Alexandre Boulerice - 16:23

Lib. (QC)
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You understand there is still a whole set of procedures to follow, but that is one of the options we are looking at.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 16:23

Lib. (QC)
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I have said it before and I will say it again. I intend to introduce legislation on this issue by June, or even sooner if possible. We are not in control of all the mechanics of the decision-making process on this issue. Nevertheless, I hope that by the end of the year we will have new mechanisms in place, but it is not up to me alone. We will need support, and I will be counting on you and your team.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 16:24

Lib. (QC)
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You saw in Ms. Yale's report that there is a proposal to create one fund rather than several. These different funds are, in a way, representative of a time when things worked somewhat in silos, whereas now that is much less the case. It is one option. Will it be the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada or a new fund, as recommended in the Yale report? We are looking at all of that right now.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 16:25

Lib. (QC)
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Honestly, this is the first time anyone has ever talked to me about that.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 16:25

Lib. (QC)
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In terms of contributions to Quebec and Canadian cultural content, I am not sure that income tax is necessarily the way to go, because it goes into the consolidated funds. We can always go to see our colleague in finance to shed light on it for us.
In my opinion, it is much more useful for the arts and culture sector to arrange for them to contribute to one or other of the funds specifically designed for creating cultural content.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 16:26

Lib. (QC)
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As you know, my colleague in finance is responsible for income tax matters. Clearly, he will be able to answer those questions much better than I can.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 16:27

Lib. (QC)
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Perhaps it's because I am not the Minister of Finance.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 16:27

Lib. (QC)
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The group of experts that Ms. Yale chaired is an independent group and it made recommendations to the government. We are currently examining those recommendations with our colleagues at the department. We are studying various aspects of the new system that we want to build. This is one recommendation among others, and it is one of the aspects we are examining.
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Scott Simms - 16:28
Kevin Waugh - 16:28

Lib. (QC)
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I think the real question is whether we're looking at them all and analyzing what each of them would mean in terms of the new system we want to build. That's what we're doing. It's not a question of liking or not liking, really. It's what—
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Kevin Waugh - 16:29

Lib. (QC)
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I would invite you to ask my colleague Minister Bains that question, because this is not under the purview of my ministry.
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Kevin Waugh - 16:29

Lib. (QC)
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We could provide, with the department, a list of media organizations—
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Kevin Waugh - 16:30

Lib. (QC)
Hélène Laurendeau - 16:31
Kevin Waugh - 16:31

Lib. (QC)
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It was over five years. Yes, I remember that.
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Jean-Stéphen Piché - 16:31
Kevin Waugh - 16:31

Lib. (QC)
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If I may, that is one element of the assistance to media that we're providing.
The other is the $50 million for local journalism. We will be able to provide you, at the end of the year, with a list of organizations that have received money, how much they have received and so on and so forth.
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Kevin Waugh - 16:32
Martin Shields - 16:32
Martin Shields - 16:32

Lib. (QC)
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I'm not sure I understand specifically what you're....
As I said earlier, this is an independent commission that was—
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Martin Shields - 16:34

Lib. (QC)
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As I said earlier, we are looking at every single recommendation that this independent body has made to us. The way forward for us is not something that will be by the Ministry of Heritage or by myself. We are working in collaboration with the Department of Justice as we move forward, so obviously anything we would be putting forward would have to pass the test of the law.
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Martin Shields - 16:34
Scott Simms - 16:35
Scott Simms - 16:35
Anthony Housefather - 16:35

