A PEI senator finds “do-not-call lists” do not have much power
While the government has been able to catch telemarketers who call people included on the do-not-call list, it has failed at collecting money from their fines. The total value of fines for those who violated the list, levied by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, was $73,000 as of March 1 this year. But the CRTC had managed to collect just one partial payment from one company, valued at $250. This revelation is included in information supplied to Percy Downe, a Liberal Senator for Prince Edward Island. He investigated the list after getting complaints from PEI locals. The CRTC told Downe that telemarketers would not be calling people who had requested to be on the no-call list. But Downe remained skeptical. “Well, most telemarketers, I am sure, are very honest. But the shady ones are the ones causing all the problems.”