CRTC may tinker with do-not-call list

OTTAWA — Canada's telecommunications regulator is looking at tweaking its telemarketing rules just weeks after introducing a national do-not-call list.

The CRTC says it's considering exempting electoral candidates who are not members of political parties from the list.

Only candidates that are members of registered political parties are presently exempted from being listed in the national registry.

The CRTC is also brainstorming ways to track and remove from the list numbers that have been disconnected or re-assigned.

And the commission may also harmonize its telemarketing rules with provincial laws that restrict the hours in which auto-diallers can be used.

More than 3.3 million telephone, cellular and fax numbers have been registered on the do-not-call list since it was launched Sept. 30.

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L. J. Skinner
said
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To MS: Guess what, Sasktel can call and leave you a message without actually calling! 2 days ago, my message light was blinking aklthought the phone had not rung all day. The "message" was from Sask-Tel's annoying Little Red Riding Hood puppet, telling me about some promotion which I had likely already received several copies of in the mail. That's right, I received an unwanted message from a puppet! And the puppet did it without an actual call! Enough already!

nothing
said
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The best way to get a company to stop phoning you....when they call and ask for MR or MRS just ask them to hold a moment they are just coming down the stairs and put the phone down and see how long they stay on. Waste their time because time is money and they do stop calling.

Maureen Taylor
said
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The list still won't stop the Credit card rating companies in the States from the 323 exchange or the 000 exchange that has a boat horn and the captain telling you that you have won a trip.

Kyle
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Kyle from Calgary,
You had to know there was going to be some tinkering because of political and business �pressure� on a federal agency. In my dealing(s) with the CRTC, it became very evident their focus was on the interests of business and political groups who were �cold calling� me. They reluctantly took my complaints but implied (more so stated), nothing would come of it. One CRTC rep actually told me I had fewer rights under privacy laws than companies such as TELUS or SHAW. I work with these laws for a law enforcement agency, and know this is inaccurate. In addition, they adamantly denied companies use automated dialers -- we all know this is how mass telemarketing is conducted. We have Caller ID and an unlisted number but that didn't stop the same numbers from calling our home, sometimes 4-5 times a day. To me, this is more criminal than a nuisance. The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) �do not contact� service appears more effective at this point � even though they can�t do anything about political groups calling. With 3 Million Canadians applying for the CRTC do not contact service, enough in the first 8 hours or so to crash their servers, a huge message has been sent. My only advice to those still suffering from this "plague" is pay the extra for caller id, get on the CMA do not contact list and lambast, at any and every opportunity, your MP and/or CRTC complaint line. Three million people and they are going to tinker with exemptions? I figured when their servers crashed this was a harbinger -- despite an anemic survey prior, they grossly underestimated how fed up Canadians are with practice. Expect more tinkering unless you become a pain for your MP and the CRTC -- it's the only option they have left us.

Liz, Markham
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No more excemptions are needed. I don't want any of them calling (political parties, Alumni Associations, charities, etc.). If I want to donate to them, have my windows cleaned, etc., I will call them. There is absolutely no need for them to call me.

Bundy
said
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How about we tinker with the CRTC and get rid of this useless agency.

Laurie
said
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So there is now 3.3 million numbers on a data base that hackers WILL get into and cause more problems than any telemarketer has. Easiest thing to do is just hang up the phone.

bewildered mike
said
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Call display? Are you suggesting I pay the phone company to put a stop to an annoying practice.? what a sad way to solve a problem they obviously condone. there must be a better way to deal with this.
I know!!! maybe something like a DO NOT CALL LIST. call me cynical, but...

Theo from Ottawa
said
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As far as I'm concerned the entire telemarketing industry should be made completely illegal.

The telemarketing industry has strongly proven through its actions (or lack thereof) that they are completely unwilling and/or
unable to self-police their own industry, so I say "Let's just get rid of them."

Nobody wants them anyway. The number of registrants in the "Do Not Call" list has surely demonstrated that.