Lib. (QC)
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Thank you very much, Mr. Housefather.
The question interests me greatly. I was very pleased to see that it was one of the points in my mandate letter. I was saying earlier, in my speech, that my last book dealt with the impacts of digital, both positive and negative. I have studied this issue a lot, and what other governments around the world have done to regulate digital platforms.
Some have the idea that we are going to create a new area of law and apply it to digital, whereas what we are looking to do is use the law that we already have and find tools to apply it online.
There are things that we do not tolerate in real life, but that we tolerate on the Web. We do not yet have the means and the tools we need to respond on the Web as we would in real life.
I hope sincerely that the committee will accept your proposal. We look very favourably on being able to take sustenance from your thoughts on the matter. I do not see why we should permit digital platforms to continue keeping illegal content online, such as hate speech, radicalization, incitement to violence, child exploitation or the creation of terrorist propaganda. It is unacceptable and, in Canada, we must give ourselves the tools we need to solve those problems.
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Anthony Housefather - 16:39

Lib. (QC)
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Let me say two things.
First, it is important to recall what we are trying to do with digital platforms. You talked about the whole matter of freedom of expression. Our courts have very well defined the fact that freedom of expression has reasonable limits in certain cases. What is true for freedom of expression here is just as true on digital platforms. Canada is not going to take over the controls of the Web, not at all, but the reasonable limits that apply in life must also apply on digital platforms. We believe in freedom of expression just as much as we believe in net neutrality.
Second, I can tell you already that the report on the review of the Copyright Act, which the committee submitted in the last parliament, is providing my department and my team with much food for thought.
I solemnly commit before you to give the recommendations that you provide to me all the consideration they deserve, on the regulation of platforms, or on any other subject that may appear important to you.
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Anthony Housefather - 16:41
Nelly Shin - 16:41

Lib. (QC)
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Thank you for the question.
Our government fundamentally believes that all humans are equal. We fundamentally believe in the need to fight racism, for lack of a better word. We have done that from very early on, and we will continue to do it.
On the specific case you're referring to, I don't have the details. As you pointed out, I wasn't there. I would ask Madam Laurendeau to comment, if she wants to.
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Hélène Laurendeau - 16:44

Lib. (QC)
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May I pick up on the first part of your intervention?
You used the words “focus on unity”. I think the heritage ministry, the portfolio in general and the people who take part in it are uniquely positioned to help us work on unity all across the country—arts, culture, sports, the Olympics coming up—and I think maybe our country could use a bit of a unity boost these days.
I'm very honoured to be here—I said it earlier—but I want to be an advocate for the people who are doing all those amazing things and maybe contribute, in a way, to better national unity.
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Nelly Shin - 16:46
Scott Simms - 16:47

Lib. (QC)
Scott Simms - 16:47

Lib. (QC)
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It's obvious to everybody who's looked at me that I'm very white, but I have a sister who is originally from Haiti. I was made aware of racism and the impact of racism very early on as a child, as a brother of that sister. It's not just a political issue for me as the representative of the government or as a member of a political party. It's something that hits very close to home.
I give you my assurance that as a minister I will do everything that I can to ensure that we have a safe working environment in the heritage ministry. Again, I can't comment specifically on that. I don't know if—
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Scott Simms - 16:48
Tim Louis - 16:48

Lib. (QC)
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Thank you for that question, Mr. Louis.
The government has undertaken a number of things in the last mandate that we intend to pursue.
The first thing I should talk about is the historic investment in the arts and culture sector. If they're not the most important, proportionally, of all the G7 countries, then those investments in the last mandate were amongst the highest in the sector on a per capita basis. The Canada Council for the Arts and a historic investment in the CBC....
We've launched a number of initiatives or provided increased funding to organizations in the arts and culture sector, and more specifically for music. I think about the additional $20 million over two years that was provided to the Canada music fund.
Some of the elements that we have started doing around our cultural export strategy include the Frankfurt book show that will happen next fall. It's interesting to note that every year Frankfurt invites a country to be the host of the book show in Frankfurt. I was talking to someone, I believe from New Zealand—I think it was the last country to host that book show in Frankfurt—who told me that tourism went up 15% to 17% in New Zealand after they did that. The person I was talking to was clearly making a link between those.
Culture is obviously about more than money, but it's also about that. There's an intrinsic value to our arts and culture, but there is also a very important economic element for our country for getting our shows, music and books exported. We want people to discover them here, obviously. As you were pointing out in your question, in a world that is getting more and more global, it's also important to get our stories seen abroad, should they be in music, theatre or TV.
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Tim Louis - 16:52

