Statement by Primerica 829 / 5493
Closing Statement by Association of Fundraising 830 / 5501
Professionals
Gatineau, Quebec / Gatineau (Québec)
‑‑‑ Upon resuming on Thursday, May 4, 2006
at 0900 / L'audience reprend le jeudi
4 mai 2006 à 0900
LISTNUM 1 \l 1 \s 45924592 THE CHAIRPERSON: Order, please.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14593 Madame la Secrétaire.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14594 LA SECRÉTAIRE: Merci, monsieur le Président.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14595 Nous avons maintenant The Companies.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14596 Mr. Drew McArthur, please introduce your panel.
PRESENTATION / PRÉSENTATION
LISTNUM 1 \l 14597 MR. McARTHUR: Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14598 My name is Drew McArthur. I am the Vice‑President of Corporate Affairs at TELUS Communications.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14599 On my right is Ted Woodhead, TELUS Regulatory Services.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14600 On my left of our co‑presenters today are: Scott Collyer, Director Local Access, Bell Canada: David Palmer, Director, Regulatory Matters, Bell Canada; Jenny Crowe, Counsel, Regulatory Affairs at MTS Allstream; and Bill Abbott, Senior Counsel, Regulatory Law, Bell Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14601 In addition to the companies represented here on the panel before you, our submissions to you today are made on behalf of Aliant, Northern Tel, Northwestel, SaskTel and Télébec.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14602 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. McArthur, just for your information, it is our understanding ‑‑ and I mention it also to remind the Secretary ‑‑ that you are not constrained by the 10‑minute rule.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14603 MR. McARTHUR: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14604 THE CHAIRPERSON: I know you won't go on forever, but we don't want you to be warned and we don't want you to feel unduly constrained.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14605 MR. McARTHUR: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14606 The Companies are active telemarketers and, as such, we are pleased to have this opportunity to outline our views as telemarketers with respect to the task of establishing a national "do not call" framework in finalizing the telemarketing rules.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14607 I will begin our presentation with an overview of The Companies' key concern regarding customer awareness.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14608 Scott Collyer will then address the concerns relative to the cost of implementing the DNCL framework, and Jenny Crowe will conclude the presentation with a discussion of the principles that should guide the implementation of the DNCL.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14609 The panel will then be available to respond to the Commission's questions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14610 This is one of those regulatory proceedings that stands out because of its significance to both consumers and business. It is about reshaping the relationship consumers have with business and by allowing consumers to take better control of the telemarketing calls they receive. It is also about managing the public's expectations regarding the opportunities and limitations of the DNCL framework.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14611 The Companies lead their oral presentation with a topic of public awareness because of the key role that awareness and communication will play in the ultimate success or failure of the DNCL framework.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14612 Why should The Companies, as telemarketers, care whether the national DNCL framework succeeds or fails?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14613 If the DNCL succeeds, it will be good for consumers and telemarketers, but if it fails, or if it is not communicated properly there is a risk of elevated consumer confusion and a potential negative reaction against the telemarketers, the Commission and the federal government. Thus we have a collective interest to make sure the awareness campaign is managed effectively and that all parties are consistent with their messaging.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14614 To this end, The Companies have proposed in their submissions in this proceeding that the information regarding the DNCL framework and the telemarketing rules be made available on a national DNCL website that is accessible through links from the Industry Canada and the CRTC websites and through a 1‑800 number made available for consumers to request information to be sent to them.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14615 The Companies have further proposed that information describing how to register on the DNCL and how to file a complaint against a telemarketer be made available to each Canadian household and business operating in Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14616 Finally, The Companies propose that free sources of publicity, such as television and radio news, be used to maximize public awareness. The Companies have made specific recommendations as to the type of information that should be conveyed and some of the means of conveyance.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14617 These are set out in detail in our submission dated March 27, 2006, as well as in our CISC contributions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14618 There is significant agreement among the parties to this proceeding that a multi‑faceted public awareness campaign is necessary and that the awareness campaign not be limited to DNCL in its operations but also include information regarding telemarketing rules.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14619 Where there is less agreement is who should be responsible for the public awareness campaign and its related costs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14620 We are here today because we profoundly believe that the responsibility of communicating information as complex as the DNCL and telemarketing rules and procedures to such an extensive audience should not be the primary responsibility of the telecommunications service providers as originally envisioned by the Commission in Telecom Decision 2004‑35.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14621 In this respect The Companies believe that the creation of a national DNCL is a regulatory response to the activities of telemarketers and that the responsibility to educate the public should rest with the parties whose activities give rise to the DNCL regime, namely the telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14622 The Companies further believe the federal government, having mandated the regime, also has a key role to play in educating the public.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14623 For more discussion on the role of the federal government in a mandated DNCL regime, I will pass the floor to Scott Collyer.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14624 MR. COLLYER: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14625 Good morning.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14626 Designing an appropriate cost recovery scheme for the DNCL process is another critical success factor.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14627 As Drew noted, most parties to the proceeding agree that the primary source of funding should be the parties whose activities drive these costs, namely the telemarketers, and we agree with that. It is the telemarketing industry whose actions are to be regulated.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14628 It is therefore appropriate that this industry be the primary source of recovery of these costs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14629 However, we also share the view expressed by a number of parties to the proceeding that the DNCL is a federal government initiative intended to benefit Canadian consumers. It therefore is entirely reasonable to expect the government to play a key role in the implementation and funding of such a project.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14630 In Public Notice 2006‑4 the Commission implicitly suggests that the DNCL operator would be self‑sustaining financially with a business model that requires the operator to assume significant financial risks. The list operator would be responsible for the costs of establishing and administering the DNCL, as well as the costs related to investigating breaches of the telemarketing rules.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14631 The Companies are deeply concerned that both this financial model and the expectation that the entire DNCL regime would be self‑sustaining financially are simply unrealistic from a business case perspective.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14632 First, let's consider the costs that will be incurred with the DNCL.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14633 As I mentioned before, there are specific costs to be incurred by the operator, but there are also other costs whose recovery needs need to be part of the overall system: one, the Commission's own incremental costs to the administration; consortium costs, if applicable; and finally, third party costs, if applicable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14634 I will discuss each of these in turn.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14635 The CRTC announced in the public notice that its own incremental costs of conducting this proceeding and implementing and enforcing the DNCL would be recovered only from the regulated telecom carriers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14636 As companies who engage from time to time in telemarketing, The Companies fully expect to pay their fair share of costs associated with the DNCL process. However, recovering the Commission's incremental costs associated with regulating telemarketing activities solely from regulated carriers is, in The Companies' view, highly inappropriate and is fundamentally bad public policy.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14637 The regulated telephone companies are not the parties giving rise to these costs, nor are they the beneficiaries of the telemarketing and DNCL rules. Nor are they the sole suppliers of telecom services to the telemarketing industry.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14638 Indeed, the casual relationship would be just as strong as if the Commission had announced in the public notice that it would recover its costs associated with the DNCL through its broadcasting fees.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14639 It would be much more appropriate for the Commission's costs to also be funded from the broader telemarketing industry. In fact, this approach would be consistent with Treasury Board's policy guidelines with respect to cost recovery.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14640 The Commission has expressed the view that a consortium would be the preferred vehicle through which the DNCL operator would be engaged. If this approach is ultimately adopted, there would also be consortium costs to be recovered. By the same logic, these costs would also be primarily recovered from the telemarketing industry.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14641 Certain third parties have asked as part of the DNCL implementation to take on functions in support of the DNCL regime. One specific example is that some parties have proposed that telephone companies modify their systems to establish a data feed to the DNCL operator of all telephone numbers that are disconnected from service. This information would be used to scrub the DNCL of numbers that are no longer in use.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14642 This specific case has been accepted by the Commission at this point, but if it is, parties who would be incurring one‑time and ongoing costs to support the DNCL should also be eligible to recover those costs through the DNCL cost recovery plan.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14643 In sum, we have the DNCL operators' costs, the Commission costs and, if applicable, those of the consortium and of a third party, all of which in principle should be recovered from the Canadian telemarketing industry.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14644 Is this a realistic model?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14645 The Gottlieb Report prepared for the Commission in 2005 estimates that the annual costs of the DNCL to range from 5.6 to $6.7 million. This includes estimates for all but the third party costs. There are also system start‑up costs which the Gottlieb Report puts at between 6.3 and $7.6 million.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14646 We are not intending to debate the reasonableness of these numbers in this forum for today's purposes. We are only observing that this is a significant price tag.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14647 The Companies are deeply concerned that the vision of a financially self‑sustaining DNCL process might not be realistic and that the cost recovery exercises will lead to, first, shortfalls in cost recovery by the DNCL operator and/or widespread non‑compliance by telemarketers in light of the level of fees necessary to be fully cost recovery.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14648 This is a concern with respect to recovering the recurring costs, as well as the initial start‑up costs for the DNCL system.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14649 Moreover, we are not convinced that a DNCL operator will be found that will be willing to assume the substantial financial risks associated with this uncertainty and the degree to which funding will materialize, most particularly due to the unknown level of demand that will be used to establish its rates.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14650 Unlike most Commission proceedings, it is this case that there is no single entity or well‑defined group of entities that will be underwriting DNCL costs. This is a function that the Commission foresees will be contracted out to a third party provider, probably a private sector entity that will quite reasonably expect to recover its own costs and earn a reasonable return on its investment.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14651 If the many parties to this proceeding, including The Companies, expect the costs turn out to be at a level that the telemarketing industry cannot support, it is our opinion that the success of the DNCL regime is at risk.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14652 As I noted earlier, The Companies are quite prepared to contribute their fair share to these costs as responsible members of the telemarketing industry. However, with respect, the responsibility lies with the Commission and the federal government to ensure that the financial viability of this government initiative to better regulate telemarketing activity so that the benefits of the DNCL can be delivered to all Canadians.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14653 The Companies encourage the Commission to seek a greater degree of involvement in the federal government and the DNCL implementation process, both in terms of ensuring that the Commission has the resources to properly oversee the implementation of the DNCL and providing sufficient funding from general revenues to support that process.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14654 This step is urgently required, in our respectful view, to give the DNCL process a fighting chance for success.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14655 I will now pass to Jenny Crowe.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14656 MS CROWE: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14657 We have used our time this morning to highlight a few issues that we feel are pivotal to the success of a national "do not call" list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14658 First, the need for an effective and consistent consumer awareness campaign that informs the public about the opportunities and the limitations of a national "do not call" list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14659 Second, our view that the costs of operating a "do not call" list are appropriately recovered from those that drive the need for the list and those that benefit from the list: telemarketers and the general public.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14660 And finally, our concerns that the federal government should be playing an active role in this initiative, both in terms of funding and as a key stakeholder in the "do not call" list regime.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14661 There are a few simple principles that underlie our positions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14662 First, the new rules should be symmetrically applied to all players involved in telemarketing, using only the minimal elements of regulation needed to ensure the effective and efficient operation of the "do not call" list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14663 Second, although we have not focused on the issue of enforcement in this presentation, we submit that enforcement activities, including the handling of complaints, investigations and applications, must be dealt with in a timely manner. While deadlines and time limits must of course guarantee the procedural rights of the affected parties, timely enforcement of the rules is essential to ensure that telemarketers adhere to the national "do not call" list and telemarketing rules and that the general public can place its confidence in the national "do not call" list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14664 Finally, and most importantly, we submit that the Commission must be mindful of the costs in developing, implementing and enforcing a national "do not call" list. These costs must be incurred prudently and monitored carefully.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14665 If the system becomes too complex, the costs risk exceeding what the telemarketing industry can reasonably tolerate and the entire "do not call" framework risks failure.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14666 A simple straightforward "do not call" list framework that is easy to use stands the best chance of keeping costs in check and of delivering the most effective service to the general public.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14667 Thank you for this opportunity to speak this morning. We would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14668 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, both for the presentation and for the very thorough written submission which is of great use to the Commission.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14669 Commissioner Duncan.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14670 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Good morning.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14671 I think that your comments are certainly excellent here this morning, and they carry through from your presentation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14672 I think that we all agree with you that it is critical to manage the public's expectation and that it is important with respect to the cost of that awareness campaign and that it be done adequately so that the public doesn't over‑expect, if I can use that word, what is being delivered.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14673 I think the whole issue of cost is obviously critical. I think at this point we are dealing with the hand that we have been dealt with, and I think probably the Chairman later on in his remarks may have some more comments with respect to the Commission and the dealings with Industry Canada to arrange for more funds and the likelihood of getting those funds and the timeliness of them, because issue at this point is getting this up and running.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14674 Obviously it has to be done correctly. We all want it to succeed. Everybody has a vested interest in seeing that it does. You point that out very well here in your remarks this morning.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14675 So we can talk about that too over the point of time of our discussion.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14676 Also, I think the Chairman will address the federal government's involvement to this point and what he sees it would be ongoing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14677 I will start with the questions that I have here.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14678 The first question relates to the comment that you make that the framework and regulations be implemented symmetrically ‑‑ we take that point ‑‑ and using only the minimal elements of regulations needed to achieve the social policy objectives relative to telemarketing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14679 You mentioned that this morning in your opening remarks, so that is obviously key to you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14680 I wonder if you would elaborate on what you would consider minimal elements of regulation, what you are contemplating when you make that statement.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14681 MR. WOODHEAD: If I understand your question correctly in terms of enforcement, I guess our position is that there is an element of proportionality here. It is almost a cautionary tale.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14682 The statutory scheme that is laid out provides for significant monetary penalties. What we are saying is that that is what it is, but the Commission has a long history of having a remedial toolbox, if you will, that falls far short of monetary penalties.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14683 It is really just encouraging the Commission, in developing its guidelines, to be mindful of the fact that there are thresholds. There are different levels of severity of transgressing or contravening the "do not call" list rules and the telemarketing rules.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14684 We spent a lot of time going through procedural rights where there are serious transgressions versus the procedural rights that might pertain to less serious transgressions. I think that is all we are trying to say: is to encourage you, in your deliberations in developing these guidelines, to be aware of this proportionality point.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14685 MS CROWE: If I could just expand ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14686 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Sure.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14687 MS CROWE: ‑‑ more generally in developing the rules, our comment that the rules should be symmetrically applied to all players and there should be the minimal elements of regulation, it ties into the whole idea of keeping it as simple as possible and restraining the costs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14688 If we start creating rules just for the sake of capturing any circumstance that possibly we could ever think of, you just end up with an overly complex system where the public doesn't know what to expect and costs have a risk of getting out of control.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14689 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: I take your point. That is very helpful.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14690 So keep it simple.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14691 MS CROWE: That's the message, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14692 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Don't over regulate it; thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14693 RCI in their submission have stated that the "do not call" list rule should only apply to consumers and should not prevent telemarketers from contacting businesses.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14694 As you acknowledge in your presentation, you are large telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14695 I am just wondering what your view is on that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14696 MR. COLLYER: We would actually support RCI's position.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14697 I think for interest again of keeping it simple, if a business were to enrol to the DNCL and put their number on the list, there would be no sort of up‑front check or validation to determine whether or not the number was a wireless number or a wireline number from the consumer segment or the business segment. We would just accept the number.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14698 Any consumer service provider ‑‑ I will say the Weed Man, looking to spray your lawn in the spring ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14699 I guess you can't do that in Ottawa, so maybe I could use a better example.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14700 MR. COLLYER: Work with me here.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14701 If the business number were on that list with the merge/purge, with the DNCL, it would be culled from that telemarketer's list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14702 What we would propose is that, for business‑to‑business marketing, where I am working for Rico Photocopiers and I want to knock on the door of the Commission's procurement officer and set up a meeting with him, that would not be considered a telemarketing call for the purpose of regulation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14703 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: So, really, it would only come into play ‑‑ and, as I am sure you have gotten the impression, we are reluctant to establish any more exemptions ‑‑ it would really come into play in the assessment of violations or the determination of violations.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14704 MR. COLLYER: Exactly. Or the definition of what is telemarketing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14705 Perhaps we would go and look at the definition of telemarketing and just say that it is a call to a consumer, rather than a call to a business.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14706 And given the fact that we have a three‑year review period built into this, perhaps we decide that we under‑regulate now and see if this emerges as an issue, and then, in three years' time, we sit back and have a second sober thought and propose what might be appropriate then, or not.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14707 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: That is certainly reasonable and follows along, I think, as well, with your suggestion of minimal regulation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14708 MR. COLLYER: Less is more.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14709 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14710 In discussing the length of time that the number should remain on the list, you proposed three years. We have been asking the other parties about the cost that would be involved in re‑registering consumers after the three‑year mark or the five‑year mark.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14711 You mentioned it in your comments this morning, and it was actually a question I have. It is, obviously, technically possible for the carriers to match up the numbers and eliminate the disconnected and the reassigned numbers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14712 Given that that is possible, and the list should be fairly accurate, I would like to think, would you agree that perhaps we should do what the U.K. has done and leave the consumer numbers on the lists indefinitely?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14713 MR. COLLYER: I don't think so. I will be honest, I am sort of ‑‑ I don't know what I am. I lie in among wolves here, because I am the marketing person sitting among my regulatory counterparts ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14714 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Stand up and be counted.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14715 MR. COLLYER: ‑‑ so I am a bit out of sorts this morning.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14716 From a marketing perspective, certainly three years is a long time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14717 For those of you in the Commission who know me, you may know that I have a consumer long distance background, particularly within the international long distance marketplace.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14718 The way rates are changing and price plans are changing and the benefits that we are able to provide to consumers are changing, what a customer may have said no to three years ago, they very much might be prepared to say yes to today.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14719 We actually have on our own "do not call" lists at Bell Canada a three‑year moratorium, and we have actually started calling customers once they have passed that three years, and, actually, we have a very surprising success rate. Probably about 85 percent of customers consent for us to continue to call them, just because that much time has passed and the offer that we are providing to them is relevant.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14720 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: If I could interrupt you for a second ‑‑ this is very interesting.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14721 When you call, do you start out by saying, "Your registry on our internal list has expired," or do you just start out with an offer?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14722 MR. COLLYER: No, absolutely. We acknowledge the fact that some time ago you were placed on a "do not call" list here at Bell Canada, and we respect that. It has a three‑year lifespan, and we would like to talk to you, because a lot of things have happened in the three years since we haven't talked to you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14723 About 85 percent of customers actually consent to the call and remain on our telemarketing lists.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14724 The other 15 percent, for the most part ‑‑ I mean, no one is nasty. No tele‑terrorists. They politely decline and say, "Hi. Can I re‑register for another three years," and we will do that on the spot.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14725 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Excellent. Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14726 I have a few questions with respect to specific things in your written submission. I just want some clarification.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14727 In paragraph 24, regarding registration in the national "do not call" database, you suggested an automated process via a toll‑free number or over the Internet. I am wondering if you considered the need for an operator‑assisted option.