I pay my phone bill, not the telemarketers. To me, that means it's there for MY use, MY purposes, and MY convenience - NOT theirs.
If there's a charity or a cause I feel warrants my financial contributions or other forms of support, then I will find a way to support them, ESPECIALLY if they're smart enough to not annoy me at dinnertime.

Shaun from Montreal
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To all of those complaining about the adjustments... Get a life. It is the right of a political candidate to contact all it his or hers constituents. the DNCL is basically designed for telemarketers. So stop complaining and get off your HIGH horse.

Trent
said
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This list is already water down too much. If anything, I want the current exemptions removed.

lacluont
said
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If they would ADD charities to the list....eg. help send little johnny to the circus, etc. then I would sign tomorrow.
I support MY charity favourites....and all the others.....especially that request by phone, are not welcome. In fact, I might even STOP supporting a charity that DARED ask for money over the phone. This should be ILLEGAL!!!!!!!!!

MP
said
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Hey CRTC...you created a fantastic service to protect my right to privacy.

Are you telling me you're thinking of ways to VIOLATE that right?

Here's a thought - DON'T.

Denis @ Ottawa
said
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So, when are they going to add the Do not Call no matter what list? THAT is the one I want. The only people I want calling me are friends and family members.

Really Angry
said
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Up to my retirement I was shift worker,meaning I sleep during the day,but I was also on call a great deal so the phone couldn't be unplugged.
The harrassment from these telemarketers drove me nuts....even with an unlisted number.No sleep makes Jack a real angry guy!
Even after explaining to one company that I was on call and sleeping,the auto dailer or computer continued to call 36 times that day!

Roger from Edmonton
said
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i'm a member of a religious organization and we love calling people! If you don't want to answer your phone, don't answer it. Meanwhile there are people out there who love you! Agape'

WR soney creek
said
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Just FYI, after entering my name on the do not call list, my annoying telemarketer phone calls have gone UP to 2-3 per day from 2-3 times per week.... just what did I sign up for anyways?

What part of DO NOT CALL do they not UNDERSTAND?
said
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I added myself by 07:30 on the first day - to both the gov't list and the "ioptout" list. The number of calls has decreased...THANK HEAVENS. I was so sick and tired of getting calls and recorded voicemails...even as late as 22:30!!! If I want a service, I WILL go looking for it thank you very much. I have caller id and depending on the mood I'm in I either don't answer, or I pick it up, and lay the receiver down on the table. I get a sweet sense of delight hearing the voice saying "Hello? hello?! HELLOOOOOOOO?" How persistent must you be to work for one of these bloody companies?!

Graeme
said
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Whether all are exempt or banned, the rules should be the same for party candidates or independents.

Doug BC
said
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WOW.So many angry people on here.I signed up,but the site advised me that it would take a while to make a difference.I actually forgot exactly how long,but a date in November sounds about right.
Also,even those partiesw who are exempt are required to keep their own lists.If you don't want to hear from them in the future,you can tell them so.
I really don't want a lot of calls either.But there are good reasons for some exemptions.Especially for those trying to raise funds for charitable work.And even then you can be asked to be put on their "do ot call" lists.
Aren't we all whining a lot about something that is an improvement,even though some will look for imperfections??

Anne Ottawa
said
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I see alot of negativity on here, tsk tsk. I have definitely seen a positive change since I put myself on the do not call list - I was on it the first day. For the first week or two I still got some calls, then hardly any. Now mostly just businesses like Bell and Sears that I have had dealings with, so I am dealing with them each individually asking to put me on their do not call list. As one lady said on here, you just have to ask them politely not to call you anymore and they have to comply. What annoys me are the ones that generate an automatic message the minute you answer, how do we stop those??

Mark
said
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The best way to end these calls is not to have a phone. It works for my landlord.

Lynn
said
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I dont have a land line, I use only my cell phone. I do not receive any calls from telemarketers unless I have purchased something from them. In which case I ask them to remove me from their list. Temporary Answer to this problem would be for everyone to ditch the landline and use their cell phone.

