The News Rundown
- A little used and rarely successful democratic tool for citizens of British Columbia has found its way into the spotlight, after a disgruntled Vernon property manager named Genevieve Ring launched a recall petition to kick out her local BC NDP MLA, Harwinder Sandhu.
- Ring has a long list of complaints about how the BC NDP government handled things during the dark times, from the shuttering of businesses, to the mask mandates for schools, to the restrictions on religious services that formed part of the official COVID-19 response at various points during the past two and a half years. Ring said: "[T]here are a lot of people who are fed up. A lot of people lost their jobs, a lot of people lost their savings."
- In most parts of Canada, Ring’s frustrations are the kind that might get poured onto social media, with little recourse for the government, as has been seen with Justin Trudeau's federal Liberal government lately. However, in BC, there's an option that’s been around in B.C. politics for nearly three decades, called the Recall and Initiative Act.
- Until recently, B.C. was the only province in Canada where such a recall could potentially happen. In April, Alberta’s own Recall Act came into force. Alberta originally enacted recall legislation for MLAs in 1936 during the Social Credit government of William Aberhart. The legislation was repealed after a petition was introduced for the recall of Aberhart himself.
- In BC, the Recall and Initiative Act, enacted in 1995, means that voters in a provincial riding can petition to have their MLA removed from office once said MLA has been in office for at least 18 months. To apply for a petition, it takes a $50 processing fee and a maximum 200-word summary of why the proponent believes an MLA should be recalled. If over 40 percent of registered voters in the riding sign the petition and the petition is validated by Elections BC, the Chief Electoral Officer informs the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the member in question that the member has been recalled and their seat vacated. A by-election is called by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia as soon as possible to fill the vacant seat. The recalled MLA is permitted to run in the by-election for their former seat.
- Twenty-six recall petitions have been launched as of 2020; of the six completed petitions returned to Elections BC, five were rejected for having too few valid signatures. The sixth, on the recall of MLA Paul Reitsma, was halted after Reitsma resigned in 1998 during the secondary verification stage.
- The only petition to have succeeded was under the initiative section of the act, when a 2010 effort to end the harmonized sales tax in the province succeeded. The successful petition meant a referendum on the tax had to be held, in which 55 per cent of voters subsequently rejected it.
- Political scientist Stewart Prest says: “If there is an MLA who is really unfit for office and their fellow MLAs, if they were sitting in caucus, were not willing to act then it does provide another option. You can understand why people might be drawn to the idea.”
- Sandhu, a registered nurse was elected in October 2020 — a vote held seven months into the province’s pandemic response that saw the NDP go from a minority to a majority government. In that election, ridings like Sandhu's Vernon-Monashee flipped to NDP for the first time in decades. The BC Liberals' Eric Foster had held the seat since 1996.
- In a statement in response to the attempt to recall her, Sandhu was defensive of her government's actions: “I will not be intimidated by a small group of extreme activists who do not represent the vast majority of people in Vernon-Monashee. As a health-care worker, I stand behind the decisions we made as a government to help keep British Columbians and front-line workers healthy and safe during the pandemic.”
- While Sandhu was not personally responsible for those public health decisions, Ring said their local representative "did nothing to help” push back against the policies, which were similar to those implemented in many jurisdictions across Canada.
- In a news release confirming the recall petition against Sandhu, Elections B.C. noted that applications "must be approved if these legislated criteria are met." and that "Elections B.C. does not have discretion to evaluate applications on any other criteria."
- We will see if the unlikely event passes wherein Ring's recall petition recieves enough signatures, but it is notable that even if unsuccessful in recalling Sandhu, it was successful in sparking a conversation.
- Supplementals:
- The federal inquiry regarding the use of the Emergencies Act this past winter shows that the government was told there might be “potential for a breakthrough” the day before the Act was invoked.
- What does this mean? A way to end the ongoing occupation of downtown Ottawa.
- The government did not see this as a path forward to progress because the negotiations that lead to the question of a potential breakthrough were led by the City of Ottawa and the blockaders in question had disavowed their authority.
- The documents tabled in court also reveal that the biggest issue for the government wasn’t downtown Ottawa but the opening of the border between Windsor and Detroit at the Ambassador Bridge.
- We also learnt about the government's research into who the protestors were.
- 80% were characterized as having a weak connection to the cause, 15% were seen as a swing factor, and 5% were strongly devoted.
- The documents also show the two groups seen on the ground: one “relatively harmless and happy with a strong relationship to faith communities” and another that was “more concerning” filled with “harder extremists trying to undermine government institutions and law enforcement.”
- The papers don’t say the proportion but this matches with what was seen on the ground.
- Also a couple days before the Emergencies Act was invoked it was revealed that the Prime Minister spoke to "a number of international partners and they [all expressed] concern about Canada and our ability to handle it."
- The government also believed, through Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, that there were ex-military and ex-Canadian Armed Forces members who were advising and instructing on the blockade.