‑‑‑ Pause / Pause
LISTNUM 1 \l 14728 MR. COLLYER: As has just been whispered in my ear, it is in play at CISC right now, and cost is a consideration.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14729 Obviously, with my little spiel about cost, that is something that we are obviously looking at trying to contain.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14730 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Would you agree that it is something that is likely going to have to be an unavoidable cost?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14731 Maybe you want to wait until you finish your discussions at CISC, but ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14732 MR. COLLYER: It is on the table.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14733 We keep the registration quite simple. We are proposing for it just to be the telephone number. Really, you can see it being accomplished in a 45‑second IVR introduction, where the recorded message says, "Select English; select French" ‑‑ an introduction with an instruction as to what to do, enter in your telephone number, it is confirmed back to you, and that is the call.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14734 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: I know that it seems very simple, I just think that there are consumers out there who might be intimidated by it ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14735 MR. COLLYER: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14736 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: ‑‑ and who like the comfort of talking to a person.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14737 Although, everybody is getting conditioned to deal with the other.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14738 In paragraph 27 you indicate that all information regarding the registrant should be destroyed when the telephone number is removed from the "do not call" database.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14739 I was wondering if you think we need a delay period equal to the number of days allowed for filing a complaint before we delete that information.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14740 I am assuming that the information would have the ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14741 You don't disagree with that?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14742 MR. COLLYER: Yes, I think that is entirely reasonable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14743 I think, really, our concern is that we just don't want to have big, giant data farms of telephone numbers that are no longer valid or relevant.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14744 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: On my next point you will probably give the same answer, then, because ‑‑ well, maybe not.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14745 In paragraph 28 you suggest that the registration system should incorporate the capability of listed persons and organizations to update their information and de‑list themselves at any time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14746 Again I am thinking, just so we have the information necessary, an audit trail, in the event of a complaint, or an investigation, that we should allow some time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14747 You don't disagree?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14748 MR. COLLYER: No, that is perfectly reasonable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14749 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14750 At paragraph 47 you indicate your support ‑‑ and you have emphasized that again here today ‑‑ in the interests of regulatory symmetry, for the continuation of the requirement on all telemarketers to identify the person or organization on whose behalf the call is being made at the beginning of the call.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14751 You indicate that you support that. As your reference, you mention section 41.7 and the requirement that it places on exempted parties to identify both the purpose of the call and the name of the organization on whose behalf they are calling.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14752 But in your paragraph 46 you only refer to the requirement to identify the person, not the purpose.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14753 Was that just an oversight? Are you in agreement that they should both be the same?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14754 MR. PALMER: I think the distinction in paragraph 46 is that we are talking about the current Commission requirements, which say that you identify who is calling. There is not a specific Commission requirement today to identify the purpose of the call, as distinct from the legislation that will be coming into effect.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14755 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: So then you would support, in making the call, that the person identify the purpose of the call at the beginning?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14756 MR. PALMER: Absolutely.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14757 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14758 THE CHAIRPERSON: For the record, the answer was in the affirmative.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14759 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: You indicate in your submission at paragraph 52 that the provision of contact numbers should be given only on request. That all seems reasonable, that whole discussion, but I wondered if you felt that the number given should be toll‑free. You didn't address that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14760 MR. COLLYER: It is our best practice at Bell Canada. That is what we already do, and I think we could certainly align with that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14761 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: The next point, with respect to the emergency lines ‑‑ and I may not have understood the technical implications of this, but at any rate, at paragraph 83 you made what I thought was a strong case for ensuring that the "do not call" list is capable of including entire NPA NXX codes in the "do not call" list, as required.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14762 You end by proposing that this capability would be available on an optional basis. That sort of left me with the impression that maybe it wasn't all that important.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14763 I am wondering, if the cost and complexity to include this functionality is high, would you agree that it could be dispensed with?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14764 MR. COLLYER: I think, really, what we were trying to get at here is that, as telcos, we reserve blocks of numbers or ranges of numbers or specific NPA NXX combinations as conversion numbers or backdoor numbers to get into emergency service providers. We have these banks of telephone numbers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14765 I think what we are looking at here is just a way, with the DNCL, to add them to the list and block them off en masse. Whether we do that serially, one after another, or we develop a system that can block out an entire NPA NXX combination, I think that really comes down to CISC and actually deciding whether this is going to be bigger than a bread basket and smaller than a Volvo.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14766 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Smaller than...?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14767 MR. COLLYER: A Volvo.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14768 MR. COLLYER: I don't want to use the gun registry here at all.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14769 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: No. Thanks very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14770 You would like the flexibility built in. That is your point, and you are obviously not expecting it to break the bank to do it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14771 MR. COLLYER: No.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14772 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: At paragraph 33 of your submission you recommend that the data in the national database should be available on the most disaggregated means possible in order to facilitate the operation of regionally and locally based businesses.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14773 I am wondering if you have any other ideas, any other suggestions, on ways in which smaller operators could be accommodated to ensure their viability.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14774 Here I am thinking of a usage‑based fee structure, possibly tiered, to apply lower access fees to companies below a specified gross income level.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14775 You may have some other ideas, or not agree with that one.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14776 MR. COLLYER: I think that is quite reasonable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14777 One of the other submissions that was brought forward yesterday by Mr. Obermeyer, which I thought was quite interesting, was the number of records that are being cleaned in terms of the size of the telemarketing list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14778 I don't know how you would police that, if you are giving us access to the DNCL data itself and we are doing our own merge purging.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14779 I think that a scalable fee structure based on either the size of the company that is making the calls or the size of the culling that they are doing is entirely relevant.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14780 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Could I get you to go back, because I was very interested in his comments yesterday, too. Could you explain that again?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14781 MR. COLLYER: One of the points that he was bringing forward, which I found quite interesting ‑‑ I don't think it is workable, but I find it very interesting ‑‑ is that the telemarketers submit their lists to the DNCL operator, the operator does the expunging for the telemarketer, and then hands back the clean list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14782 That way you actually see how many records the telemarketer is actually putting forward.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14783 If you wanted to go on a fee per record basis, that seems to be a very logical way to do it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14784 I just don't think, in terms of trying to keep it simple, and complexity, and everything else, that that would be feasible.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14785 You heard Rogers yesterday saying that they are making in the order of 2.5 million telemarketing calls a month, which quite surprised me.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14786 You look at us as a series of telephone companies here, and we are probably making that and a little bit more, and we are just a small wedge of the industry.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14787 I don't personally think that that would be workable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14788 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you. I am sure that CISC will be dealing with all of this stuff anyway, but thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14789 Do you agree with the CMA's position that telemarketers should be able to contact a consumer by telephone if the marketer has received a consumer consent to do so, even if he or she is on the "do not call" list?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14790 We have been asking this question about the others, so I would ask you to also include what you consider to be consumer consent.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14791 MR. COLLYER: I think that if we have express consent from a consumer, that should be allowed, and valuable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14792 In terms of recorded forms of express consent, the Commission has a series of valid forms that they have mandated to us as carriers. I think that any or all of those would be entirely appropriate.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14793 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: We did hear from some of the parties, I think, that they thought it might be unreasonable to always have written express consent.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14794 MR. COLLYER: The challenge with written express consent ‑‑ and I certainly find this in my office ‑‑ is, where do you store all of this stuff.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14795 And how do you access all of this stuff on a reasonable basis.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14796 Just given the fact that we are very much trying to move to electronic and Internet and IVR, if there are ways of positively identifying the user and recording their consent and storing it electronically, I would much prefer to do that, rather than keeping track of pieces of paper.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14797 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Of course, the big thing is, as the Chairman mentioned yesterday, because the process is going to be complaint driven, if there is no issue, it will not even come up on the radar screen.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14798 MR. PALMER: If I could add to Scott's comment, the Commission has approved, in the past, non‑written forms of express consent with respect to, for example, the disclosure of confidential customer information.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14799 So that suite of mechanisms, we think, would be appropriate in this context, as well.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14800 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: I'm sorry, the microphones are kind of ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14801 THE CHAIRPERSON: He was saying that the Commission has, in the past, accepted unwritten forms of consent, such as in the additional usage for personal information.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14802 That is not the happiest example, by the way, but, in any event, the point has been taken.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14803 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you. I will discuss that further with you later, so that I can get the details.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14804 MR. McARTHUR: I would add that if the consent you are considering for this purpose is related to the "do not call" list, I think that is quite different from the consent of disclosure of confidential customer information.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14805 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: No, I think the consent was specifically with respect to overriding the "do not call" list registration.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14806 MR. McARTHUR: In that context, since it is related to the "do not call" list registry, it may not be aligned with the regime around confidential customer information but take into account the sensitivity which may be different in the "do not call" list regime, and therefore other terms of consent, such as are available under PIPEDA, might be the appropriate level of consent.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14807 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Available under...?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14808 MR. McARTHUR: Under PIPEDA.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14809 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes, all right. Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14810 MR. McARTHUR: The federal privacy legislation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14811 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14812 I am having trouble hearing, I'm sorry.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14813 Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14814 I am going back to your submission again, because there was a little ambiguity and I would like to have it clarified.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14815 I will give you a chance to turn to the paragraphs now.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14816 At paragraph 72 you indicate that telemarketing agencies should not be required to maintain their own "do not call" list. Instead, the rules should clearly identify that it is the organization on whose behalf the calls are being made or the fax is being sent that is responsible for adhering to the requirements related to both the national "do not call" list and individual "do not call" lists.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14817 Then, at paragraph 133, you state that:
"Undoubtedly, the telemarketing rules must apply to individual telemarketers who conduct telemarketing in Canada on behalf of an organization."
LISTNUM 1 \l 14818 Could you clarify your position with respect to whether it is the telemarketers, the company engaging the telemarketers, or both, who should be responsible for complying with the rules?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14819 MR. WOODHEAD: Paragraph 133 is simply a recital of the legislation which establishes it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14820 We have set out there, in section 72.02, vicarious liability.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14821 I think that it applies, actually, to both the organization on behalf of whom, and to the telemarketer. The telemarketer has to comply, as well, with the rules.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14822 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: So both is your position.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14823 MR. WOODHEAD: Yes, both.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14824 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14825 THE CHAIRPERSON: Actually, if I have understood correctly, Mr. Woodhead, your position is that this is what the law says.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14826 MR. WOODHEAD: This is what the law says, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14827 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: And that is your position, as well?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14828 MR. WOODHEAD: That's correct.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14829 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Obviously, you are not going to skirt the law, but...
