Proposed legislation to toughen penalties

OTTAWA - People caught illegally buying foreign satellite television service could face stiffer penalties if proposed legislation is passed.

Bill C-2, an amendment to the Radiocommunication Act, would increase penalties on individuals from maximum fines of $10,000 and six months in prison to $25,000 and a year in prison.

Critics of the legislation say the bill makes no distinction between people who take Canadian satellite signals without paying and those who pay U.S. providers for channels the Canadian industry isn't willing to offer.

Most of the channels involved offer programming in foreign languages such as Russian, Arabic or Spanish. Canadian providers say the Canadian market is too small to make it worth their while to offer a wide selection of these channels.

Fitzgerald says the government is selling out Canadians' freedom of choice and freedom of expression, in order to please an industry lobby that has recently donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Liberal Party of Canada.