- It’s at this point we come to how the blockades were cleared. They were cleared using traditional police tactics without anything the Emergencies Act offered.
- The Emergencies Act offered the ability to freeze bank accounts and the ability to let the government compel tow operators to work for the government.
- One of the main reasons for the Emergencies Act that was initially put forward by the Trudeau government was that the local police services asked for it.
- So far in the inquiry, that has not been proven true.
- Back in February we were here discussing what looked like an over usage of power with the Emergencies Act.
- The same qualifiers highlighted today and in the inquiry were brought up back in February.
- Throughout the almost 10 days the Emergencies Act was active, 257 “financial products” were frozen that included bank accounts, corporate accounts, and credit cards.
- The inquiry goes on and we still have very few answers as to what the actual reasoning behind invoking the Emergencies Act was.
- Whether or not we get these answers will be left to time, but what we do know is that hours before invoking the Act there were thoughts that maybe there might have been progress to resolving the situation.
- The data provided by Mendicino shows that given the composition of the group, they did not think negotiation would work and they went forward with the Act.
- Though as we said, initial reasons for wanting the Act are very very sparse.
- Supplementals:
- Canadians who pay their cell phone bill with a credit card could soon see an extra fee every month, if Canada's telecom regulator approves a proposal currently before them. Telecom company Telus is asking the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for permission to add a 1.5 per cent surcharge to the bills of customers who pay their bill using a credit card. If approved, it would be in place starting as soon as October. We all know that if the charge is approved for Telus, then other major companies like Rogers and Bell would not be far behind.
- For a theoretical customer whose cell phone bill is $100, the charge would bring their bill to $106.66 — $100 for their basic bill, plus $5 for GST, a $1.58 surcharge for the new fee on top of that, plus another eight cents in GST on the surcharge.
- The company is asking the regulator to decide on the proposal by Sept. 7 and would like to start levying the new charge as of Oct. 17, and while the CRTC must rule on the matter, in a statement, Telus made the plan sound like a done deal, saying that "Starting in October, Telus mobility and home services customers choosing to make a bill payment with a credit card will be charged a 1.5% credit card processing fee."
- The company also said in the statement that numerous other essential services already charge a fee to pay with credit cards, including the Canada Revenue Agency, the City of Toronto, and electrical and gas providers such as Enbridge, Epcor, B.C. Hydro, FortisBC and Alectra. Telus's discount flanker brands including Koodo and Public Mobile will not be subject to the fee, nor will customers in Quebec, as the Quebec provincial government has legislated against surcharges.
- Telus' rationale for the move stems from a development this summer, when credit card firms including Visa and MasterCard agreed to a settlement that will see them refund millions of dollars worth of credit card processing fees that merchants have paid them over the years. Crucially, that settlement also gives businesses permission to start charging customers those fees directly starting in October, which is what Telus is trying to do.
- Previously, many merchants weren't allowed to charge customers directly for the fees that credit companies charge them for processing sales. Such fees can range from less than one per cent of the sale, to more than three per cent for some premium cards.
- Because just about every part of its business is regulated by the CRTC, Telus needs the regulator to start charging fees that consumers can expect to start seeing from a variety of merchants soon.
- Telus only filed the application on Monday, and the CRTC has already heard from more than 200 Canadians via its website, many of which are opposed to the plan.
- Rosa Addario, a spokesperson for telecom watchdog OpenMedia, says the plan is just the latest way for the industry to extract more revenue from cash-strapped Canadian consumers. She said: "All three of our telecom providers … have reported increased profits, increased revenue and increased customers for 2021. They are doing better than ever. This is just another way to raise our bills through shady practices and extra fees and adding things on top so that we are paying even more than we already are."
- Suze Morrison, a former Ontario MPP, is urging the CRTC to reject the proposal, noting that it will disproportionately impact people who are already financially vulnerable. She said: "Working class people, low income people are really struggling to make ends meet right now. The last thing anyone needs is an additional fee just because of how they pay their telephone bill to keep their phone lines connected."
- While credit card surcharges are creeping into many businesses, she says it's different for a telecom utility to charge them because it is a necessity.
- "A consumer has a choice to go to a mom and pop restaurant or to cook dinner at home or to go to a restaurant that's not charging fees for credit card swipes. But we've allowed so much consolidation in our telecom industry and there's such a monopoly in the sector that it's not like folks can say, 'OK, well, if you're going to charge a fee, I'm going to take my business somewhere else.' I have nowhere else to go."
- The focus on credit card fees has climbed during the pandemic, as more people use credit cards for purchases online, and even small, in-store buys like a drink and a snack that would previously have been made with cash. Few smaller retailers however, are expected to add the charge, said Dan Kelly, chief executive of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
- He said: "We've been fighting for the power to surcharge really to ensure that the smaller merchants have the ability to negotiate better pricing. But I've never felt that this is a power that most merchants would take up."