LISTNUM 1 \l 14830 MR. WOODHEAD: No. That bus has left the station.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14831 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: At the time of filing your initial submission you indicated that you didn't have sufficient data to conclude that consumers considered voicecasting calls to be a problem. However, you did indicate that to reduce the possibility of voicecasting emerging as a significant consumer issue, they should not be allowed ‑‑ or that the "do not call" list rule should apply.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14832 I am just wondering if you have any more data since your filing that might support that, anything more.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14833 MR. COLLYER: No. No. The position stands.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14834 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes, that is good. We were just looking for more substance, that is all.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14835 If two companies that have an existing business relationship market jointly and one company has an existing business relationship with a customer, should that existing business relationship extend to the company that doesn't have an existing relationship with the customer?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14836 MR. WOODHEAD: Could you repeat that again?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14837 THE CHAIRPERSON: It is you and Air Canada, and the question is, if Air Canada has a business relationship with the customer but you do not, should you be permitted to assume ‑‑ because you have made a formal joint marketing proposal, should you be capable of assuming that business relationship with Air Canada?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14838 Is it transferable to you by means of a contract or of some sort of formal agreement which could be shown to us subsequently if there were a complaint?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14839 MS CROWE: I think ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14840 MR. WOODHEAD: I am not sure I have a clean answer to that. I will just try and throw out a couple ‑‑ it is a good scenario and perhaps Drew might want to comment on this after I try and butcher it.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14841 MR. WOODHEAD: Air Canada is a good one because it runs an affinity program with all kinds of partners, as you point out, joint marketing efforts through its Aeroplan subsidiary and I believe there was a privacy case, which is why I will defer to Drew on this, before the Privacy Commissioner.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14842 In an example ‑‑ it is not cleancut because in an example like that, people that sign up for Aeroplan, you know, sort of ‑‑ it is assumed that they accept that there are these partnership arrangements. So in some ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14843 I think you would have to take each case on its facts and try and assess, and again, it would come to the enforcement part where you are trying to make a decision about that. In some cases it may be reasonable, in other cases it may not, and it would be up to you to make those determinations.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14844 I mean there are other examples as well, I think, where ‑‑ and this is embedded in PIPEDA the sort of group of companies notion. It is in examples where ‑‑ you know, our companies have a variety of subsidiaries under one brand, be it Mobility, be it whatever.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14845 I mean Rogers, just for an example, use Rogers. There is Rogers Cable, Rogers this, Rogers that, but it is all branded under one, and I think that those ‑‑ in circumstances where there are clear linkages and where you are under some sort of common brand or affinity program, that should probably ‑‑ it should at least instruct what the Commission would ultimately do at the adjudication phase.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14846 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: I think that is a reasonable recommendation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14847 MR. WOODHEAD: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14848 MR. McARTHUR: If I could just add to that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14849 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Sure.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14850 MR. McARTHUR: I think it may be in the interest of simplicity for the Commission to resist determining all the potential permutations of what business relationships may be appropriate, and although it is not necessary helpful for business based on a complaint‑based system such as we have under the federal privacy regime, it does give business guidance when complaints arise and rulings are determined as to whether or not perhaps a business affinity relationship was reasonable under the circumstances.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14851 Those words "reasonable under the circumstances," of course, are in that legislation but I think the Commission would be well advised to keep it as simple as possible and perhaps make those determinations on complaint‑based situations, acknowledging, of course, that at the same time a complaint‑based‑driven system is often driven for means other than perhaps being offside with DNCL rules as opposed to a customer situation that Rogers commented on yesterday.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14852 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14853 THE CHAIRPERSON: I just note, Mr. McArthur that we have been very specifically asked to address all of those kinds of detailed questions by a number of other people who have appeared before us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14854 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Just carrying that further, if we take an example of two companies that have an existing business relationship and market jointly and one is a charity, exempt as a charity because it qualifies under the Income Tax Act, should that exemption apply to the other party under the DNCL rules?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14855 MR. McARTHUR: I don't think we have an opinion on that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14856 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: That is fine, thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14857 At paragraph 26 of your submission, you indicate clearly there:
"...no longer remains any technical impediment to fulfilling the requirement that display the numbers."
(As read)
LISTNUM 1 \l 14858 What cost would a telemarketer face in upgrading the services that do not have technical impediments to displaying dollar information?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14859 MR. WOODHEAD: I occasionally play a technical guy on TV.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14860 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: So there will be a new movie ‑‑
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14861 MR. WOODHEAD: Yes, I am McGyver. I have this pen and you should see what it can do.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14862 MR. WOODHEAD: The standard message set ‑‑ like you are asking whether a telemarketer would ‑‑ there would be a technical impediment to them delivering the number and caller identification to a consumer or customer?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14863 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Exactly, yes. Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14864 MR. WOODHEAD: Someone else may want to correct me here but the standard message set that is delivered by all telephone companies includes the Annie and the alley, the number and caller identification information.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14865 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14866 MR. WOODHEAD: The Commission has mandated that as part of the technical interconnection standards and we all deliver it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14867 There are certain examples, I believe, where that is compromised, and I don't want to ‑‑ I mean everybody is trunc‑side interconnected largely.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14868 There are some still line‑side interconnected where that information wouldn't be passed on and there are certain circumstances where the caller is behind ‑‑ this is going back ‑‑ a key system or a private branch exchange where there are many phones behind one central switchboard number.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14869 So yes, it is possible that that could be a problem but the vast majority of times, like 99 per cent of the time, you are going to pass the standard message set and it will show up on the consumer's phone line.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14870 I am sorry but that is basically ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14871 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: So the current reads ‑‑ I don't know is this is the exact wording but at any rate it says that:
"Both voice and fax telemarketing state that a call must display the originating telephone number of another number where the telemarketer can be reached except where number display is not available for technical reasons."
(As read)
LISTNUM 1 \l 14872 So it probably should remain worded that way because there is some possible exception or just ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14873 MR. WOODHEAD: That is right. There are ‑‑ it is not a large number of cases but there should be some out for "I just can't deliver that information" or they can't ‑‑ I am sorry, the telemarketer can't deliver that information.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14874 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: And, of course, that could also be dealt with ‑‑ if we have the same rule, we could always build that into the guidelines if we were assessing a complaint?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14875 MR. WOODHEAD: Correct.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14876 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thanks.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14877 MR. PALMER: If I could just add to Mr. Woodhead's comment though.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14878 I think we looked at the U.S. example as well where the telemarketing rules in the U.S. do not allow that kind of exception. We understand the logic being that there are widely available interconnection arrangements that telemarketers can use so that this information is delivered with every call.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14879 I think the suggestion in our comments was that the Commission should consider taking away that exception so that telemarketers can't hide behind one of these odd technical cases and thereby not be readily traced.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14880 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: That is very helpful, thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14881 You recommended:
"The Commission not require telemarketers to have live answering staff in place during business hours for the purpose of seller‑specific internal do not call list registries and to handle complaints as the cost may be prohibitive." (As read)
LISTNUM 1 \l 14882 Instead, you recommended:
"The Commission mandate the requirement that telemarketers have in place adequately scaled equipment and facilities to record requests to be delisted."
LISTNUM 1 \l 14883 I just wonder if you would explain what "adequately scaled equipment and facilities" would be need to record requests to be registered or delisted and to handle complaints and how such a system would work.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14884 MR. PALMER: I think here we are talking about the scale of the telemarketing operation. If you are, you know, Mom and Bob's Telemarketing Services and you have got 20 reps and 20 desks, you know, chances are your receptionist can actually take care of that or a voicemailbox can take care of that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14885 But if you are a large, sophisticated telemarketer ‑‑ and Bell Canada is a really good example of this. We actually use a number that actually terminates inbound and a live answer centre from 8:00 in the morning till 9:30 at night where we are telemarketing just because of the volumes of calls and callbacks that we get.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14886 Because of actually the call display requirement, sometimes we are calling, we don't get people at home, they see the number on their display and they actually want to find out who it was that was trying to track them down during the day. So we do that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14887 So our position here is that we just think based on the size of the telemarketer that they have the appropriate ability to answer and/or record those requests for DNCL because I think, you know, we have all run into instances where we have called back a telemarketing callback number and ended up in a voicemailbox which invariably was full.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14888 There is nothing more maddening than to try and return a call and leave a message and "this voicemail box is full." So what we are trying to do is ask to have the direction that the telemarketer actually is able to actually answer those calls.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14889 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Just on that point, when you call ‑‑ when you are doing telemarketing and you call, what would show up on my phone, just your phone number or Bell or the company you are calling from or are you only calling for your own services?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14890 MR. COLLYER: Well actually depending on what services you subscribe to at home, if you subscribe to number display only, then you would only get the 1‑800 number. Otherwise, it would be 1‑800 and Bell Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14891 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Okay, because I do get names but sometimes I think I get calls where I only get a number.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14892 MR. COLLYER: Actually, depending ‑‑ I am assuming you ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14893 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: I am an Aliant customer.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14894 MR. COLLYER: Oh, you are an Aliant customer.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14895 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14896 MR. COLLYER: Okay. I can't speak to Aliant's technology but if it is similar to how we run at Bell ‑‑ to what Ted was saying ‑‑ on the record that is being sent or on the information that is being sent with the call, the number is there, and then we actually, while the call is being placed to your home or ringing at your home, go out to another database and match the number with the name and then bring the name into the call.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14897 So sometimes you are very fast to answer the phone.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14898 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14899 MR. COLLYER: I am not sure ‑‑ we will leave you with that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14900 You will actually pick up before the name display is actually provided to you and in some cases, you know, database congestion or what have you, we just aren't technically able to provide you with a name at that time or in some cases there isn't a name associated with the telephone number from which the call is being made.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14901 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Okay. So a telemarketer could leave a message on my phone and I would have a number and no name; is that not likely?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14902 MR. COLLYER: Unlikely potentially.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14903 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes, thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14904 With respect to a company‑specific do not call request made during voice telemarketing calls, you agree with the Commission's finding in 2004‑35 that the do not call request should be processed at the time of the call, with one amendment, that:
"The telemarketer should be permitted to validate that the do not call request is made by an authorized member of the household or business in question." (As read)
LISTNUM 1 \l 14905 I am just wondering how long you thought that should be allowed to validate that and if you couldn't ‑‑ well first, I guess I would like to know how you would anticipate what process it would be to validate it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14906 MR. COLLYER: Well, in the case of Bell Canada, when we are talking with a customer, we will actually create a service order on their profile, placing the telemarketing restriction on profile. Anytime that we amend the customer's profile, we have to make sure that we are speaking with an authorized decision‑maker for the account. So ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14907 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: So right on the call, you would do it?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14908 MR. COLLYER: Yes, I am sorry, it is done live on the call.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14909 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Oh, it is. So there is no delay then?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14910 MR. COLLYER: No, no.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14911 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14912 MR. COLLYER: I just verify who it is that you say you are and we have a friendly little chat and then we put you on an exclusion.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14913 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14914 The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association proposed that complaints should be registered within 14 days and then we have sort of at the opposite extreme, I guess, the CMA‑proposed 60 days for registering complaints.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14915 Do you have a view on the number of days that should be?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14916 MR. McARTHUR: We have no opinion in terms of the time frame.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14917 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: I noticed some people made the argument that it should be sooner than later because people's memories were ‑‑ would you agree with that?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14918 MR. COLLYER: It is common sense.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14919 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14920 MR. COLLYER: Yes. I don't think that I am going to receive a telemarketing call and then go on vacation and then, you know, remember to call back six weeks later ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14921 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: And complain.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14922 MR. COLLYER: ‑‑ after I come back. Yes.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14923 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Okay. All right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14924 MR. COLLYER: I have a better union.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 14925 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: If the do not call list operator is mandated to investigate violations to telemarketing rules outside of the do not call list rules ‑‑ so that would be the other telemarketing rules ‑‑ or for exempt parties ‑‑ the other telemarketing rules as well ‑‑ how should he be compensated?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14926 MR. McARTHUR: I am sorry, can you repeat the question please?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14927 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Sure.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14928 If the do not call list operator is mandated to investigate violations of the telemarketing rules outside of the do not call list rules, so the other telemarketing rules, or maybe they would be the other rules as they apply to exempt parties as well, how should he be compensated?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14929 Because he is going to be compensated, at a minimum, for the do not call list registry through the fees or however that is determined.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14930 But how do you think he should be compensated for this factor? The exempt parties, for example, may not even be paying a fee.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14931 MR. McARTHUR: One moment.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14932 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Sure.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14933 MR. WOODHEAD: Okay. So if ‑‑ I think the short answer is that they would have to be compensated by the same means as the people that are, you know, causing the issue, through recurring fees. However you spread it out across all telemarketers, whatever, it would have to come out of that recurring fee or cost recovery.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14934 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Because we weren't, for example ‑‑ and that is not to say we won't but ‑‑ contemplating that the exempt parties would pay a fee but maybe we would have a rate table that ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14935 MR. WOODHEAD: Oh, okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14936 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Maybe we would have a separate rate table that would apply to an exempt party in those circumstances.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14937 MR. WOODHEAD: The issues of cost recovery are ‑‑ that will be a struggle. You are talking now ‑‑ I am sorry because I think I misunderstood in part. Now, you are talking about where exempt parties violate the telemarketing rules ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14938 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: The other rules.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14939 MR. WOODHEAD: ‑‑ at large ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14940 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14941 MR. WOODHEAD: ‑‑ other than the do not call list rules?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14942 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Yes. Mm‑hmm. Because we ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14943 MR. WOODHEAD: I suppose you could say that the do not call list ‑‑ I mean I could throw out to you that the do not call list operator doesn't do that, that that just remains resident ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14944 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Well, that is an option.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14945 MR. WOODHEAD: ‑‑ with the Commission, which would ‑‑ in the keep it simple thing gets you out of having to deal with the cost recovery for a particular kind of complaint and the Commission's base budget and its fee regime and so forth would accommodate that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14946 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you, that is fine.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14947 I will ask you this. I don't know if it is likely that you would have an answer and don't feel like you have to answer it if you don't.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14948 But Contact New Brunswick, their big concern was how much it was going to cost a small operator. I debated marking this question off but I thought you would have ‑‑ as a supplier of equipment and telephony services, what would you estimate the cost would be for a new business or a business that hadn't previously been required to adhere to the do not call list to set up?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14949 We heard some discussion yesterday about ‑‑ the Contact New Brunswick representative actually mentioned $25,000 was his experience. He was also a telemarketer for the hardware and software. Do you have an idea what ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14950 MR. McARTHUR: I was a bit unclear as to the reference made by Contact New Brunswick because it seemed to me he was thinking if he was an operations individual in his organization, to make a call to someone, he would have to screen those calls using the system whether or not that call was a telemarketing call. I was a bit confused by his information.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14951 Again, in the interest of simplicity, I would think in that case it just be left to the reasonableness of the circumstances and up to the determination of the small business what worked for them, and they may want to work without paper driven lists, likely not feasible in the realm, so it may be just the set‑up of being able to down load an appropriate set of numbers in their particular market‑ place. And I am thinking more of a small business who is just setting up doing some minor calling.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14952 So, again, no comment on the specific costs and that be left up to the business case of the individual putting together the proposal.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14953 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you. This goes back to the costs and how we are going to cover the bill, but in paragraph 51 of the Public Notice, the Commission noted and you've touched on this already, of course, noted that it proposes to use its normal budgetarian cost recovery process to fund the additional costs associated with the DNCL. That's in paragraph 51 of the Public Notice.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14954 This would entail charging those telecom carriers that are subject to fees as we discussed earlier, as you mentioned.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14955 The Commission has reviewed all the comments received from interested parties regarding the funding of the costs and the comments received from the companies indicate that the costs of regulation whenever possible, should be borne by the parties whose activities give rise to the costs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14956 Specifically, it was suggested that the CRTC find a mechanism to charge telemarketers for these additional costs. The Commission continues to examine all funding options. However, that being said, we have to move things forward.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14957 To recover our costs, what would you think if the CRTC were to consider allowing the filing of a tariff which would permit Telcos to recover the additional CRTC fees associated with the do not call list from telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14958 MR. McARTHUR: If I understand correctly, you are proposing then ‑‑ your question relates to the CRTC being able to charge a tariff or the Telcos to apply to the Commission for approval of a tariff that it could then charge to telemarketers?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14959 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Exactly.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14960 MR. McARTHUR: For recovery of fee. My initial response to that is that it's a difficult workable situation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14961 Again, it is the ‑‑ given that it would be the requirement to use the DNCL to operate a telemarketing entity, it would be much preferable to have those who give rise to telemarketing through that mechanism and accessing the list, to be the ones who would pay for the information in order to carry out the DNCL guidelines.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14962 Putting the Telcos in the position that a tax collector and remitter is probably not a preferred position from our perspective.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14963 MR. PALMER: If I could just add to Mr. McArthur's comment as well, two top of mind challenges occurred to me as well.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14964 First of the Telcos are not the only suppliers to telemarketers as we heard, for example, from the gentleman from Contact New Brunswick who uses NIPE service for his telef. needs, not sure how you touch those people. And again, going back to the DNCL or access in the DNCL as your focal point for collecting the fees I think is probably a little bit cleaner.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14965 The second issue that again top of mind strike me is I don't think as Telcos we necessarily know when one of our customer buying services from us is going to be using that service for telemarketing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14966 Telemarketing isn't a specific class of service or there is no unique services that we provide to telemarketers, so like just identifying the players could be a challenge.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14967 MR. WOODHEAD: Sorry; the specifics of it are ‑‑ to follow on Dave's point ‑‑ you have resellers who don't file tariffs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14968 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14969 MR. WOODHEAD: So, that's a downstream use of a facility that we have no idea of what that person is doing with it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14970 It also touches on as with CLECs that don't have tariffs of that sort. They have inter‑connection tariff. So. you would need to deal with that because as Dave points out, we have no way of knowing what I ‑‑ somebody orders up a DS‑0 or a T‑1 or something and we have no idea what they are doing with it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14971 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14972 THE CHAIRMAN: Just to follow on that first point. You've made very compelling arguments in that parameter and we appreciate them. The question was never whether there should be no cost to telemarketers to access the bank.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14973 The question applies to those costs which at the moment appear to be in a kind of legal limbo, that is to say the costs that the Commission occasions in the start‑up and continuing operation and the recovery of that portion of the total costs, but that doesn't mean that the ‑‑ it doesn't again say in anyway the points you've made.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14974 But in that regard, let's suppose that the commission found itself in an awkward position and we could discuss it more, but just while we are on it, once suggestion I think it was from Shaw, was that the contributions or the incremental contribution by carriers in the current budgeting relationship of fee pay, fee relationship we have, could be regarded as a credit against draw‑downs for the telemarketing operations of the companies and I just wonder whether you would have any interest at all in that or whether you think it's at all feasible or maybe there are some other compelling arguments against it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14975 MR. WOODHEAD: I don't think we've had an opportunity to sort of think that through. But just so I understand because I would like to think it through, and I wasn't here to hear what Shaw said, so ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14976 THE CHAIRMAN: They weren't here; it's in their written submission.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14977 MR. WOODHEAD: It's basically a set‑up against our fees otherwise payable. Is that ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14978 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14979 MR. WOODHEAD: I think we need to think that through.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14980 THE CHAIRMAN: It was in Shaw's written submission. They didn't appear before us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14981 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Would you like to take an undertaking to submit your comments on that, then? It would be useful to have that, I think.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14982 MR. WOODHEAD: I can take an undertaking, I guess. We'll have to think it through.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14983 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: No, no. I appreciate that, that's good.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14984 In your submission at paragraph 31, you make some detailed recommendations with regards to conditions that must be satisfied before a party is granted access to the do not call list, which I thought were excellent.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14985 I am just wondering in the instance of third party providers such as call centres, ad agencies, call brokers, if they should be allowed to access the system on behalf of another party in order to scrub the list, if that access should be granted and how it should be controlled?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14986 I would expect your recommendation is that they would have to at least sign a similar undertaking as to what you are suggesting other parties would, but ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 14987 MR. COLLYER: We would agree with that. I mean ‑‑ Bell Canada, I mean and then I think most of the companies here, we actually do most of our own, you know, list preparation and scrabbling it and marge projecting and everything else and we send the list out to our in‑house providers or to our out‑source providers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14988 You know, other operations, other operators may actually decide to out‑source all of that and I mean, we've heard from Rogers yesterday, saying that they were using a third party vendor, so I think that makes complete sense.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14989 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Just to clarify, I just want to make sure I understood. You only telemarket your own services at this point? You don't telemarket for any other companies?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14990 MR. COLLYER: No, no.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14991 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: And this is my last question ‑‑ two of them actually. The Union des consommateurs suggested that the Commission should require telephone service providers to distribute four times a year an insert with the information on the do not call list rules, the exemptions, the complaint process and that the information should also be provided in the white pages.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14992 Could we have your comments on whether you think that's practical?
