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Wilson report may be focus of Throne Speech

Columnist John Ivison writes in the National Post today that, “Government sources say the Speech from the Throne on March 3 will lean heavily on the Wilson report, an indication that the government intends to move on parts of the report that it has not yet implemented.”

Lynton ‘Red’ Wilson chaired the government’s Competition Policy Review Panel, which produced a report in June 2008.

Ivison writes that the Harper government is now ready to move on the liberalization of the telecom and broadcast sector. He adds, “The government said granting Globalive a licence was not ‘removing, reducing, bending or creating an exception to Canadian ownership and control requirements’ but of course it was.”

Other recommendations from the panel included:

1. “The federal government should provide leadership in the elimination of all internal barriers between the provinces and territories that inhibit the free flow of goods, services and people by June 2011.”

2. “NAFTA has been a success for Canada. Addressing the thickening of the Canada-US border should be the number one trade priority for Canada, and requires heightened direct bilateral engagement at the highest political levels.”

3. “The federal government should set an ambitious timeline for concluding priority trade and investment agreements…”

To read the full panel report, go to http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cprp-gepmc.nsf/eng/00050.html.

To see Toronto Star articles with Council of Canadians quotes on the panel report, go to http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=35.

To read a brief backgrounder on Globalive and the threat to the telecommunications sector, go to http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2805.