Lib. (QC)
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Yes, absolutely.
One of the reasons we have committed to doing this review of the CRTC and to changing some of our laws is so we can continue telling our stories to ourselves and also be able to tell them to others. I, like many of you probably, have a subscription to Netflix, as I have to Ici Tou.tv, which is the Radio-Canada equivalent to Gem for CBC. I'm always amazed that we can have access to Norwegian or South Korean TV series, but I think some of our series are very popular. Kim's Kitchen is one of the most popular TV series in South Korea now. It's a CBC production. To give a French Canadian example, a Quebec artist, a comedian, just sold a series to Netflix, which aired on Radio-Canada, Les pêcheurs, which my kids love. I think it's the first TV series from Canada that has been bought by Netflix. There's a huge potential to get.... We've had 50 co-production agreements in the last little while. It's about getting our stories out there, but also it's about making people here work and benefit from all this work.
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Scott Simms - 16:54
Scott Simms - 16:54
Martin Champoux - 16:55

Lib. (QC)
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You are actually bringing up a number of issues. For example, in the last five years, there has been a significant increase in revenue from the sale of online music, particularly in Quebec. The issue, of course, is that the artists, those who make that music, should be entitled to their fair share of that cake and that there should not be a whole lot of intermediaries between the artists and the Spotifys of the world, for example, who are nicely lining their pockets.
Online music sales are really increasing. So a part of the system is working, but another part is not working. That is one of the things that we want to review as we make this change.
As I said to Mr. Boulerice just now, it is my firm intention to introduce a bill by June and, ideally, well before that so that it can be passed before the end of the year.
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Martin Champoux - 16:57
Martin Champoux - 16:58

Lib. (QC)
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The Government of Quebec is responsible for Télé-Québec, if I am not mistaken.
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Martin Champoux - 16:58

Lib. (QC)
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It is still a very good question. You have been able to see that, in my mandate letter, I have been asked to see how Radio-Canada could contribute more significantly to regional media coverage. You probably heard, as I did, the president of CBC/Radio-Canada, Ms. Tait, say that, in her opinion, the future of journalism is local journalism. Radio-Canada has already begun that process. The idea is not to impose our views on Radio-Canada, but to work in collaboration with the broadcaster to see how that objective can be achieved.
Let me tell you about the pilot project that Radio-Canada and the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper are doing in collaboration. In that pilot project, which is a first for Radio-Canada, stories coming from the Winnipeg Free Press are published on Radio-Canada’s website, but only in part. If people want to see the story in full, they have to go to the Winnipeg Free Press site.
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Martin Champoux - 16:59
Alexandre Boulerice - 16:59

Lib. (QC)
Alexandre Boulerice - 16:59

Lib. (QC)
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You are right. In our election platform, we made a commitment to Téléfilm. The NFB’s budget was increased, but that happened several years ago. Part of the increase was taken up by the move.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 17:00

Lib. (QC)
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I have met with people from the NFB, and with officials from its union. We are very aware of the situation and, at the moment, I am working very hard for the NFB. Let’s see what that produces in the near future.
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Alexandre Boulerice - 17:01
Hélène Laurendeau - 17:01
Alexandre Boulerice - 17:01

Lib. (QC)
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As I am an author myself, the copyright issue affects me specifically and it is a subject that I know a lot about. If I recall correctly, the problem was identified in one of your committee’s recommendations in the 42nd Parliament. You understand that I only have one hand on the steering wheel; the other hand belongs to my colleague Mr. Bains. It is a matter on which we have to work together, and we will do so.
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Scott Simms - 17:02