LISTNUM 1 \l 14993 MR. COLLYER: Excuse me. I think, dealing with the white pages first, we are, as companies, all worried about deforesting the planet and in printing these books, if we could accommodate it with our, you know, changing page counts and rearranging some of the other mandatory messages that we have got there, I think that's reasonable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14994 We certainly are, you know, worried to adding to page count and particularly as well, I mean, the directory is, you know, less and less becoming a relevant communication vehicle as more companies or, you know, customers are using on‑line services like Canada 411.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14995 I mean, personally, I am actually responsible for a relationship with WPG and Directories and as the product sponsor, I can't tell you within the last two years when I have looked at a directory other than perhaps the glance for the terms of service on occasion.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14996 With respect to bill stuffers, again it's probably a low impact communication vehicle. Our hope would be that we have got something, you know, broader out there that has more noise. I think one of the things that we can do and I think you have seen us do this with respect to local competition and local competition awareness is the short information message that we put on the bill and there is actually a mandatory Commission message that's on there right now talking about local competition and directing customers to visit the Commission's web site and the fact sheet with respect to local competition that's there, that might be more appropriate.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14997 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14998 MR. COLLYER: Yes. Interestingly again, it saves... saves papers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 14999 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: No and I appreciate. Those are all helpful comments.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15000 With regards to the presentation yesterday by the Consumer's Association, how would you like to respond to their statement or how would you respond to their statement that ‑‑ and maybe I'll just quote it exactly because I don't want to misstate it. I am sure you heard it. They said :
"Let it never be forgotten that residential rate payers paid for the building of the networks over which telemarketers now exercise their dubious trade calls..."
LISTNUM 1 \l 15001 ‑‑ and you don't have to comment on that part.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
"... calls therefore to fund the do not call list from subscribers constitute double taking from rate payers and are unjustified, the do not call list should never cost the residential subscriber a penny."
LISTNUM 1 \l 15002 And I would like to give you a chance go comment if you are interested in commenting on that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15003 MR. McARTHUR: So, can we really comment on the first part then?
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15004 MR. McARTHUR: As we pointed out in our submissions, there is the cost of consumer awareness which should be, as we have indicated, a much broader with the engagement of the federal government and other stay colder parties, as it relates to the telecommunications infrastructure again, we don't control the telecommunications infrastructure that is used by telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15005 In fact, it was Contact New Brunswick that said yesterday that they were a fully IP‑based telecommunications operation. So, I don't think that rings through in today's market‑place for the tools available to telemarketers for processing their trade.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15006 COMMISSIONER DUNCAN: Thank you. Those are my questions, Mr. Chairman.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15007 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Langford.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15008 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15009 I wanted to concentrate on enforcement and perhaps respond to Ms Crowe's call for timely enforcement, but before I do this, just a couple of little clean‑up questions in my own mind, having listened to your exchange with Commissioner Duncan, and having read some of the other submissions and heard some of the other submissions made earlier to us in the last couple of days.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15010 The first one is about just a general idea of who could act as an operator. There are ‑‑ in any number of submissions there is a notion that there could be a conflict, that almost anybody that... they are not specific, but they sort of tend to say almost anybody we can think of that you could name is an operator, would be in a conflict of interest because they are in other aspects a telemarketing one assumes or whatever.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15011 Who do you think, in your knowledge of this subject, which you people have been batting around in various commissions for a lot longer than most, who comes to top of mind as sort of possible candidates to be an operator, to be the operator of the do not call list? Who could do that?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15012 MR. WOODHEAD: I mean, the usual suspects, EDS, CGI, IBM, some other firm that has some database experience that wants to get a return investment for doing the investigations. I mean it could be any number of people.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15013 I mean, in the other kinds of databases that have been set up, we have had huge back in the mist of time, Lockheed Martin was interested in the LNP database.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15014 The portable contribution database is done by a small Ottawa accounting firm that it will have some sort of Excel spreadsheet on steroids. It depends, you know ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15015 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Well, let's take the Welch's example, the Welch's accounting firm in Ottawa that's doing the contribution and they seem to be doing a fine job, we don't hear any complaints about it. But then, they also have to be policemen, so then we move into a whole other world.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15016 I mean, even in your own submission in paragraph 97, you say :
"The role of the DNCL operator, simply stated, is to manage the DNCL database, investigate complaints and issue notices."
LISTNUM 1 \l 15017 So, they administer and they police and then I guess we go in for the kill at the end, hand out the penalties, anything from warnings and hugs and whatever and counselling to ‑‑ short of capital punishment, I suppose, depending on who you listen to.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15018 So, any ideas there as to who could fill? I mean, we talk about this thing as though we all know who we have in mind, but who do you have in mind?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15019 MR. WOODHEAD: I mean, I take your point. I don't think it's that big a deal.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15020 I had ‑‑ like in a previous incarnation, I had ‑‑ was involved with a private sector firm that actually investigated Human Rights complaints. It's this firm that would go out and set up this data base and then establish this investigation function, would go and it would do a business case, it would say, you know: is there money in this for me, and they would, you know, go and hire people who would be proper investigators.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15021 There is ‑‑ you know, it would be, you know, people out of investigation programs, communications, I don't know, but somebody would just compile this, these resources, be they technical and human. There would be, you know, they would set up a process and away you go and that's basically it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15022 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Terrifying, isn't it? Set up a process and away you go, get somebody from the community calling. Thank you, Mr. Woodhead, that really helps.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15023 I am going to move right along now. I think we have exhausted the well.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15024 MR. WOODHEAD: Well, we are not. I mean, in fairness, we are not investigating war crimes here. It's a contravention of a pretty simple rule when you read the statute.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15025 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Well, we'll get to that simple process in a moment.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15026 But assuming we have to fall out, and it's just another general question that I thought, you know, in your kind of analysis of this over the year, you might have given some thought to, assuming we have to find this person or create this institution or whatever that has to be created, that's one aspect of this.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15027 I also noticed in your submission and I don't have every paragraph numbered, but any number of times in your submission you say: well, this is appropriate to send of to a CISC committee and have a look at, so that strikes me as more processes that are going on and perhaps rightly so, no complaints. It's just I note that that is a kind of a solution offered up by your written submission in any number of places.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15028 My question then is: with so much yet to do by us, by CISC, by some operator that has got to be born, how long do you people think it will be if we move as smartly as we can before this thing is up and running and running reasonably smoothly? Have you given that any thought?
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15029 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Somebody say something; this head shaking doesn't come out well on the tape recorder.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15030 MR. McARTHUR: I think it's fair to say that we have, in our context, put forward the submissions and recommendations on how it should work, not how long it will take to do. So, we have not given thought to that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15031 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Come on, Mr. Woodhead, secretly in your heart, you have given this some thought.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15032 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Let the record show that Mr. Woodhead has no idea. All right. Then we are going to go to enforcement and I think I wrote down correctly what you've said and you are probably reading it anyway, but so it's somewhere on the record, but Ms Crowe you talked about timely enforcement of the rules is essential and, you know, but for those in ancient start chambers who could argue with that, but ‑‑ and I don't say this as a criticism. In fact, I enjoyed reading this long discussion of common law defences, although I was rather sad not to find drunkenness and automatism there. But I enjoyed reading it. It was a like a trip down memory lane.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15033 But it did bother me in one way, because what it seemed to be is a kind of smorgasbord for defence lawyers looking for a way to either pad their bills, defend their clients, or both.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15034 How do you get a timely system, which in my mind I kind of thought of as our expedited process that we have in place now at the Commission, if this truly is available?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15035 Can you give me a sense from your own position of how much of what you have offered us here as a kind of Ph.D. in common law defences might actually be thrown on the table in a violation?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15036 MR. WOODHEAD: The whole, the twenty pages we spent on the enforcement section ‑‑ which I am glad you enjoyed ‑‑ was to try and give a sense of a continuum or progressive discipline.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15037 I think there would be a triage of a lot of these complaints that would be dealt with incredibly swiftly. I take your point when you read this section that that smorgasbord of common law defences and the due diligence defence that is enshrined within the actual legislation, those are ‑‑ and it goes to the question I first answered of Commissioner Duncan. It's this proportionality thing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15038 There will be, or there could be potentially, a contravention that is continuing and premeditated, wilful, deliberate ‑‑ or at least that's the allegation ‑‑ and where that telemarketer or organization would be subject to considerable monetary penalties.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15039 What we are saying here is that that becomes quasi criminal in nature and that procedural rights have to be afforded. That is basically it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15040 But the vast number, at least in our estimation of these things, will be of the sort of consequential variety. There may be a due diligence defence.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15041 I think that the Commission has the ability to deal with those very swiftly, aside from procedural rights out in this ‑‑ well, I think we do.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15042 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: I agree with you in theory, but the problem as I see it ‑‑ and again it's not a criticism of what you have put in front of us. What you have put in front of us is wonderful and educating.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15043 The problem is that what it seems to indicate is that if all of this truly is available under the heading of common law defences, we've lost control of our process here. Arguably, we lose control of our processes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15044 MR. McARTHUR: If I could draw the analogy to a complaint under the federal privacy legislation, officially there are approximately 350‑or‑so complaints that have been adjudicated by the Privacy Commissioner. Of those, if my memory serves, less than 10 have actually gone to federal court and used the process of which you speak.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15045 Even greater than those, if you look at the number of inquiries and investigations that have not resulted in findings by the Privacy Commissioner, is an even larger number than the 350 on their website.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15046 What that speaks to is that it is only a minority of those circumstances that will need to avail themselves of natural justice in that process.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15047 As Ted has indicated, the proportionality would be that a great deal of them can be dealt with in a mediation process, in a notice process, in the complaint adjudication, and the very small minority would ever proceed.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15048 We are just highlighting the principles of natural justice and due diligence available to any individual.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15049 MR. WOODHEAD: In some respect, Commissioner, it is a consequence obviously of the AMPs power. The AMPs power is an important power. It is an important tool in the Commission's toolbox. But with it comes these common law notions which, while irritating to some, have served us well for a millennia.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15050 MS CROWE: I would just add one final thing that goes along with the notion that there should be, we anticipate, relatively few big problem cases that come along.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15051 As you say, it may be that initially a defence lawyer will come along and try everything possible. But I suspect that that would only last for a limited period of time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15052 At first people will challenge the parameters of these defences in this context, so that may happen a few times. But eventually I think it will be more efficient and settle down as decisions are made.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15053 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: I thank you for that. I didn't expect a clear‑cut answer. Nobody has it. It depends what we are dealing with out there in the future. But you certainly did open my eyes to one of the reasons why I got out of criminal law as fast as I could in the old days.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15054 We move then on to kind of sentencing, if I can call it that, from process to sentencing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15055 I notice from about paragraph 110, or 1‑something‑or‑other onward, that you discuss the kind of notion of a pyramid model, as you say in paragraph 110, a pyramid model approach similar to the Bureau's ‑‑ the Competition Bureau, that is ‑‑ conformity continuum as part of the procedure.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15056 Out of the context of this proceeding it seems to make eminent sense, but when you hear what other parties are calling for, you know, zero tolerance ‑‑ although one party yesterday softened his stand on that somewhat ‑‑ but a kind of almost "take no hostages" approach because, rightly or wrongly, and whoever is to blame it's unclear, but a lot of consumers are just fed up. They've had enough. They want it to stop. Make the music stop, I don't want to dance any more.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15057 Is this going to meet the sort of consumer need or desire, if I can put it that way, that seems to be implicit in some of the poll results that everyone has referred to in these proceedings and is to some degree relied on: a high consumer dissatisfaction with what is going on as they try to have their family meal in the evening?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15058 It does, if I can characterize it, take quite a long time before anything like a penalty is assessed here.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15059 If I go to your fifth step ‑‑ it seems to be about a five‑step process here; or maybe it's your fourth step ‑‑ you say at the end of paragraph 115 that you can move both up and down the pyramid.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15060 It seems a little bit like the Kyoto Accord where you can get credits for good behaviour. So if you are bad later, we take that into account.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15061 Is that going to do it for anybody or would it be just a lot simpler to give small fines, medium size fines and big fines so that people see it going on, see it going on clearly and transparently?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15062 This notion of sending letters to people, of having helpful suggestions, as you call it in paragraph 111, it's kind of like "hugs for thugs" in a way, isn't it.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15063 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: It may not do it in the sense of what consumers are looking for.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15064 MR. WOODHEAD: I think, to go back to what I understand was Mr. Goldberg's presentation, not everyone in this thing is a thug. There are well‑meaning people who simply tripped over an administrative process that they are not familiar with and they are trying to fund raise, or do whatever they are doing, or sell something.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15065 And I take your point. The obvious and simple answer would be as soon as we see the whites of their eyes, we're going to fine them. We're going to fine them and we are going to publicize that, and that's the way to do it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15066 I guess what we are trying to say here ‑‑ and it's maybe a typically Canadian solution. We are trying to find a culture compliance here. We are trying to use all of the tools in the toolbox.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15067 It is up to the Commissioners, it is up to the Commission to use its adjudicative function to decide what the appropriate remedy is.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15068 We are simply saying, or what we are trying to encourage you to at least give some thought to is you are given the fining power. You have a hammer and everything looks like a nail.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15069 It doesn't necessarily work that way in real life.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15070 The Commission has operated for 30‑some years or 20‑some years using a whole variety of suasion; you know, pick up the phone, stop doing that, that kind of thing. You now have the AMPs power.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15071 To go back to what I said earlier, a lot of this is driven by the AMPs power. So, you know, you spend 20 pages talking about common law defences. Well, that's what you get with an AMPs power.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15072 Before you get to imposing a penalty ‑‑ and you will have to obviously assess the severity of these things ‑‑ there is a lot of other stuff you can do and the Commission staff can do, and they do every day in the complaints group and other places.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15073 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: I take your point, and we do a lot of this stuff now. You are quite right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15074 Mediation ‑‑ we have Randy Hudson standing by. If anybody needs counselling, he's there.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15075 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: As I say, when I kind of flippantly use the term ‑‑ not kind of flippantly, really flippantly ‑‑ use the term "hugs for thugs", I'm trying to capture some of the frustration of the consumers, some of the frustration we see in the poll results.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15076 Surveyors have been recognized by Parliament now as important, so we should listen to these survey results.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15077 I just wonder whether this is going to do it and whether it might be simpler ‑‑ I take your point, Mr. Woodhead, that when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. But you don't have to hit the nail so hard every time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15078 You could have a continuum. Instead of starting with letters and warnings and counselling and mediation and credits and debits, and finally, finally moving someone toward something that could be punitive and give them a chance to trot out their defences, what about a $1.00 fine? Just do it strict liability but leave the discretion in the hands of the judge, whoever the judge will be.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15079 So it's a dollar. Then anywhere between $1.00 and $1,500, or anywhere between $1.00 and $15,000.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15080 MR. WOODHEAD: To some extent, I don't know that I can really comment on that because this is for you to decide when you have a case before you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15081 What I am suggesting or what The Companies are suggesting is that there is a large continuum here of remedies that you can employ. I don't want to be in a position of suggesting to you, or in fact agreeing with what you are saying at this point: Oh, why not a dollar here, why not $500 there.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15082 That is what you are going to have to decide when one of these complaints comes before you. I wouldn't sort of fetter your discretion that way.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15083 That is what we are trying to say: that you have from zero to 100 miles an hour and everything in between.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15084 You people and your colleagues deal with various fractious disputes and transgressions of regulations and all of the assorted things that go on in the broadcasting and telecom side and you make your decision.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15085 You have from doing nothing to doing something. That might be $1,500 or $15,000, whatever it is.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15086 We are just encouraging you to continue doing that solemnonic thing you do.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15087 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: There is a sea change going on in The Companies, I think. It must be some news you've gotten lately that has made you so sanguine. I don't know.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15088 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Those are my questions, Mr. Chair.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15089 I thank you for your responses.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15090 THE CHAIRPERSON: Chairman Cugini.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15091 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Thank you for the promotion.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15092 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Good morning. And I promise you it is still morning.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15093 I have just a couple of questions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15094 A couple of parties in this proceeding have asked us to more clearly define the term "existing business relationship".
