You might think after all my ranting against Bill C-11, there was nothing the feds could do that I support. But that's not the case. I've never heard of something called Bill C-288, but it sounds like a piece of legislation we can all give a thumb's up to. 

Essentially, the law would force the Bells, Rogers and other ISPs in Canada, to tell you exactly what speed you're getting on your Internet connection when you sign up for their service, instead of being allowed to claim they give you "up to [insert number here.]" The bill has gotten through the House of Commons and is now in the Senate. If they pass it without amendments, it could soon be law. It also means they can't tell you one thing if you decide to sign up with them and then deliver you something else - generally less than was promised. 

A long time ago (around the debut of Windows 95), I was a Bell Sympatico customer, using dial-up to access the Internet. There wasn't anything else and I wasn't going with Rogers. So I took what I could get. After a few years, I received a call out of the blue from a Bell technician who asked me if I was aware that I wasn't getting the speed I should have been and it had been going on for a long, long time. 

Why he called me out of the blue to tell me this, I've never learned. But I had no way of measuring it at the time, and was stunned. So I phoned Bell, asking them what they planned to do about it, and whether I could get a refund for all those years of service I didn't actually receive. The answer was a very unsympathetic "no," and don't ask again. It was clear they didn't care. 

A few weeks later, I became a Teksavvy customer and have been with them ever since. And that's how you drive away clients who never come back. It was decades ago, but I've never forgotten that feeling of being ripped off. Worse yet, they knew it and didn't care. 

If you wonder why I hate Bell so much, that's just one reason. In any event, the telcos can't be happy about this proposed new law so I hope it passes - with all due speed!