On their side

If there's any element of the right-wing self-image that fits even less with the facts than their claim to responsible financial management, it's their attempt to be seen as consumer-friendly by...every so often declaring that businesses could consider doing better without government action. And Michael Geist points out just who it is that the Cons side with when they have the choice:

Last week I discussed the well-known challenge faced by millions of Canadians as they sort through a myriad of cellphone pricing plans in a marketplace still lacking in robust competition.

Previously unreported, however, is that Industry Canada officials identified the same problem and worked for years to develop an online tool to address it.

After spending tens of thousands of dollars creating and testing an online calculator designed to help consumers select their ideal wireless plan, Industry Minister Tony Clement killed the project weeks before it was scheduled to launch.

Government records suggest intense lobbying this spring by Canada's wireless companies, who feared the service would promote lower-cost plans, played a key role in the decision.
...
The focus groups' response to the cellphone cost calculator was positive, with the vast majority of participants indicating they would use the tool and encourage friends and family to do the same.

Yet just as Industry Canada was set to launch the tool, the major wireless carriers began lobbying against it.

According to lobbyist registration records, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and Bell Canada met with officials from Clement's office on April 8, with the association listing telecommunications regulation and consumer issues as the topics of discussion.

Two weeks later, Telus also met with the same officials to discuss consumer issues.

The carriers were apparently concerned that the tool only covered voice services and was geared toward lower-priced plans.

Sensing that Clement was facing pressure to block the calculator, Canadian consumer groups wrote to the minister, urging him to stick with it.

Despite months of preparation, thousands of dollars in taxpayer expense, the creation of an effective tool and the obvious benefits for lower-income Canadians, Clement nevertheless killed the project.

So never mind the market forces which the Cons normally claim to want to apply, nor the obvious value of providing more and better information to Canadians than carriers would provide themselves. Instead, Tony Clement apparently fully supports the telecoms' view that lower-income Canadians should pay more for their cell-phone plans than they would if they knew what options actually existed. Which should make it clear that when it comes down to choosing between the interests of citizens and those of corporations looking to preserve artificially high profits at customer expense, the Cons will side against mere Canadians every time.