LISTNUM 1 \l 15095 So to that end I would like to ask you: Currently, if I am an existing Bell customer, for example, and you telemarket to me ‑‑ I think you were here when I had this discussion with Rogers yesterday ‑‑ and I say to you put me on your "do not call" list, do I then get placed on the "do not call" list of all of The Companies within Bell as a result?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15096 MR. COLLYER: Actually, yes you would.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15097 I'm just ‑‑ yes, you would.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15098 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: And do you see that as something that should continue in establishing the "do not call"?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15099 MR. COLLYER: In terms of letter of the law, I'm sure from a privacy concern, if our Sympatico Member Services were actually going to go and call you after you had called into 310 Bell saying "hi, please stop calling me", we would be onside.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15100 In the interests of customer service and not wanting to damage your customer relationship, we would honour that "do not call" request.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15101 It might take probably the course of a month for it to actually work through all of the affiliated companies, but that is something that we would do.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15102 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Then I guess the other side of that coin, of course, is if I give consent to being, however, telemarketed by Bell Mobility, for example.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15103 MR. COLLYER: We actually can do that. We actually also have the ability to provide consent where I prefer to be telemarketed by a Bell employee versus not being telemarketed by an outsourcer, for example.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15104 So we have exclusions that work that way as well.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15105 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Do you currently ‑‑ anyone can answer, or everyone.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15106 Do you currently do telemarketing to wireless numbers?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15107 MR. COLLYER: I would think Bell Mobility would on a very, very limited basis and it would be more like a customer service feedback sort of thing. And more so it would be farmed out to a research house.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15108 We don't actively telemarket to wireless telephone numbers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15109 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: I think it was Rogers who yesterday said that wireless numbers should be able to be registered on the "do not call" list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15110 MR. COLLYER: We have had no issue whatsoever to put them on the list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15111 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15112 THE CHAIRPERSON: I thought we would take 15 minutes at this point and come back at five to 11:00.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15113 Thank you.
‑‑‑ Upon recessing at 1037 / Suspension à 1037
‑‑‑ Upon resuming at 1055 / Reprise à 1055
LISTNUM 1 \l 15114 THE CHAIRPERSON: We were at the point where, I think, you had finished Commissioner Gugini.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15115 COMMISSIONER CUGINI: Yes, thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15116 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Woodhead.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15117 MR. WOODHEAD: Mr. McArthur had a comment that he thought of during the break, and before Commissioner Cram starts, could he inject that comment?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15118 THE CHAIRPERSON: All break comments are welcome.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15119 MR. McARTHUR: I would like to express that the operation of the DNCL is a balancing act, and I am familiar with balancing acts from the wording in the privacy legislation, "balancing the rights of Canadians with the needs of business," and I see this as a very similar balancing act.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15120 We have, on the one hand, the interests of business, in terms of growing and thriving in the Canadian economy, and certainly employing Canadians in their telemarketing activities, but the need for businesses to grow and thrive is contrasted with the rights of Canadians to control, to some extent, how they are contacted.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15121 I think, over the first three years of this regime, there is going to be a lot of learning for both parties, and we want to ensure that, in the guidelines and the thinking and jurisprudence of the Commission in assessing fines and notices and penalties, that is foremost in the mind, that there is a continuum, that there is learning on behalf of both Canadians and businesses in terms of what it is to comply.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15122 There will be, as we go through that, guidance issued through notices and decisions and other things, but there is always that balance in mind.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15123 The one piece of information, I think, that is valid, is that telemarketing, when done appropriately ‑‑ and, as we look across the companies, it isn't 97 percent of our customers who do not want to be contacted. We have been operating "do not contact" lists for a number of years, and it is less than 10 percent of our customers who have expressed a desire to not be contacted.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15124 In that context, in balancing the needs of both business and the rights of Canadians, I think it is worthwhile to bear in mind.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15125 Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15126 THE CHAIRPERSON: Commissioner Cram.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15127 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Thank you, gentlemen, and Ms Crowe.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15128 First, I want to start with what I will call the Obermeyer ideas, especially the ideas for the smaller ‑‑ I forget, Martha's something or other ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15129 MR. COLLYER: Martha's Flower Shop.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15130 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15131 Is something like that feasible?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15132 MR. COLLYER: I personally think so.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15133 It will all come down to how, through CISC, we actually decide how we are going to build this beast. But I certainly think that for people who are making relatively few calls, or are manually making calls ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15134 We are sitting here as a collective, as a company, and we have diallers who are making calls on our behalf, and we are preparing lists in the order of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of records to put into those diallers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15135 For someone who is making a few calls, I think there should be a scalable ‑‑ entry level, if that is the phrase you want to use ‑‑ way for them to ensure that they are in compliance.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15136 I actually think that the green light/red light idea has merit.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15137 COMMISSIONER CRAM: What about the larger one that he was talking about?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15138 I understand that the technology exists and is being used in the U.S., but I think the objection was that it was costly.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15139 MR. COLLYER: Yes. Mr. Obermeyer made reference to this. All of us, as telcos, are bound by legacy systems. The core of my operating system at Bell Canada dates back to the sixties. I like to call it a Christmas tree.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15140 We started out with a beautiful Christmas tree in 1964, and then we kept putting decorations on it. Every year we went down to ‑‑ at the time, I guess, Simpsons or Eaton's ‑‑ and got decorations.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15141 We just kept piling decorations on the tree, and then, eventually, the tree started to warp in its shape. Anytime we wanted to change the tree, we had to wade through layers and layers of these decorations to actually get at the core of the tree.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15142 We are continuing to put decorations on that tree. It doesn't even look like a tree, it is just this big giant ball of glitter.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15143 MR. COLLYER: That, in laymen's terms, is really the system architecture that we have.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15144 The challenge that we would have with Mr. Obermeyer's suggestion would be to actually get to the core of our collective trees here and build that pathway in a cost‑effective manner.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15145 I have built long distance billing solutions, and we are working through our price caps proposal right now, in terms of implementation, and it is, I would say, obscenely expensive. It is unreasonably expensive for us to do these things.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15146 And to have that sort of real‑time compliance, I can see that being extraordinarily, extraordinarily expensive.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15147 COMMISSIONER CRAM: One would suppose, though, that maybe in three years the technology would become, as with everything ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15148 MR. COLLYER: I don't think that technology will morph that much. It may actually become easier.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15149 At the end of the day, though, it still has to talk to our big ball of glitter, which won't be updated in three years. That is our biggest challenge.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15150 COMMISSIONER CRAM: So the problem isn't the software, which is available ‑‑ the problem isn't that it is expensive, it is the issue of the legacy networks.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15151 MR. COLLYER: Exactly. It is how you would integrate what would be a very simple software application.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15152 You have a telemarketing record. Is it on the list? "Yes/No." That is a very simple solution.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15153 It is integrating that "Yes/No" back into all of our systems so that we are able to appropriately capture that, yes, this person is on the list; no, they are not on the list, and dates and all of that sort of stuff. That is where it becomes very complex.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15154 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Do you have any problem with a 30 or 31‑day grace period?
‑‑‑ Pause / Pause
LISTNUM 1 \l 15155 MR. COLLYER: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15156 I don't want to sound like I am on the fence. I will actually hop off now.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15157 COMMISSIONER CRAM: You are doing it, though.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15158 MR. COLLYER: We are.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15159 We have a real challenge in terms of working with outsourced telemarketing providers. A lot of our service level agreements say that, generally, 14 days to a week prior to the start of the calling month we have our lists prepared and sent over to them.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15160 Theoretically, that is the last kind of scrubbing that we are going to be able to do, immediately prior to shipping the list, based on what our service level agreement is.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15161 They will run with the list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15162 The difference, at least in Bell Canada's experience, and I would expect that I am speaking on behalf of all the companies, is that we don't carry callbacks into the next month. We actually try to complete them at the end of the month, so as of the 31st of the month the list is done and it is returned.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15163 COMMISSIONER CRAM: The major problem, then, is the outsourcing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15164 MR. COLLYER: Yes. When we used to do more of our telemarketing in‑house, it used to be quite simple, we would go and pull a list. But when we are using vendors who are out of province, who are further afield, it becomes more difficult.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15165 And their service level agreements say that, in order for them ‑‑ because they are being rewarded on the number of sales they are getting per list. If we have to stop them in the middle of the list and pull the list back and do a refresh on it and hand it back to them, that actually impacts their telemarketing efficiency.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15166 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Mr. Woodhead, when you were talking with one of my colleagues ‑‑ I can't remember ‑‑ you were talking about our ability to publicize offenders ‑‑ and it is in the Act. Are you suggesting that there should be limits on that?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15167 To me, that is far more than what has been said at the LSUC conference to be very small fines. To me, the ability to publicize who has offended is probably the major deterrent, I would think.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15168 Are you suggesting that there should be limits on that?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15169 MR. WOODHEAD: To be honest with you, I hadn't really thought of that in terms of what I was trying to say.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15170 What I was trying to say was that the Commission has a fairly deep and broad tool kit for remedies, and it is provided for in the Act that you can do that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15171 As to what limits, I don't know. Do you want to take out billboard space, or put it on the big screen at Times Square?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15172 I don't know ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15173 COMMISSIONER CRAM: I think that media releases would be ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15174 MR. WOODHEAD: Yes, I mean ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15175 COMMISSIONER CRAM: "We caught TELUS."
LISTNUM 1 \l 15176 MR. WOODHEAD: The Commission keeps all kinds of lists of things on its website. Whether you put out media releases ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15177 Part of that, to be perfectly honest with you, would be in what role ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15178 Again, when the Commissioners decide on the first one of these things, there will be a whole pile of plans, I would assume, and it is how you communicate it (a) to the person or the organization that was the offender, and how you communicate that to the public at large.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15179 It is for you to decide, but there are, obviously, a variety of things you could do.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15180 I believe that Mr. McArthur has something to add.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15181 MR. McARTHUR: Again, I hearken back to an element of the privacy legislation in Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15182 While, on the federal case, there is generally no naming of names, but that is certainly a capability that the federal Privacy Commissioner has, I would note that many companies abide by rulings that don't apply to them in terms of federal privacy legislation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15183 In other words, the federal Privacy Commissioner publishes a finding on their website. The reputable firms across Canada, who are trying to grow their businesses in appropriate ways, pay attention to that, make modifications to their processes, and find ways to comply with the law voluntarily. It isn't a way of compelling people to do it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15184 A great deal of the marketplace will comply with a notice put on a website that says, "This is a recommended best practice for telemarketers."
