There was a good article in the Toronto Star today about Canada's Do Not Call List by Michael Geist who holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law. He notes that the legislation is seriously flawed and that the CRTC is pretty much ineffective in following up on complaints.
I don't know why I ever expected this government to do anything that might actually help consumers instead of their business buddies. Weak legislation. No surprise there.
As well, I had forgotten the CRTC is the body enforcing these rules such as they are. There is little hope that Canadians will be spared those annoying supper time calls. Even if the legislation was air tight, we'd be doomed if we have to depend on the CRTC for enforcement.
If there ever was an ineffective body in Canada, the CRTC is it. They couldn't enforce their way out of a wet paper bag if their existence depended on it, which is doesn't.
I don't know about you but even though I got my name on the Do Not Call List early in the process, we still get bothered frequently by RBC, SaskTel, charities, pollsters, university alumni associations and political parties. I filed a complaint myself after getting daily calls from a cruise company that refused to stop calling me. They laughed at me when I told me I intended to file a complaint. They eventually stopped but, I think it was more that they realized I wasn't going to buy the trip, than from any long arm of the law.
cruise call may have been a scam; which was investigated.
ReplyDeleteGeist's article is based on complaints from nearly a year ago when the service was first starting out...
Notwithstanding the comment by anonymous, the supper hour calls keep coming and there is no sign that any charges were laid with respect to the cruise calls. They were investigated. What was the outcome?
ReplyDelete