Likely to go to the Supreme Court, eventually
QUEBEC CITY – In a ruling issued a month ago, the Court of Quebec determined that the province’s Consumer Protection Act could not apply to contractual issues in wireless telephony, since the national Telecom Act governed all things having to do with telecommunications in Canada.
In an Appeal Notice filed Friday with the Québec Superior Court, the provincial government said the judge confused telecommunications, which are of federal jurisdiction and contractual issues which are of provincial issues as determined by the Supreme Court.
Moreover, by arguing the federal preponderance because there were conflicts between the two legislations, again the Supreme Court had put a high threshold on this argument, the government argues that there is a convergence of objectives in the Telecommunications Act and the Consumer Protection Act: the protection of consumers.
Finally, by arguing that the Telecom Act was already regulating in this area, the judge resuscitated the “occupied field” theory which was specifically rejected by the Supreme Court, says the appeal document.
The next step is for Quebec’s Government to file its comprehensive case, but we would expect this will wind up in the Supreme Court of Canada a couple of years down the line.
