Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many Northerners and Canadians generally have been raising concerns for years about the restrictive and confusing terms of their cell phone contracts. They complain about being locked into three-year contracts with unreasonably high penalties to get out of them, changes to fees and services without their consent, automatic renewals and the lack of clear information about their contracts.

In response to these complaints, the province of Manitoba has stepped in with legislation to protect consumers to ensure a degree of fairness. On May 1

st , Nova Scotia will follow Manitoba’s lead with new

rules that cap cancellation fees at $50 or 10 percent of the amount remaining on the contract, whichever is lower. Further, any cell service providers will not be able to make unilateral changes to important contract terms such as services, fees and locations where phones can be used unless those changes benefit the consumer. Automatic renewals will no longer be permitted. Cell phone companies will have to contact their customers to confirm whether they want to continue their service. The legislation also includes rules around advertising and information provided to customers before they sign on.

This is more than a boondoggle opportunity to create changes, this is a real opportunity for real protection. As we see the cell phone services are

finally rolling out and expanding across our northern regions, the time to act is now. There are some simple and fair changes that protect consumers and we can see them easily adopted here in the Northwest Territories.

Later today I will be asking the Minister as to what he will be doing about these changes to finally put real protection for Northerners, and show them our government stands with them and not against them. Thank you.