LISTNUM 1 \l 15185 Then, in those exceptions where it is deemed appropriate by the Commissioner, the naming of names can occur.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15186 COMMISSIONER CRAM: I want to talk about the three‑year expiry issue. To me, it comes down to an issue of costs, if we can make the DNCL affordable with a three‑year expiry.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15187 In your talk today you talked about affordability, and then, out of the other side of your mouth, you said that you wanted it to expire every three years.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15188 Given your 85 percent rate, that is very feasible for Bell, but I am wondering if that would be feasible for the majority of telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15189 I have no idea of the cost escalation between an infinity list and a three‑year list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15190 What would you think of us saying that the list could either be until infinity or three years, depending on the majority of subscribers to the list ‑‑ depending on their option?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15191 In other words, telemarketers look at the affordability issue and they say, "Oh, my God, I can't afford the three year one, so I will go for infinity." If the majority of those went for infinity, the list would go for infinity.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15192 Or, if the majority of telemarketers see it in their best interest, and see it as profitable for a three‑year list, they would opt for a three‑year list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15193 At the end of the day, the majority would rule.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15194 What do you think?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15195 I have everybody whispering.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15196 THE CHAIRPERSON: Sidebars.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15197 MR. COLLYER: Unfortunately, it is kind of like herding cats on this side of the table.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15198 MR. COLLYER: I think our original position is that three years is a reasonable measure. It aligns to what is currently in place in the market with the CMA list, and the CMA is governing best practice, and, as members of the CMA, we fully support it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15199 I think that if you put that question to telemarketers, they would all come back and say three years, because they are in the business of contacting customers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15200 COMMISSIONER CRAM: But then they will turn around, like you have, and say that there is a great possibility that the "do not call" list is not feasible economically.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15201 MR. COLLYER: I think that ‑‑ and this is more, sort of, solution engineering, thinking about how we would put this forward ‑‑ we would be looking at having a telephone number and a date in, in terms of the record fields that we would be maintaining in terms of managing the list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15202 With only two data fields ‑‑ going back to Mr. Obermeyer's presentation, instead of 2 pennies we have 4 pennies.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15203 To be honest, that would actually, I think, keep our costs quite down.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15204 I think, really, where we are worried about costs is when we start talking about validating whether a customer is a consumer segment customer or a business segment customer, or whether it is a wireless form, and then there are all of those validations that you have to do with legacy systems.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15205 What do you do if I don't have a telephone number? Do I have to farm it out to TELUS because it might be a TELUS number ‑‑ and so on, just trying to populate the list well.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15206 I think we could have an inward date from which we could count three years' time, and I think it would still be very, very affordable from a solution perspective.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15207 COMMISSIONER CRAM: On page 3, at the second sub 3, third party costs ‑‑ and this is modifying systems to establish a data feed ‑‑ you talk about costs. How much?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15208 MR. COLLYER: I think that a lot of that will depend on what CISC decides, and what we decide as appellants, and the Commission, as to how this list will look.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15209 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Okay. Best scenario; worst scenario.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15210 MR. COLLYER: Horribly expensive and terribly expensive.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15211 The best case scenario, if it is just a flat file data feed that is, really, two columns of information, telephone number and date, probably modifications for us would be in the order of $1 million or so, to try to accommodate this.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15212 Worst case scenario ‑‑ if we are talking about the solution that Mr. Obermeyer proposed with respect to live data feeds and everything else, that is beyond my expertise as a product marketing manager to estimate, but wildly expensive. Tens of millions of dollars. Just because of all the cross‑systems that we would be looking at updating, and all of the various corners of the company that we would be looking at doing it in.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15213 You are not only looking at the consumer segment, you would be looking at S&B and enterprise, because, potentially, those numbers could be there. You would be looking at wireless.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15214 Currently, the way that our systems are set up, wireless and wireline don't talk to each other. So we are going to be building all of these data bridges everywhere, and that becomes inordinately expensive.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15215 COMMISSIONER CRAM: You were talking about publicity, and you said that the company should not be primarily responsible, it should be telemarketers in the federal government.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15216 As a telemarketer, what is your communications plan? What are you going to do to publicize?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15217 MR. COLLYER: I think there are plenty of things that we could do with respect to education and training within our channels, so that they know they can actually talk to customers and handle customer requests.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15218 We certainly have Bell Media available to us, informational messaging that appears directly on your bill.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15219 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Do you have a budget and a plan?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15220 MR. COLLYER: We haven't, just because we don't know what it would be.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15221 Obviously, we will try to do this as cost effectively as we possibly can, just because our discretionary marketing dollars are very, very scarce.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15222 What we will be trying to do is look at, as a telemarketing company, what is the way that I can reach the broadest number of customers to communicate this to, without incurring huge amounts of cost.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15223 COMMISSIONER CRAM: You could always voicecast it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15224 MR. COLLYER: No.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15225 COMMISSIONER CRAM: All right. Here is the converse of Bernard Shaw. We have been regulating telemarketing forever. I am not going to talk about the efficacy of it, but we have been, and the telephone companies have been paying us for our regulation, including regulating telemarketing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15226 The only difference now is a difference in quantum.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15227 So how can you justify saying that you shouldn't pay when you have been paying for our regulating of telemarketing?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15228 MR. PALMER: I think there is an important difference, though, that has changed with Bill C‑37, in that the Commission now has powers and broader tools directly available to itself ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15229 COMMISSIONER CRAM: So it can be effective.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15230 MR. PALMER: ‑‑ to regulate telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15231 Prior to Bill C‑37, the Commission did not have a direct way of reaching out to telemarketers, and it accomplished the regulation of telemarketers through the telephone companies and through their tariffs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15232 I think, with this change in the framework under which the Commission can now get at telemarketers, the role for the telephone companies, from what we see, has been removed.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15233 COMMISSIONER CRAM: You had no problem paying us to regulate telemarketing when we were ineffective. You are now having problems paying us to regulate telemarketing because we can be effective.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15234 Is that your rationale?
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15235 MR. McARTHUR: I will take the first shot, and I think that Ted will have something to add.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15236 COMMISSIONER CRAM: It is a serious question. The philosophical reasoning is difficult for me to understand.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15237 MR. McARTHUR: I think it would be fair to say that the Commission's regulation of telemarketing was done through the tools that were available at the time, and that tool was through the regulated telecommunications service providers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15238 So given the tools that were available, you use the tools in the kit bag you have.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15239 So, yes, you have been trying to regulate telemarketing through the telecommunications service providers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15240 The reality in the marketplace now is that we aren't the only mechanism by which telemarketing is conducted, and, at the same time, many communities in Canada are offering incentives to telemarketing firms to locate in their own areas and set up communications infrastructure, outside our domain in many cases, to operate telemarketing operations and to attract those kinds of businesses for employment in their communities.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15241 I guess that maybe the efficacy could be attributed to the inability to control the marketplace through the telecom service providers, when it is much more broadly utilized throughout Canadian business.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15242 COMMISSIONER CRAM: What you are really saying, then, is that we should have charged telemarketers when telemarketing became a viable business ‑‑ had a viable business case.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15243 MR. WOODHEAD: I don't think you had the ability to do that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15244 What this statutory amendment gives you is the ability to reach out and touch the people who are involved in this business.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15245 It is one of these sort of historical kinds of arguments that people in the Commission have grappled with for a number of years. When the only tool you had was the ILEC tariff to reach out and touch resellers, that's what was done, because that was the only way to impose requirements, through ILEC tariffs, on resellers of services provided under those tariffs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15246 So all manner of things have been required by the Commission through ILEC tariffs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15247 From my perspective ‑‑ and someone else can chime in here ‑‑ what this opportunity provides you in Bill C‑37, once it is proclaimed, is to establish a database, to direct a database to be established, to set the rules for who will access it, and, in addition to that, be able to establish a cost recovery scheme that will fairly distribute those costs, which, incidentally ‑‑ and I don't want to mix it up with the contribution thing, but the contribution mechanism and the way that the fees are collected is, quite frankly, one of the most innovative mechanisms in the world.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15248 COMMISSIONER CRAM: I was on that panel. Thanks.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15249 MR. WOODHEAD: Indeed, you were.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15250 My point is, the thing that works with that is that the fees have been spread across ‑‑ the subsidy has been spread across the largest number of people.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15251 I am not going to sit here and say we are just wee telemarketers here at this table. Yes, we are substantial telemarketers but we are not the only telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15252 There are a lot of other companies that are much larger even than the companies that are sitting here that telemarket far more frequently and directly to the public than we do and those people should bear their fair share of those costs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15253 I think that is the kind of message that we are trying to leave you with.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15254 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Thank you. I will read the transcript to see if I can understand what you really said, Mr. Woodhead, because that was a lengthy ‑‑ because philosophically I am worried about what the difference is between the two.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15255 I take it that the other issues about the government paying that you will be speaking to the government. Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15256 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15257 THE CHAIRPERSON: You ‑‑ maybe this is a question principally for Mr. Collyer ‑‑ you use predictive dialling?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15258 MR. COLLYER: Yes, we do.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15259 THE CHAIRPERSON: Could you help us a little because we haven't had much testimony ‑‑ I would just like to hear about your views on the regulation of dead air by the Commission.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15260 Let me start with saying I presume that your telemarketing managers can have data that indicate to them whether you lose calls because of dead air and what percentage of dead air?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15261 MR. COLLYER: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15262 THE CHAIRPERSON: I don't pretend to be a specialist. Help me a little understand how you manage it now and what you would think would be reasonable in the way of Commission requirements if you think Commission requirements would be useful.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15263 MR. COLLYER: I think Commission requirements are useful. We support the 5 per cent that has been put forward and has already been established.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15264 Basically what that measure is measuring is truly an abandoned call, which is ‑‑ what happens is the dialler dials out, predictively assuming that an agent is going to be free in the field to speak to a customer, we get the customer online, the customer is listening to the dead air and the customer hangs up prior to the call being answered by an available agent. That is what is an abandoned call and that actually ladders up into that 5 per cent.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15265 Now, there is no minimum, or at least the way that Bell Canada measures it there is no minimum or maximum time to what that could be. That in theory could be ‑‑ I pick up the phone, I see in the call display and I put the phone down ‑‑ so, you know, a half second of air time. It could be that. It could be a couple of seconds. It could be five seconds. It could be 10 seconds.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15266 So there is no duration measurement there. It is just that the customer disconnected prior to a rep being available to answer a call.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15267 Now, I don't know if you as commissioners are familiar with how predictive diallers work and if you would find that useful for me to go through.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15268 THE CHAIRPERSON: No, I think we understand how in general they work.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15269 MR. COLLYER: Okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15270 THE CHAIRPERSON: It is more the policing of this particular dimension that I am interested in and ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15271 MR. COLLYER: Well ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15272 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ I ‑‑ I am sorry.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15273 MR. COLLYER: I am sorry. No, go ahead.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15274 THE CHAIRPERSON: I retain that you are supportive of the 5 per cent standard, you think it is reasonable?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15275 MR. COLLYER: I think it is reasonable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15276 I heard from Mr. Lawford the request for 3 per cent based on the U.S. standard. I would argue against that, the only reason being is that as with everything in the United States ‑‑ you know, just multiply it by 10, Canada times 10, and that is what you get with the United States ‑‑ telemarketing operations numbers of available agents and efficiencies are that much larger.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15277 So if we go back to Contact New Brunswick and that was Rainmakers' operation where I believe he said he had 125 agents ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15278 THE CHAIRPERSON: One hundred and fifty.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15279 MR. COLLYER: ‑‑ 150 agents over four locations. Basically, he has got, you know, 37 and a half head count on switch answering calls.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15280 When you are using predictive dialler with a smaller base of CSRs making those calls, the opportunity for, you know, an abandoned call actually is higher.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15281 If you were working in, you know, a 1,000‑, 2,000‑, 3,000‑seat call centre over potentially multiple locations ‑‑ you know, I am not saying that there are factories of 3,000 people in the States calling hither, thither and yon but they are all tied into the same dialler over multiple locations. You know, you can get actually get that efficiency level down to about 3 per cent.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15282 Generally at Bell ‑‑ and I actually came through the telemarketing organization ‑‑ if we were running a bad list, and basically it would be a lot of answering machines, a lot of just unable to reach customers, we were averaging around 4 per cent in terms of our dialler efficiency from an abandonment rate.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15283 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15284 On the list that you run, the internal DNC list, you have it for three years, then you call a customer and say, we know you have been on the list, would you like to come off the list and receive our calls, in essence?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15285 MR. COLLYER: Well, not ‑‑ it is not as simple as that. You know, we aren't looking every month and saying, oh goody, we have got another 60,000 customers that we can call.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15286 I mean if they fit into a campaign that we are running, we will actually create a sub‑cell for those and generally we will actually put those calls through skills‑based writing to a senior or seasoned telemarketing rep just because the call probably ‑‑ potentially, I won't say probably ‑‑ potentially can be a little bit tricky.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15287 So if we have got a campaign that actually we can fit those customers in, you know, we will place the call. We will have specialized scripting for those calls to acknowledge the fact that they have been on our internal do not call list and basically right up front we gain permission from the customer to proceed into the call.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15288 And if they don't want to hear us, we are more than pleased to actually remind them that we will put them back on the list effective today, that will last for three years and, you know, talk to you soon, and, you know, always you are available to call us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15289 THE CHAIRPERSON: So you don't systematically call everyone at a ‑‑ you don't gather up a three‑year horizon over six months and then systematically call them all?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15290 MR. COLLYER: We don't have enough records to actually do that. The number of customers that we have got is quite small.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15291 THE CHAIRPERSON: Do you scrub the list with numbers that are no longer active?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15292 MR. COLLYER: Well, being the telephone company, yes, we actually have that available to us.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15293 THE CHAIRPERSON: So the answer to the question is yes?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15294 MR. COLLYER: Yes. Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15295 THE CHAIRPERSON: And how much does it cost?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15296 MR. COLLYER: It is basically built into our system. Everything is ‑‑ no, not millions.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15297 MR. COLLYER: Everything is tied into an active BTN or billing telephone number. So if a telephone number is not active, it is not available to us as a campaign, so we naturally exclude it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15298 THE CHAIRPERSON: And in your mind, it would be very substantially more expensive, so much more expensive than you thought it worthwhile bringing to our attention today, to recycle numbers on, say, a monthly basis to a DNC so that the do not call list could be purged of numbers which are no longer active?
‑‑‑ Off record discussion / Discussion officieuse
LISTNUM 1 \l 15299 MR. COLLYER: I am sorry, can you ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15300 THE CHAIRPERSON: Maybe I misunderstood.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15301 MR. COLLYER: Can you rephrase the question?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15302 THE CHAIRPERSON: I understood you to say that the issue of whether or not the telcos would be ‑‑ or all local service providers would be required to recycle ‑‑ would be required to provide lists of no longer active numbers, inactive numbers ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15303 MR. COLLYER: Okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15304 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ on a periodic basis to the do not call list would be very costly. That is what I understood you to have said. I might have completely misunderstood.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15305 MR. COLLYER: Oh no, no, I don't think I said that. I mean there will be costs associated with that but I don't believe I said that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15306 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes, it wasn't you who necessarily said it, it was ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15307 MR. COLLYER: I may have misspoke. I mean there will be costs associated with it but I mean ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15308 THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, let me read it to you and you tell me what you said.
"Certain third parties may be asked as part of the DNCL implementation to take on functions in support of the DNCL regime. One specific example is that some parties have proposed that telephone companies modify their systems to establish a data feed to the DNCL operator of all telephone numbers that are disconnected from service. This information will be used to scrub the DNCL of numbers that are no longer in use. Now, this specific case has not been accepted by the Commission at this point but if it is, parties who would be incurring one‑time and ongoing costs to support the DNCL should also be eligible to recover these costs through the DNCL cost‑recovery plan." (As read)
LISTNUM 1 \l 15309 MR. COLLYER: Yes, okay. Correct. I did say that, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15310 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15311 Now, I am asking you, I guess, if it is not expensive to do that relative to your own list, why would the expense be so high that you would feel it was necessary to bring it to our attention at this point if you had to do it for a national list?
