1 of 1- RadioActive
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The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
When was the last time you used a phone book? Do you even still have one from the past lying around somewhere? If so, hang onto it - you'll never be able to get another one.
Chances are pretty good you didn't know that under the CRTC rules, your local phone company had to provide you with an official directory (like the old White Pages) if you asked for one. That would have meant they had to have them printed and available and you can only imagine how much trouble and expense that would be.
But a CRTC ruling that went almost unnoticed in late September has now deleted that requirement and that means the final and last end of a relic from another era. (I don't know about you, but the first thing I always did was to look up my name to see if they got it right.)
One commissioner issued a dissent to the ruling, noting some more remote areas of the country that still don't have access to either a reliable Internet connection or high speed service rely on the directories in their communities and he objected to the decision. But he was a voice in the telephone wilderness.
(Packrat that I am, I still have a copy of the last phone book I ever received on my doorstep and one day when my Internet went out, I needed to call someone urgently. Have to admit, it sure came in handy that one day!)
So farewell to the old White and Yellow Pages. Just one question: Where are my fingers supposed to do the walking now?
CRTC Phone Book Decision & Commissioner Dissent
- RadioActive
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
I have this amazing memory about the phone book that has stayed with me all these years.
When I was a kid, I used to love to look up "Dial-A" numbers and listen to the recordings. There was Dial-A-Poem, Dial-A-Story, Dial-A-Joke, Dial-The-Weather and even Dial-A-Quit Smoking Line, though I never touched a cigarette.
But my all time favourite story originated with my older brother, who came home from school one day and couldn't wait to pull out the phone book. In those days long before social media, he'd heard from his classmates that there was a name in the Toronto white pages that was a little dirty and he needed to see it for himself. And sure enough, he found it, listed under the letter "O."
"Gaycoken Offenyum" it read - or something similar to that - followed by a phone number. What does that mean? I obviously don't speak the language, but I've been told by those who do that it's Yiddish for something like "Go piss in the ocean." The phone company obviously had no idea and just accepted it as somebody's name and printed it that way.
It ran in the White Pages for a long time, with no one at Bell apparently noticing.
One day, my brother actually phoned the number to ask about it and reached someone who explained it was just a joke that got published and they never changed it.
That died with the extinction of the phone book, but I'll always remember how one unidentified family put one over on Ma Bell for many years.
I just hope they never went to the beach...
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Thread Starter- Radiowiz
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
HEY? I am still paying for an unlisted number. (meaning, not found in phone book)
If there's no book, where might I still be listed???
*figured it out as I was typing: Listed still means anyone can go to a BELL payphone, dial 411 and get my number for free.
Would I be listed any other way if I stop paying for unlisted number?
- Dial Twister
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
Radiowiz wrote:
HEY? I am still paying for an unlisted number. (meaning, not found in phone book)
If there's no book, where might I still be listed???
*figured it out as I was typing: Listed still means anyone can go to a BELL payphone, dial 411 and get my number for free.
Would I be listed any other way if I stop paying for unlisted number?
"I love the poorly educated."
.......Donald J. tRump
- Hansa
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
Chances are pretty good you didn't know that under the CRTC rules, your local phone company had to provide you with an official directory (like the old White Pages) if you asked for one. That would have meant they had to have them printed and available and you can only imagine how much trouble and expense that would be.
Now you tell me?
- RadioActive
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
Wish I'd known, too!
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Thread Starter- DX
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
Steve Martin weighs in on the matter:
Last edited by DX (October 6, 2025 6:32 pm)
- RadioAaron
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
50% of Canadian households don't have a landline, which means the majority of people don't - and are therefore not in the phone book anyway.
- haydenmatthews14
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
50% of Canadian households don't have a landline, which means the majority of people don't - and are therefore not in the phone book anyway.
Our household doesn’t even have landline phones. We use our iPhones and look up places on Google.
- newsguy1
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
I too as a kid used to leaf through the phone book looking for weird or funny real names of people.
I still remember two of them that made me laugh, Pearl Fallis and Bud Stoney.
- newsguy1
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Re: The CRTC Officially Hangs Up On The Phone Book
I loved the story about Jane Goodall.
When the following cartoon was published Goodall's people sent Gary Larson a stern letter saying the cartoon was disrespectful.
When Goodall found out she wrote to Larson saying she thought it was hilarious and the two became good friends.