Ontario Adopts New Communications Regulations

Every year I go to Canada. My family has a place on Lake of the Woods in far south western Ontario and we cross 99.9% of the time in International Falls, MN. Being a Ham radio operator I don't go anywhere without a radio. That includes on the road - where I spend the majority of my operating time these days, even on HF.

Based on the article on the ARRL website on the new rules The Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, Canada has declared by October 29, 2009 bill 118 concerning distracted driving will take affect, essentially outlawing communications devices while driving, other than "hands free" devices. In no portion of this bill is Amateur radio excluded - as opposed to the proposals here in the US regarding distracted driving.

I am curious to see what happens with amateur radio technology. With these new regulations popping up the age of hands-free interfaces is upon us. Maybe in the next year or so we will see bluetooth adapters, similar to those used in the cell phone world, become available as accessories to our radios - without the need to experiment and configure the device as currently is the case.

Since the bill in Canada will pass before my next trek, hopefully in the summer, it will be interesting to see if Customs has anything to pick on. Since they mostly deal with issues regarding the Canadian economy (alcohol, tobacco, etc) and the country's safety (terrorism) I would think that the communications issue, especially with everyone these days having cell phones, would be minimal. We'll see.