With wireless phone number portability now apart of the Canadian telecommunications industry, there is another important issue that needs to be covered. This involves the manufacturers and retailers of cell phones. Cell phones that are locked to a particular cellular company should not be allowed in Canada.

Imagine if you had to buy a computer if you switched internet providers? Sounds ridiculous? Well having to buy a new cell phone because you switch cellular service providers, is just as ridiculous. The main technologies in cell phones are shared throughout the industry. Why can’t I use the cell phone, that I bought, however I wish? I know that there are ways to unlock the cell phones, but this is too much of a haste to deal with and usually it requires paying shady businesses.

Consumers need to be protected more in Canada. This would also encourage the adoption of cell phones in Canada, which is currently at a low rate compared to other industrialized countries. It’s time we encourage technology, instead of making it more expensive for the people who embrace it.

I wrote an email off to the Prime Minister, environment minister/critics, revenue minister/critics, and party leaders last week.

I found that my idea was announced in a press conference, pretty much word for word. Don’t worry, I’m not asking for credit. I could care less. I’m just so excited that a politician actually took me seriously. This politician was Jack Layton. If you think this is just a partisan post, I urge you to read my email and the NDP press release.

And if you agree with this idea, please send off letters to your MP and appropriate ministers/critics and party leaders.

My email:

To: Prime Minister of Canada, Revenue Minister and Critics, Environment Minister and Critics, Party Leaders

I am writing to each one of you today, as this does concern each one of you and the portfolios you carry.

I believe that the CRA should provide free tax software to Canada. This would save money in printing, paper, logistics, etc. because less would need to be printed, which would mean less paper and less logistical planning as the software could be provided over the internet. Of course paper filing would still be needed, but it wouldn’t be as prominent.

We are in the digital age, and by continuing to have a vast amount of taxes filed through paper instead of digital means is inefficient and also has a huge impact on our environment. Thousands of trees could be saved each year and less emissions would be produced in the shipping of tax packages if this was implemented, which would help us reach our Kyoto targets. This is not just a problem immune to the CRA, but I believe it is a good place to start.

So I urge you all to consider this proposal seriously. We should be looking into new ways of doing things more efficiently, and not always relying on the traditional way of doing things.

Tyler Kinch

The NDP Press Release:

OTTAWA – Today, NDP leader Jack Layton called on the Conservative government to help Canadians move towards electronic tax filing to reduce costs and help the environment, and he thinks the government should give ordinary Canadians a tax break for doing the right thing.

The NDP is proposing that beginning in the 2008 tax year, the federal government provide all tax filers with easy-to-use interactive electronic tax software free of charge, just like they do with paper forms now. To offset a portion of the costs of the tax software in the 2007 tax year the government should give a $10 rebate to taxpayers using NETFILE.

“By encouraging Canadians to file their taxes electronically we can shrink the ecological footprint of the annual tax package by reducing printing, transportation and physical storage requirements,” Layton said. “Helping Canadians move away from paper tax forms is where government leadership is needed.”

This tax season, approximately eleven million Canadians will submit their taxes by mail using a paper tax package, while less than 4 million will file electronically using NETFILE, the Canada Revenue Agency’s free Internet transmission service.

“Right now, the government provides the portal to accept your return electronically, but doesn’t provide the forms to file electronically. Hard-working Canadians have to buy software at a cost of up to fifty dollars a year. So the government is only providing half of the solution,” Layton said. “It’s as though 40 years ago they gave you the envelope but told you to go to Eaton’s to buy the paper forms.”

“This is a plan for fairness. By modernizing the old-style tax forms and replacing them with easy to use electronic ones, ordinary Canadians will get a break at tax season for doing the right thing, by saving money for the government and helping to protect our environment,” Layton added.