- He said it's too much of a risk for merchants to lose business in competitive markets, but that's likely less of a concern for some bigger companies: "I think there is likely to be some take-up and interest on surcharging among oligopolies and monopolies, and obviously the telecom industry would certainly (fall) in that category."
- Smaller businesses have also been hoping to see relief on credit card processing fees, known as interchange fees, from promises from the federal government. The Liberals in 2019 promised to remove interchange fees on the sales tax portion of receipts and made commitment to reduced fees in its 2021 budget, but as of the 2022 budget the government said it was still in "consultations with stakeholders on solutions to lower the cost of fees for merchants."
- Federal governments have previously secured reductions from credit card companies. In November 2014, Visa and MasterCard voluntarily agreed to reduce their annual average effective fees to 1.5 per cent over five years -- a period that began in April 2015. The companies also agreed to reduce average fees to 1.4 per cent starting in 2020, which when announced in 2018 the government said it expected the reduction to save small and medium-sized businesses a total of $250 million per year. Credit card fees in the European Union, meanwhile, are capped at 0.3 per cent with the aim that retailers' average costs are not higher for cards than for cash payments.
- Supplementals:
Firing Line
- For the last couple decades there has no longer been a choice of ignoring the realities of our technologically connected world.
- We moved from the internet being sparse to everyone having the internet in their pockets.
- This week we’re in with a story that shows that the RCMP has deployed a secret piece of “spyware” as it’s been called that can break encrypted communications.
- The technology has been reportedly in use since 2002 spanning of course Liberal and Conservative governments.
- What is alarming, however, is the frequency of use. The technology has been used in 32 investigations targeting 49 devices since 2017.
- The RCMP says that they do not use the device to conduct mass surveillance.
- What can be done is that the spyware can break the devices encryption and read messages, it can also activate the device camera and microphone.
- These revelations that such a piece of technology exists have spurred questions from federal Privacy Commissioner Philippe (Du-FRAIN) Dufresne who asked the committee investigating the use of the software: “Given this new technology, are the safeguards sufficient? Or do we have recommendations to make it safer from a privacy standpoint? These tools may well be needed, but do they have an impact from a privacy standpoint that is greater than what is warranted?”
- The most damning part of this revelation is that MPs and the federal privacy commissioner found out about the software in use through media reports.
- Before we let you decide on whether or not you approve of the use of this software by the RCMP here are some facts.
- The software is always used with judicial approval.
- Detailed warrant requests need to be sent to judges.
- The application needs to be approved by a superior court judge.
- And according to Public Safety Minister, Marco Mendicino, the technology is only used for terrorism related offences.
- The government also says they are reviewing and updating the Privacy Act and one of the options is to see impact assessments before the government decides to use a new technology.
- In general, Mendicino defended the use of the spyware saying that “rigorous protections are in place.”
- Encryption is based on math and the encryption tools and algorithms used to protect data online are continually evolving.
- As more backdoors are found and more spyware like software is created, that weakens encryption for everyone.
- The ramifications of these revelations this week are also going to have the side effect of pushing bad actors further underground.
- Back at the start of the last decade there was a case in the United States where Edward Snowden, a NSA contractor, went to the media on the extent of the domestic spying program in the US.
- What was essentially happening is that the NSA was tapping large internet routers scooping up bulk loads of traffic. That traffic data, just the metadata they say, was analyzed to see if any bad actors were communicating.
- This revelation had the side effect of ISPs and the government first clamping down on this kind of tapping and secondly, almost immediately all internet traffic from the big websites (think Facebook, Google, etc.) went encrypted with the HTTPS marking that you now see in your web browser.
- We also have to consider the questions of what happens if there is a case where the government is put into a situation where they need to use extraordinary powers in the name of protecting the country or its infrastructure.
- Could the RCMP turn this technology against Canadians in a time of crisis?
- It’s clear that there are ramifications for both the government and bad actors are not yet known. What is clear though is that there needs to be a national discussion on whether or not we want to allow this type of software to be used in our country.
- Supplementals:
Quote of the Week
"All three of our telecom providers … have reported increased profits, increased revenue and increased customers for 2021. They are doing better than ever. This is just another way to raise our bills through shady practices and extra fees and adding things on top so that we are paying even more than we already are." - Rosa Addario, spokesperson for telecom watchdog OpenMedia on Telus’ plan to add a surcharge on cell phone bills paid by credit card
Word of the Week
Surcharge - an additional charge, fee, or tax that is added to the cost of a good or service beyond the initially quoted price.
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Show Data
Episode Title: Charging Forward
Teaser: A BC NDP MLA faces a recall petition, sparse reasons emerge for the Emergencies Act, and Telus wants to charge consumers even more. Also, the RCMP has used spyware for decades to track Canadians.
Recorded Date: August 13, 2022
Release Date: August 14, 2022
Duration: 56:27
Edit Notes: Austria
Podcast Summary Notes
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Duration: XX:XX