‑‑‑ Off record discussion / Discussion officieuse
LISTNUM 1 \l 15312 MR. COLLYER: Again, I guess, maybe it just goes down to our ability to merge and purge those ‑‑ the list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15313 I mean ‑‑ I guess, for example, if we were just to supply a list of disconnected numbers to the DNCL operator and the DNCL operator did with it what it chose to do with it, I think it would, you know, be actually quite simple and quite cost‑effective to do.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15314 If, you know, through the committee we determined that we wanted to have, you know, automated feeds and really sort of technical bulletproof‑type solutions to actually go ahead and do it, that is actually where we get into costs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15315 So I guess it is really what it is that we want to design here and I think what we are looking to try and do is, depending on the collective wisdom here, what it is that we do design from a DNCL perspective, the companies wish to be able to recover their costs as reasonable to support that because it is going to result in a better list for everybody.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15316 THE CHAIRPERSON: Okay. So I guess I retain that you will be participating enthusiastically and with a clear set of objectives in the operations and other groups that we have set up under CISC?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15317 MR. COLLYER: I am definitely available and we definitely are participating.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15318 THE CHAIRPERSON: And for the moment you wouldn't be in a position to substantiate the necessity ‑‑ you wouldn't claim that a requirement to have lists of numbers, on a periodic basis, which are no longer active, with an ultimate objective of removing those numbers or an immediate objective of removing those numbers from the do not call list, that would be, ipso facto, a burden that would be unfair and unreasonable for you to bear, it would all depend on how that requirement was defined?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15319 MR. COLLYER: Exactly, and that is really what it is. If it is as simple as us just providing the list to the operator and the operator does with it what they choose with it, that is, you know, a handshake and an envelope being passed back and forth basically.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15320 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: Not in Ottawa. We don't do that in Ottawa.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15321 THE CHAIRPERSON: Well, let us talk about the more general question of costs.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15322 Let me make it clear first that there seems to be a difference of legal opinion between your legal advisors and our legal advisors.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15323 The Commission's expressed ‑‑ "intention" is a strong word. The Commission's expressed policy of needing to require its own costs ‑‑ we are not now talking about the list operation costs ‑‑ from the telephone companies is, I am told, a requirement based on the fact that our legal advisors' interpretation of the Act suggests that CRTC expenses associated with telemarketing are not recoverable through the list operator from the telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15324 So I simply note, unless there is a point of view otherwise, that it was not because we said to ourselves one morning, or at least not because I said to myself one morning, gee, it would be fun to charge the telcos even more for this, but rather because we felt at this stage legally we didn't have a choice.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15325 I just think it would be useful to have that discussion between your legal advisors and our legal advisors.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15326 MR. WOODHEAD: We would be more than happy to have that discussion but in case ‑‑ I assume this was raised by something I have said.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15327 I don't believe I suggested that the Commission's incremental costs would be recovered through necessarily the DNCL operator.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15328 I mean a lot of this is up in the air because we don't know what the Commission's incremental costs will be, we don't know what the Commission's involvement will be.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15329 The Commission recovers the costs of its adjudicating function through fees and I know you are looking at ‑‑ you can point me ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15330 THE CHAIRPERSON: I have this sort of naive belief that when you said it in your presentation that is what you mean.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15331 MR. WOODHEAD: Well, I didn't say it but just point me to where ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15332 THE CHAIRPERSON: We are on page 3 in the middle:
"It would be much appropriate for the Commission's costs to also be funded from the broader telemarketing industry." (As read)
LISTNUM 1 \l 15333 And I don't have an argument of principle, I am just ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15334 MR. WOODHEAD: Yes. No, I ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15335 THE CHAIRPERSON: ‑‑ trying to convey to you, Mr. Woodhead, that my understanding is that we don't have that liberty because of the way the law is written, and your legal advisors would appear to feel otherwise, and that is very interesting.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15336 MR. WOODHEAD: We would have to take that under advisement and think about it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15337 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes. I mean I am not ‑‑ I am noting that your legal advisors have advised you of the possibility that our legal advisors have advised us it is not a possibility, so offline let us please talk about it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15338 I am also underlining for your benefit that it is not de gaieté de coeur, as we say in French, that we have included this in our PN, it is because we don't think we have a choice and we want to be honest with Canadians and with yourselves.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15339 MR. WOODHEAD: Life is full of conflicts.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15340 THE CHAIRPERSON: Indeed.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15341 A final question. What are your plans to convey to the government your views that budgetary appropriations would be appropriate for much of the initial costs associated here?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15342 MR. WOODHEAD: We have and a variety of other parties, to my knowledge, have met with officials from Industry Canada to lay out a case for appropriations and further involvement by government.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15343 THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes. I would just like to say in that regard that we appreciate your point of view and you have every right to express it to us. You mustn't feel that having expressed it to us you have expressed it to anyone who has any leverage whatsoever in the government's budgetary process.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15344 MR. WOODHEAD: We are aware of that and we are not here asking for you to seek stuff from Treasury Board or whatever. We are dealing directly with Industry Canada on that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15345 THE CHAIRPERSON: I am just going to ask, colleagues, anything further?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15346 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: No, I am fine, thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15347 THE CHAIRPERSON: There are very important deliberations going on.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15348 Counsel, any questions?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15349 MR. MILLINGTON: Oh, yes. I beg your pardon. I was being ‑‑ another sidebar. Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15350 I would like to start with page 7, paragraph 25, and the verification of numbers and relate to that business customers' registrations.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15351 I am just looking for suggestions as to whether you have any ideas as to a cost‑effective and an efficient, reliable way of doing registrations of businesses.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15352 I understand it is simpler with customers, residential customers, but I am wondering if there is available with respect to business customers something that is as relatively cost‑effective and equally efficient in terms ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15353 I mean you were discussing that script that you have when you deal with somebody whose name is associated with a telephone number and you have to get verification from the person that is identified and only that person can make changes to the services associated with that telephone number, as an example.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15354 Is there a comparable kind of process that could be used for businesses that wouldn't drive costs very high but would be equally efficient?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15355 MR. McARTHUR: If I could just clarify, the question then is as it relates to a consumer registering on the do not call list ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15356 MR. MILLINGTON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15357 MR. McARTHUR: ‑‑ and you would confirm that it was appropriate individual that was registering that number on the do not call list, how would that occur for a business?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15358 MR. MILLINGTON: Exactly.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15359 MR. McARTHUR: Our position was that it is fundamentally consumer‑based and we indicated earlier that the definition of "telemarketing" might want to be indicated that it is telemarketing to consumers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15360 Our position was not that it was ‑‑ a number on the list was not identified as a business or a consumer. A number is a number. All there is on the list is numbers, very simply, and it was not a registration process for a business per se.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15361 MR. MILLINGTON: No, I understand that but ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15362 MR. PALMER: Could I ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15363 MR. MILLINGTON: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15364 MR. PALMER: If I could as well perhaps just challenge the premise underlying the question, that there is a cost‑effective way of verifying that consumers or that authorized parties for consumers are registering.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15365 COMMISSIONER CRAM: I am sorry, could you repeat your answer and put your ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15366 MR. PALMER: I will try to get a little bit closer to the mic.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15367 COMMISSIONER CRAM: ‑‑ one inch from the mic or ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15368 MR. PALMER: Yes. My comment was just to challenge the premise of the question that there is in fact a cost‑effective means of verifying that consumers or authorized persons representing consumer numbers are registering.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15369 We are not convinced that is the case in particular with respect to registrations over the internet. This is one the items being debated in CISC, is whether there is in fact a cost‑effective means of doing that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15370 Our overall view is, as Drew pointed out, a number is a number is a number, keep the whole system simple, and at this point we are on the page that let us not bother with verifying or validating who is registering a particular number, just accept the number and deal with it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15371 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay. So then that would work for a business. If a business supplied the number, it would be treated in the same way, just some data, as it would for a residential subscriber.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15372 But in terms of accepting the number into the registry, there would need to be some verification that the person who is supplying that number is authorized to do so.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15373 MR. COLLYER: I think the validation question that we were talking about was for our own internal do not call list at Bell Canada.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15374 As far as the national do not call registry, we just see that as being either an IBR or a web interface that accepts numbers with no validation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15375 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay. So you don't have any ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15376 MR. COLLYER: The potential of calling line ID, you know, matching, or a reply e‑mail matching that comes in off the website, and these are the things that are being worked out at CISC right now.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15377 MR. MILLINGTON: Right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15378 And in the context of those CISC discussions, is there any advice that you can give us about the efficacy of a verification program to be able to assure the DNCL operator that the person registering the business number is really duly empowered to do so?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15379 MR. COLLYER: As I say, I think we have asked for the business‑to‑business exemption. So I mean that point would be moot.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15380 But I mean we aren't proposing to get into validation schemes or regimes just because it is going to make this thing just incrementally that much more complex and then, ergo, more expensive.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15381 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay, I think this has been touched on a couple of times, it is in your presentation in footnote 5 on page 8 with respect to cleansing the list every 30 days. And is it still your position that that is feasible, that the list can be purged every 30 days?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15382 MR. COLLYER: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15383 MR. MILLINGTON: And so notwithstanding the comments of what Rogers went into yesterday in terms of their 60‑day program?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15384 MR. COLLYER: I mean it is difficult and optimally we would, you know, prefer to have 60 days just because we have contractual arrangements. And I know that Rogers got the undertaking as to, you know, how could they crunch down their little time chart. I mean, we would be able to make those same time reductions as well. I mean, the big challenge that we have here is do we have some sort of online validation with the list operator and we are able to do things real time or if, you know, in the case of, you know, most telemarketing shops they are reliant on having their lists packaged to them and handed to them and just run with all of the pre‑work done. Well I mean that, you know, contractually will take time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15385 And then, you know, there is the actual efficiency of the telemarketing operation as is.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15386 MR. MILLINGTON: But what you seem to be saying though is that with structuring your business appropriately to deal with a 30‑day time limit, it is possible.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15387 MR. COLLYER: It is possible. I think for the companies ‑‑ I mean, it would not be our preference and ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15388 MR. MILLINGTON: I understand, but it is possible.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15389 MR. COLLYER: ‑‑ it is possible and then, you know, also just looking at a broader telemarketing industry where I do have a little bit of experience. I mean, smaller operators I think that, in particular, are reliant on, you know, larger companies that are purchasing their services to provide lists to them, they are going to be unfairly impacted just because of, you know, when the list is not in the dialler dialling and, you know, Rogers made the case with respect to when, you know, the list is not on the dialler they don't have reps in their chairs, I mean you are not calling.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15390 MR. MILLINGTON: Have you turned your minds at all to the threshold that would qualify somebody as a chronic offender that you reference in paragraph 95 on page 24 who would there're be subject to disconnection? Because this is something ‑‑ the disconnection is there today, it is something that you have indicated that you would like to move away from, but you reserve the sanction for what you call chronic offenders. Have you got some colour around what a chronic offender would look like in your view?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15391 MR. COLLYER: No.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15392 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15393 COMMISSIONER LANGFORD: That was your chance to say Ted Rogers and you blew it. There goes your Christmas bonus.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15394 MR. MILLINGTON: The list of circumstances where you wouldn't warrant a full investigation, which is set out in paragraph 100 on page 25, I am wondering if that is an area if we got into the realm of consent forms, whether that would be an appropriate placement of that defence if you like, when somebody has obtained the consent from the party that has been called? Is that where it would sort of shutdown the investigation?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15395 MR. WOODHEAD: If the party had an express consent?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15396 MR. MILLINGTON: Right.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15397 MR. WOODHEAD: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15398 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay. And you indicated that the storage retrieval of consent forms would be cumbersome, there was a record keeping associated with consent forms. However, they would seem to be useful in a certain number of circumstances. Is there a use ‑‑ is it your evidence today that you couldn't really accommodate the kind of consent forms that are envisaged in the insurance industry where people tick off boxes and sign at the bottom and send them in? Is that something that is just way too much?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15399 MR. COLLYER: Well you know I am thinking, you know, about Bell Canada where we have, you know, I think 25 million plus customer connections. You know, in theory that is potentially a lot of paper that we actually have to store. So that is why we would be looking at, you know, the already approved versions of electronic consent, just to cut down on that.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15400 MR. MILLINGTON: So if we had ‑‑ but if express written consent, did include something that was electronic that would be something that you could accommodate then?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15401 MR. COLLYER: Oh absolutely, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15402 MR. MILLINGTON: So that would be something. The record keeping of the consent ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15403 MR. COLLYER: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15404 MR. MILLINGTON: ‑‑ is a factor that we should consider in terms of what forms of the consent we require.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15405 MR. COLLYER: Exactly. I mean you know I think, you know, for those companies that are comfortable working with paper, I mean certainly that should be available to them. But, you know, the option of having some acceptable form of electronic consent I think would be quite agreeable to most large enterprises.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15406 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay. Under the enforcement provisions towards the end of your submission on page 43, paragraph 159 I believe it is ‑‑ let me just flip over there ‑‑ we talk about or you talk about an oral hearing and, you know, this is when you are getting into a ‑‑ at the sort of most serious type of violation. I am wondering whether you thought what kind of oral hearing that would be like. Would that be like what we know now as the expedited hearing? And if you are talking about cross‑examination of witnesses, would you assume that witnesses would be sworn and it would have all of those kind of features in it?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15407 MR. WOODHEAD: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15408 MR. MILLINGTON: So that is ‑‑ you are thinking of a full blown..?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15409 MR. WOODHEAD: Yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15410 MR. MILLINGTON: But nothing ‑‑ anything more than what we do at the expedite with say sworn testimony?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15411 MR. WOODHEAD: No, I don't think so. Sworn testimony, what we were trying to layout was a package here of procedural rights and in terms of the actual structure of the hearing I would think that you would need sworn testimony, sufficient time given to make the representation or case that the defence wants to make.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15412 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15413 MR. WOODHEAD: Including, apparently, the defences of drunkenness and automatism.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15414 MR. MILLINGTON: Well, I guess if we open to the creativity of defence counsel.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15415 In this CMA's remarks they submitted on page 5, I will read you the section, it is about half or about three‑quarters of the way down. They say,
"In introducing Bill C‑37 on December 13, 2004 the Ministry of Industry stated that funding for the operation of the list would be obtained on a cost recovery basis from the telemarketers."
