Canada will remain steadfast in its defence of an open Internet even after U.S. telecom regulators have confirmed plans to roll back Obama-era rules designed to protect net neutrality, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said Wednesday.

“Canada will continue to stand for diversity and freedom of expression,” Bains said in an email. “Our government remains committed to the principles of net neutrality‎."

The federal Liberals have emerged as leading proponents of an open Internet, standing against a two-tiered system where certain content is favoured for paid subscribers, while other streams are blocked or slowed.

But that resolve could be tested in light of the U.S. move, said John Lawford, executive director and general counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.

On Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai, appointed by President Donald Trump, proposed a reversal of 2015 net neutrality rules that prevented Internet service providers (ISP) from discriminating in their routing of Internet traffic. Instead, the FCC would require Internet service providers to voluntarily agree to maintain an open Internet.

The FCC is expected to rescind the rules in a vote next month.

“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the Internet,” Pai said in a statement. “Instead, the FCC would simply require Internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them, and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate.”

In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled that ISPs cannot exempt content such as streamed music or video from counting toward wireless data caps. The decision by the telecom regulator followed a complaint against wireless carrier Videotron.

“Internet service providers should be offering more data at lower prices," then-chair Jean-Pierre Blais said in a statement accompanying the CRTC decision in April. “That way, subscribers can choose for themselves what content they want to consume."

Lawford said that the subsequent appointment of former telecom executive Ian Scott as CRTC chair introduces a “wild card,” adding that moves by Canada’s telecom regulator to strengthen net neutrality protections are comparatively recent.

He also noted the 180-degree difference in approaches between Canada and the U.S. in the regulation of bandwidth blocking and slowing. It’s a practice that, if allowed in the U.S., could potentially impact Canadians consuming digital content from U.S. streaming and social media services, Lawford said.

A spokesperson for the CRTC said the regulator’s commitment to “a framework that sets a level playing field” has not changed, regardless of varying telecom policies around the world.

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Major wireless carriers in Canada could seek a review of CRTC net neutrality policies, arguing that harmonization with the U.S. to protect investment here is now warranted, Lawford added. He said that the CRTC had also previously ruled against a Bell Mobility product that favoured certain content, although Bell says the decision was consistent with its operations.

A Bell spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rogers Wireless has supported principles of net neutrality, with regulatory affairs chief David Watt at a 2016 hearing saying that ISPs “should not be allowed to act as gatekeepers and give privileged access to a select few.”