Lessons from Canada
In the early morning hours of July 8, Canada’s largest cable network company suddenly went offline. Rogers Communications, Inc., with over 10 million wireless subscribers and 2.25 million retail internet subscribers, suffered a system wide failure (Reuters).
The outage impacted over 25% of Canada’s population, cutting off internet and wifi access, cell phone service, and some landline connections including 911 emergency services. ATMs and online banking services were disrupted at many of Canada’s largest banks. Retail outlets were unable to process debit or credit cards, prompting many to display “cash only” signs in their stores. Some gas stations had to switch to cash only service, stranding commuters who had run low on both fuel and cash. Telephone call-in service was interrupted at airline ticketing centers and even at Canada’s passport offices and the Canada Revenue Agency, the IRS of Canada.
The outage has reportedly been traced to a router malfunction after maintenance work, but it took more than 19 hours to find the problem and start getting the system back online.
What can we learn from our neighbors to the north?
The Rogers outage is a clear example of the potential risks when critical service providers become too large or there are too few providers. We’ve seen the same here in the US. Our massive and tightly integrated electrical power supply systems are susceptible to crashes as we have seen from time to time in recent years. We’ve seen empty store shelves resulting from a production shutdown in one of only three or four suppliers of baby formula in the entire US. The recent Covid-19 crisis revealed that our pharmaceutical industry is totally dependent on China for critical ingredients, putting our medical supplies at great political risk.
Centralized ownership or control greatly increases the possibility of very bad things happening. Businesses and companies can get too large and unwieldly, often resulting in failure to provide the intended products or services. The same can happen with governments and their cumbersome agencies. Consider the current state of our bloated federal government. We are watching a train wreck happening in slow motion before our very eyes.
What’s the solution? Businesses can be restricted in size and scope; greater competition can be promoted. Rogers was in the process of acquiring Shaw Communications, another large player in the cable TV, internet and cell phone business based in western Canada. It’s unlikely this further consolidation will be allowed to proceed. There will be considerable pressure to bring more competition into the communications and interconnection industries in Canada.
The same factors are in play when you consider the power and reach of our federal government. What do we do when it gets out of control?
There is a solution available, a solution as big as the problem. Article V of the Constitution provides for the calling of a Convention of States which enables state legislatures to propose amendments to the Constitution.
Those amendments can reign in the excessive actions of the federal government by imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government, limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limiting the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress. You can learn more by visiting the COS Action website and signing the petition.
Get involved. It is up to all of us to rally against the cancerous growth of the federal government and the resulting insidious erosion of our basic rights and freedoms.