I think their position was to read down to the legislation to say that there were certain activities, when delegated to the list operator and the rates that were charged in respect of those activities, they were all about the operation and so it is a very narrow set of responsibilities.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15416 I would just like your comments on their interpretation of that subsection and their general thrust that the operators' rate structure that they charge the telemarketers accessing the rates should really be restricted to the day to day kind of operation access to the list.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15417 MR. WOODHEAD: I think their interpretation is more narrow than ours and we read section 41(2) to give a sort of broad jurisdiction to the Commission to administer that database, including costs and a complaint investigation and the rest of it.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15418 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay. I am wondering whether in your collective experience with the telemarketing industry and taking into account your comments earlier today with respect to the range of remedies available to the Commission in terms of dealing with the various complaints and the severity of those complaints, what your collective wisdom would say about dealing very sort of hands‑off or, you know, not quite the hugs for thugs approach, but having a fairly low intervention level or low level of sanction for early offenders or initial offenders and then the graduated compliance.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15419 Is your experience with telemarketers such that you would believe that, you know, minimal fines, warning letters and so on would be effective and that that's something that we should look at?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15420 MR. McARTHUR: I would agree with that regime. I think it is going to be, as the public awareness becomes more and more prevalent and as decisions made under the guidelines help clarify some elements of the Commission's thinking, it will be more clear to business how they should interpret those guidelines and how they should try to comply. And in general, I think most businesses try to comply appropriately. So short answer, yes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15421 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay, so there is nothing you need to the telemarketing industry that would suggest that we need to come out with a hard early stance to set the table so to speak?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15422 MR. McARTHUR: I agree, I think it is evidenced by some of the larger telemarketers that have presented to you that they work to comply with the regulations and with the rules and, in general, are finding ways to comply and there might be rogue telemarketers and I say that those are the exception.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15423 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay. And finally, in terms of ‑‑ I know you guys collect a lot of stats on things ‑‑ do you have anything you could tell us about complaints with respect to survey companies and their contacting of customers as distinct from telemarketers who are trying to sell services in the traditional sense?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15424 MR. WOODHEAD: At Telus we don't track by, you know, the line of business or whatever. Although, I am curious about the question, because they are specifically exempted, correct?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15425 THE CHAIRPERSON: I am too.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15426 MR. MILLINGTON: That is true, but they are exempted from some things. I am just wondering about whether, you know, going forward just hypothetically whether the survey companies ‑‑ they have been given very special treatment and I am just wondering what your experience, if any, could tell us about them and to what extent they do?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15427 MR. WOODHEAD: Scott may have an answer, but for TELUS we don't track them by the line of ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15428 MR. COLLYER: And Bell, we have the same answer. I mean we will, through our customer care team and our executive care team, which is sort of an office of escalation, get telemarketing complaints, but we don't actually slice and dice by, you know, what flavour of telemarketing it was.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15429 MR. MILLINGTON: Okay, thanks. Those are my questions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15430 THE CHAIRPERSON: We are in conclusion. Thank you very much. It has been a long morning, but a fruitful one. We appreciated, in particular, your presence here, your frankness and the length of and the searching nature of the presentation, which is extremely helpful and much appreciated. Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15431 We are now going to proceed with final comments ‑‑
LISTNUM 1 \l 15432 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Chairman?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15433 THE CHAIRPERSON: Madame le Secrétaire.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15434 THE SECRETARY: Yes, I do have undertakings for the companies.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15435 THE CHAIRPERSON: Oh sorry, we have some undertakings for.. I also forgot, is Mr. Gahan here? No.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15436 We are going to proceed with final comments in reverse order. The companies do not wish to make any further comments. So I would ask Mr. Obermeyer.. It is most unlikely that there will be any questions in relation to these comments, there are five parties who have indicated their interest in making final comments. I would remind people who are making final comments that the subject matter must relate to their own or someone else's testimony and must not introduce new material that has not been discussed either in the written submissions or in the presentations over the last two and a half days. Mr. Obermeyer.
‑‑‑ Pause
LISTNUM 1 \l 15437 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Obermeyer and I have agreed that he is going to complete his concluding comments within a reasonable compass and we are not going to warn him at the one‑minute mark, we will warn him at the six‑minute mark though.
CLOSING STATEMENT / DÉCLARATION FINALE
LISTNUM 1 \l 15438 MR. OBERMEYER: Here we go again. I am trying to be nice, olive branches all around. Corporations try to legally make as much profit as they can as fast as they can. Nothing is wrong with that, we just have to put the right legal box around them. Telemarketers make money by making unexpected business propositions. They catch us at our weakest moments, when we are hungry, sleeping, relaxing with our guard down. Regardless of their intent, they have learned that it works.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15439 Telemarketers buy and sell lists of numbers. A for‑profit collective might create a market for second hand downloaded DNCL information. Imagine their delight if the CRTC serves up Canadians' confidential phone numbers on a silver platter as a downloadable DNCL. February's list minus January's list equals a monthly list of expired registrations, all the people who haven't been pestered for a while and so have weakened immune systems, priceless. Perhaps the platter is golden.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15440 Some suggest that we save the trouble and give monthly updates instead. They are asking us to deliver a freshly scrubbed monthly do‑call on a platinum platter. Carriers offer privacy services. Should a carrier be allowed to sell back to Canadians their own privacy in the first place? Perhaps they could more properly sell telemarketers a service, removing freshly disconnected telephone numbers from the DNCL.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15441 Researchers call to collect data for their own use. Current rules say they are exempt. If a pollster intends to sell that data to another party the call is an ordinary solicitation for monies' worth and is not exempt in our opinion. Even a subscriber's refusal to participate is monies' worth of data, not research. We want our telephones to stop ringing with useless sales pitches.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15442 Useful sales pitches, that is another matter, let us talk. Parliament agreed. To achieve the intent of Bill C‑37 the only reasonable approach that we can see is to treat the DNCL as confidential information belonging to the people of Canada who put it there. This places a fair burden on each telemarketer by preventing aggregation of use. The least costly number of databases to synchronize each month ongoing until then end of time is one, not two million.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15443 To promote widespread and convenient compliance give away unverifiable use, give it away. Martha and her flower shop, go on the web, check your numbers. Sell verifiable confirmation numbers to heavy users for efficient defence against complaints. The best possible system has zero complaints and zero enforcement cost, a national DNCL services will get us closer. Let us choose which of several categories of telemarketing to accept, both exempt and non‑exempt. To illustrate the value of this, and with all due respect, I request the Government of Canada and all of its departments, agents and political parties to place me on their organization specific "do not call" lists for the purposes of polling.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15444 I bet they would all love to have a convenient national DNCL service now.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15445 We are not recommending that the CRTC subvert legislation in any way. We recommend only that Canadians be given the freedom to express our choices efficiently to all telemarketers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15446 This will prevent wasteful calls on both sides ‑‑ I feel for telemarketers who have to make unwanted calls ‑‑ and aid in gathering accurate data for future policy decisions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15447 I sympathize with unpaid volunteers working for legitimate charities. It is shameful that commercial telemarketing has polluted the well they drink from.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15448 I am not a lawyer. This is a matter of fact. I mean no disrespect in saying so. In fact, a lot of my good friends are lawyers. I have been referred to from time to time as an alleged goal tender.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15449 If I make you uncomfortable, good. It means that you are thinking, evaluating the assertions I have made on their merits.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15450 The national DNCL service should be Canadian made and operated and house our confidential information using a bare minimum of proprietary software and data formats. I am not here to sell anything.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15451 I am a very proud Canadian, but my employer is not based in Canada. And we are busy, anyway, helping makers of submarines, ships, cars, jets and spacecraft organize truly vast collections of data. We don't have time really for this.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15452 I'm here on my vacation, by the way.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15453 The DOWG is investigating issues fundamental to the architecture of a multi‑faceted database system. I see this as a technical activity with some input from the legal profession ‑‑ valuable input, I might add.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15454 It is amazing how the advocacy system turns over a lot of rocks that us techies might not look underneath.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15455 I'm surprised by the apparent absence of technical experts in that group. The result? Prolonged legal discussion over what I see as trivial technical matters.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15456 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Obermeyer, I'm sorry; six minutes.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15457 MR. OBERMEYER: Have Canadians lost their capacity to innovate? We can sell an effective DNCL service to the world. There is no excuse not to.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15458 At the end of the day, I can look myself in the mirror and say I did not allow the DOWG to eat my homework.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15459 That's a joke.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15460 MR. OBERMEYER: What about you?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15461 I thank the Commission for this opportunity to be heard and would be more than pleased to answer any questions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15462 I only wish I had more time to point out many areas where I am in complete agreement with a lot of the parties here.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15463 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, Mr. Obermeyer.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15464 MR. OBERMEYER: Cheers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15465 THE CHAIRPERSON: Much appreciated.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15466 MR. OBERMEYER: By the way, I consider this to be a highly patriotic act, eating doughnuts.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15467 THE CHAIRPERSON: Is it a Tim Horton's?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15468 MR. OBERMEYER: I've developed great admiration for people who do so.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15469 THE CHAIRPERSON: Ladies and gentlemen, next ‑‑ unless you have anything to add, madame la Secrétaire?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15470 LA SECRÉTAIRE: Le prochain participant, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, Mr. Peter Goldthorpe.
‑‑‑ Pause
CLOSING STATEMENT / DÉCLARATION FINALE
LISTNUM 1 \l 15471 MR. GOLDTHORPE: Mr. Chair, Commissioners, I just wanted to thank you for your attention to our submission yesterday and to remind you that this is a very important issue for Canada's life and health insurers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15472 The discussion over the last couple of days has been extremely useful in helping us understand the issues and the various concerns that relate to those issues.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15473 We have our undertakings. We are going to try to be as constructive as we can in our responses to those undertakings and I hope the responses are useful.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15474 If there is anything that we can do to clarify any of the comments we have made in the last couple of days or the comments that we will be making in our undertakings, then we are happy to be at your disposal.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15475 In the meantime, if there are any other questions that occur to you now, I will be happy to try to answer those.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15476 Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15477 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, Mr. Goldthorpe. Your contribution was, as always, constructive and useful, both written and your personal presence is appreciated.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15478 THE SECRETARY: The next participant, Mr. Chairman, is Consumer's Association of Canada, Mr. John Lawford.
CLOSING STATEMENT / DÉCLARATION FINALE
LISTNUM 1 \l 15479 MR. LAWFORD: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15480 We have two points to make.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15481 The first is with regard to clarifying how you can map out the existing business relationship and consent exceptions.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15482 Our view is that the existing business relationship again should be defined as just the single legal entity. If that is the case, then for those corporations that seek to contact a larger group of people through the phone, they can use a consent model to do that. That is still available to them.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15483 If they use a consent model, we would suggest that the requirement you put on them is that their affiliates are only allowed to contact persons if they do not make that consent contingent on getting the product or service; that is, you can't require someone to consent to telemarketing across your entire affiliate network if you want that product or service.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15484 We would like to make sure that is in there.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15485 The second point we would like to make is that with regard to Rogers 60/30 day, there are a number of points where it seems to us there is room to scale back time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15486 First of all, moving callback activity into the actual 30 days is possible, it seems.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15487 Also, in terms of who is bearing the cost of adjusting systems, we would just like to underline the point that the costs of these systems running at 60 days are being externalized to the nuisance of consumers.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15488 So to the extent that they have to adjust systems to comply with what Parliament has said is a requirement to reduce nuisance to consumers, that is now a cost they have to internalize because Parliament has spoken and said that that is now a cost they have to internalize. So they have to improve their systems to 30 days, for example.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15489 Those are the two points I would like to make with you this morning. If you have a question, I will take it; otherwise, thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15490 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much, Mr. Lawford. As usual, PIAC has been a great help.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15491 MR. LAWFORD: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15492 THE SECRETARY: The next participant is Primerica, Hande Bilhan.
CLOSING STATEMENT / DÉCLARATION FINALE
LISTNUM 1 \l 15493 MS BILHAN: Good morning.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15494 On behalf of Primerica Financial Services, I would like to thank you and your staff for the opportunity to participate in this very important public consultation process.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15495 I would like to point out, as a matter of process, that we are looking forward to working with the staff through the CISC committees to work out further details.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15496 I just want to reiterate the importance of memorializing the common sense understanding that the rules we are discussing here were not meant to apply to personal calls and the importance of this for large companies that have stringent compliance requirements whereby we have no choice but to follow the letter of the law.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15497 Thank you very much. I look forward to questions in the coming months.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15498 THE CHAIRPERSON: Ms Bilhan, thank you very much. Much appreciated.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15499 MS BILHAN: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15500 THE SECRETARY: Mr. Chairman, the last participant is Association of Fundraising Professionals, Mr. Boyd McBride.
CLOSING STATEMENT / DÉCLARATION FINALE
LISTNUM 1 \l 15501 MR. McBRIDE: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, Commission staff, once again I find myself standing between you and your lunches. So I will be brief.
‑‑‑ Laughter / Rires
LISTNUM 1 \l 15502 MR. McBRIDE: Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to provide a closing statement and for the opportunity I think this hearing has presented for all Canadians to participate in the process.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15503 I want to make just a few comments.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15504 First, I would like to make it clear that my testimony during this proceeding isn't meant to change any position that my organization, The Association of Fundraising Professionals, took in our application to review and vary Telecom Decision CRTC 2004‑35. Several of the questions that I fielded during my previous testimony are addressed in that application and my oral statements to this Commission need to be taken in the context of the written presentation we provided.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15505 In addition, questions were asked during my earlier presentation regarding the educational issues that AFP briefly raised in our more recent March 2006 written statement.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15506 In the March submission, AFP urged the CRTC to provide some form of guidance or education to the public when the national "do not call" list goes into effect just so that Canadians will understand that charities aren't subject to the list. It is imperative that the government partner with the non‑profit sector to deliver that message so that charities aren't seen to be flaunting the regulations in that new regime.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15507 The government is imposing new rules and the government, we feel, should assure that the public understands which organizations are subject to and exempt from the new requirements.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15508 AFP is always willing to collaborate with the CRTC on such issues, but our resources are limited. Members of our organizations almost all work for charities, so it is important to emphasize my earlier statement that most donors would probably frown upon the use of charitable contributions to publicize or enforce a government regulatory regime.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15509 Finally, if additional information or clarification is needed regarding any question raised during my previous testimony or anything in our written submissions to the CRTC, AFT can follow up with a response in writing.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15510 As we stated in our written comments to the Commission in March, if the CRTC contemplates applying new telemarketing rules to exempt charities, we respectfully request that you consult with us and more broadly with the voluntary sector to ensure that the right balance is found between the charitable sector's need to raise funds for its critical programs and the public's need to be free from excessive telemarketing calls.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15511 Thanks very much again for your time.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15512 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. McBride, thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15513 I must convey to you again, as I think I tried to the first time, this is the consultation. That doesn't mean, of course, that we are not interested in your views and you can always convey them to us.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15514 MR. McBRIDE: Okay.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15515 THE CHAIRPERSON: There are also committees which operate ‑‑ and I don't know whether you are involved. You have heard about them, the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee subcommittees. So if there are things you wish to comment on, that would be fine.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15516 You must not assume, I think, that the Commission will be taking any more major formal steps for there to be public consultation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15517 We are interested in your views at all times, but this has been the moment when it would have been most appropriate to address your views on any possible extension of regulation to any exempt groups.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15518 However, we are certainly going to keep in mind the constraints or standards which you have suggested to us, or criteria which you have suggested to us as appropriate for judging whatever those regulations may or may not be.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15519 MR. McBRIDE: Thank you very much.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15520 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15521 Ladies and gentlemen, I think that brings to a close our consultation.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15522 Madame la Secrétaire, avez‑vous des choses à ajouter?
LISTNUM 1 \l 15523 LA SECRÉTAIRE: Non, monsieur le Président.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15524 THE CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, everyone. Much appreciate your presence and your participation. It has been most valuable.
LISTNUM 1 \l 15525 The Commission will hope to do the very best it can in pursuing the issues that we have discussed in the last three days.
‑‑‑ Whereupon the hearing concluded at 1213 /
L'audience se termine à 1213
REPORTERS
_____________________ _____________________
Marc Bolduc Lynda Johansson
_____________________ _____________________
Sue Villeneuve Fiona Potvin
_____________________
Monique Mahoney
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