Lesley
said
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I added myself to the do not call list the first day as well quite aware that I still will get some calls after the waiting period.
I do not want anyone to call period!
Pretty soon they all will be calling us to see if we would like to be put on their call list!
As for your bank calling you...
TD Canada Trust has a "do not call for extra services" notification on my accounts and they did not even charge for that service!
Each business or organization will remove you from their lists if you ask...politely!
Lesley

Nick J Boragina
said
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I fully agree that the list should not interfere with our democracy. If people are so upset about those "horrible horrible politicians" then why don't they run for office themselves to get some good ones elected. The fact that people don't tell me that they are, in fact, satisfied with the current crop. Remember, all of our MP's were picked from the candidates and voters decided they were the BEST people for the job.

BC Wet Coaster
said
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Here's a concept:

Pass federal legislation making it illegal to perform telemarketing or support telemarketing in this country.

That way if some company supports or practices telemarketing (either directly within the country or hiring firms outside of Canada), they are handed a hefty fine.

Until then, I'll continue to use my call display and not pick it up unless I recognize the number.

Robin the Hood
said
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So far so good... I have noticed a reduction in calls since signing up a few weeks ago. Hope it stays that way and should also include newspapers! This must be killing the telemarketing business though!?

MS
said
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And this is why I have caller ID if I dont know the number I don't pick up the phone. No more telemarketers or politicians calling me while I'm trying to eat dinner. I didn't have that with an unlisted/blocked number or with the do-not-call list. Trust me caller ID is the way to go!

nc
said
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Please do not call me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elizabeth M
said
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Ottawa Gal,
You may have signed up for the list, but clearly you did not read the instructions or the disclaimers. Companies have until November 20th to remove numbers on this list. When new people register, they can expect it to take up to 30 days before calls stop. Also, you have to think about all of the exceptions: banks, charities, political parties, newspapers, anyone with whom you have previously had a business relationship. It will only stop the cold-callers.

Cindy
said
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I signed up on the Do not call list and the i opt out list (stops calls from people who are exempt from the do not call list-you can find it at ioptout.ca) and I am still getting just as many calls but they say it takes 31 days to be effective,11 days to go! It would have made much more sense to have everyone on the do not call list and have people sign up if they want to be annoyed, disturbed and harrassed by calls. Government make sense???What was i thinking?

Ban all
said
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Better yet ban all calls from political candidates or their parties.

Michael D from Niagara
said
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Ya, I knew that they would somehow mess with the do-not-call list so more telemarketers will call even if you have your number on the list...there's only one way out of the telemarketing terror and that's to have an unlisted number and or call-blocking features added to you monthly phone bill.

dwayne-ottawa
said
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waste of tax dollars can i say more

Ottawa Gal
said
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Funny I signed up for this list and I see no change.. i still get calls at the worst times, Sa

Ian - Milton
said
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Tinker -tinker-tinkerbell!

I thought we have a fundamantal right by the Charter to not be harrassed by anyone! We could even claim harrassment at a Tribunal - but no, not when it comes to trying to get our $$$ or vote.

This is a joke and an invasion of my privacy - I don't want ANYONE calling me who is not a friend, coworker or family member!

If I need a service I will call for it.

Really, I Mean it. DO NOT CALL ME!
said
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The biggest failure point in the list is exempting ANY politicians from a do not call request.

Why should blatant political self-interest from people using our tax dollars be exempt from a list that is supposed to protect us from unwanted solicitation?

Why am I not allowed to say to politicians "I don't want to hear from you" if I am allowed to say it to a vacuum cleaner salesman?

I find both groups equally annoying so both should stay off my phone!

Dan in Ottawa
said
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I don't want any calls! Stop making exemptions to the do not call list. I am on the list because I DO NOT WANT TO BE CALLED. Duhhhh.

Louis-Paul Markham
said
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Under no circumstances are ANY political candidates allowed to call if they did not get my wriiten permission first.

Turn this bloody thing into a Please call list with the dfault being DO NOT CALL!

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