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This is the third instalment in Access Denied, a four-part series on protectionism in Canada and beyond

The telecommunications industry in Canada may have among the world’s strictest foreign ownership rules, making it an easy target for criticism about the lack of competition and high prices, but it certainly didn’t at its inception.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Canada has one of the world’s most protected telecom sectors — and the rates to show for it Back to video

Americans owned the Bell Telephone Co. of Canada when it was incorporated by a special act of Parliament in 1880. Legislators then — and for decades after — were apparently unfazed by foreign ownership in the quest to connect the country with telephone service.

It’s all driven by our desire to protect Canadian culture and ensure we don’t get swamped by Hollywood Former CRTC chairman Konrad Von Finckenstein

Indeed, it wasn’t until the federal government enshrined the Telecommunications Act in 1993 that foreign ownership restrictions came into play. At that time, telecom had become entwined with broadcasting, where foreign ownership rules were seen as necessary to protect Canada’s culture.

But recent moves to relax the rules, albeit only for smaller players, and dramatic changes in how people communicate leave questions as to what protectionism accomplishes and whether it’s still necessary in an industry dominated by wireless and internet technologies that are already largely global.