Net neutrality is safe in Canada after the House of Commons unanimously voted on May 23 to adopt a motion introduced by Oakville MP John Oliver to enshrine it in legislation.

“I’m thrilled that after debate, my colleagues from all parties agreed that this is a critical issue of our times,” said Oliver.

“It was very rewarding to see that work can be done across the aisle, and to have unanimous support of the House is amazing. I think it sends a very clear signal that this is something that Canadians believe in.”

Motion M-168 calls on the federal government to strengthen and protect an open Internet nationally by including net neutrality as a guiding principle in its upcoming review of the telecommunications and broadcasting acts.

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Net neutrality refers to all web traffic being given equal treatment by Internet service providers (ISPs), which means users experience equal access to web content and preventing ISPs from favouring their own material or that of others.

“By setting net neutrality as a guiding principle in the review of these (telecommunications and broadcasting) acts, it signals a clear commitment to placing consumers and content creators first,” said Oliver, noting he believed it was an important signal to send.

“I look forward to the robust conversation about net neutrality between the government and Canadians as an essential component of the review.”

The news from Ottawa arrived on the heels of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announcing earlier this month U.S. net neutrality rules would expire on June 11 — giving ISPs the power to decide how their consumers will be able to access the internet.

Back in December 2017, the FCC officially repealed the president Barack Obama-era open-Internet rules, which were set in 2015.

The big telecommunications companies had lobbied for these rules to be repealed, arguing it represented overregulation and discouraged investment in broadband networks.