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Results: 106 - 120 of 202
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
As Jean-Stéphen and Owen explained earlier on, we are keeping most of the infrastructure of the actual broadcasting legislation and regulation.
What we're doing with C-10, and I think why the bill has been saluted by so many, is we're keeping what's working and we're adding this whole other layer of elements where Canadian regulations will be able to be applied to online giants, like Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple Music.
To correct something Mr. Rayes said earlier, he said that we've been waiting for five years. Actually, we haven't. My predecessor commissioned a group of people who went across the country and received almost 2,000 position papers from different organizations. That concluded in the Yale report, which was tabled in early 2020. We then took that and started working on the bill, which was introduced a year later in the middle of the greatest pandemic we've seen in 100 years.
I don't think we've actually been losing a lot of time on this. We have acted very promptly to make this happen.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes. It's clearly not what we're doing.
There's no censorship in Canadian broadcasting right now. There are different types of stations, different types of TV and radio stations that will have different angles on the political spectrum. This is totally normal in a democracy. What we're trying to do is apply that regulatory framework to online broadcasters.
In the case of YouTube, for example, we're not particularly interested in what people...you know, when my great-uncle posts pictures of his cats, that's not what we're interested in as a legislator.
When YouTube or Facebook act as a broadcaster, then the legislation would apply to them and the CRTC would define how that would happen. But really, we're not interested in user-generated content. We are interested in what broadcasters are doing.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you for the question, Mr. Champoux.
Do you find many provisions in the current act that have helped French carve out the place it has today on the small and big screen? The answer to that question is no. It is thanks to the regulations and the various decisions of the CRTC that we have succeeded in building an internationally renowned French-language industry in Canada. Today, our directors are sought after and highly coveted all over the world, especially in the United States. Yet there is little in the current act that defines the French fact or protects it.
Could amendments be made to the bill so that there is greater recognition of French? As I said before, if there is something that needs to be added to the bill, I am very much open to that possibility. However, it should be understood that the mechanics will be handled by regulation.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
I think you misunderstand the role of a regulator. Personally, I have never intervened with the CRTC, but I have intervened with many Quebec and federal energy regulators.
A regulator does not make its decisions according to the number of companies that lobby it for deregulation or for better regulation. That is not how a regulator works, not the Régie de l'énergie du Québec, not the Canada Energy Regulator, not the CRTC. Rather, it considers all of the positions submitted to it, in light of the law that governs its work.
In addition, through Bill C-10, the government is giving itself greater ability to give direction to the CRTC.
In light of all this, this is how the CRTC and all regulatory agencies make decisions.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
There is indeed a big difference between the two. Ms. Messier and you are absolutely right.
I have said it before and I will say it again: if amendments need to be made to the bill to clarify a number of things, I will be very much in favour of that.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
No, not at all. In fact, Mr. Ripley answered that question very well earlier, in the first hour of the meeting, when he said that it was not a law, but a directive. The CRTC has no authority over this issue. It's a government decision.
Could another government decide to change things? A government is always sovereign and free to make its own decisions. In any event, the CRTC cannot do that, and the act does not change that. The directive that is in place stays in place.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
I was under the impression that we were going to talk about Bill C-10 today, so most of the information I have with me is on issues relating to Bill C-10.
You may recall that our government made a record-level investment into the CBC in the previous mandate, after years of cutbacks under the Harper government.
I do not have that information offhand; I'm sure we could provide it to you.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
I've been clear from the beginning. Bill C-10 won't fix everything when it comes to looking at broadcasting generally defined. It doesn't address issues related to the CBC.
We are a minority government. We took those elements of the Yale report that we felt were the most crucial to implement. As I've said before, there are a number of other recommendations coming out of the Yale report that we would like to move forward with. We just can't do everything at once. If I presented the House and this committee with a bill that encompassed everything under the sun, I sincerely doubt we would ever be able to get the bill through.
I do think we can get Bill C-10 adopted. It won't solve everything, but it will solve an important part of the equation. My government believes in the Canadian broadcaster. We have made significant investments in the Canadian broadcaster, and I want to ensure a healthy future for our Canadian broadcaster.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
I'm going to give you the same answer that Jean-Stéphen gave you earlier. We don't have these numbers offhand. We would be happy to provide them.
If you will allow me, what I would add is that there's a trend in this country, which started before our government, with the previous government, of putting more and more money in terms of publicity into online platforms. This is something we have started to change. You won't see it before next year. We have started to change the investment we make in publicity away from online platforms.
I agree. We've done too much investment in online platforms, and we need to change this.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
We've already started working on that.
As I said, this year's numbers, once they become available and they've been compiled, will show that we've started changing that trend, but the issue is not resolved. I'm the first one to admit that.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
As Mr. Ripley explained earlier, we're not sacrificing the ownership of Canadian broadcasters. We're not. That's simply not the case.
What we're doing, through those modifications in the proposed bill, is ensuring that Canadian laws and regulations can apply to online platforms, which they can't right now. If we don't create a space in the bill to do that, how can we apply our laws and regulations to them? If we don't do that, then this whole discussion about that additional $830 million for Canadian culture will never be able to manifest itself.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
It may have only been two ads—and we would have to verify that—but under the Harper government, it would have been zero ads, so I guess two is better than zero. That's the first thing I would say.
The second thing I would say is that we have provided close to $800 million of funding since budget 2019 to help Canadian media through this crisis.
The third thing I would say, which I said in my remarks initially, is that we are working on a bill. Broadcasting is not the same as media, but I'm on record many times as saying that I'm in favour of fair compensation for Canadian media by web giants like Facebook and Google. I therefore respectfully disagree with Mr. Chan's comments publicly or to this committee. At Canada's initiative, we have started an international coalition of countries working together to do just that, with Australia, Germany, France, Finland and, soon enough, many others. I don't think we've been passive on this. We've been very proactive.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
Where to start? CBC does not have a monopoly. There are plenty of other broadcasters across the country, both on radio and on television. I think what CBC is doing in terms of moving some content online is what a number of broadcasters are doing.
We could be talking about Bell Media. We could be talking about Quebecor. This is because more and more users.... I know for a fact that my kids don't listen to the radio as I do and certainly don't read newspapers—paper copies—like I do. That's not how they get their information. I think what the CBC is doing is a reflection of what pretty much everybody in the market is doing.
What we're trying to do with Bill C-10 is to ensure that Canadian broadcasters, Canadian producers of culture and artists get their fair share out of this transformation.
View Steven Guilbeault Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Housefather, for your intervention and your questions.
We don't get to revise a bill like the broadcasting bill every other day of the week—it's been 30 years. If we're doing it now let's try to make it the best possible bill that it can be and resolve as many issues as possible. So of course I would be happy to contemplate changes that would improve it even more.
Results: 106 - 120 of 202 | Page: 8 of 14

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