M-196 Cultural diversity in the online world

That the House, in order to advance the principles of cultural diversity in the online world, as such principles are recognized by UNESCO as a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, and as set forth in the Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, accepted by Canada on November 28, 2005: (a) recognize (i) that Canada’s cultural diversity is reflected in our “cultural content”, the stories, films, music, journalism, art and other creative works through which our local, regional, indigenous, anglophone, francophone, immigrant or other cultural communities relate to each other, (ii) that the benefits and opportunities of the digital world are not shared inclusively, (iii) that the methods of presenting cultural content online are not transparent; (b) call upon the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, in its study of the Copyright Act, to consider (i) the models and distribution methods by which Canadian cultural content is accessed or otherwise made available to online audiences, (ii) the models by which creators are compensated, so as to recommend ways to ensure fairness and protection of Canada’s cultural diversity; and (c) call on the government to (i) engage with other countries in order to promote cultural diversity online, (ii) emphasize Canadian cultural content and the role it has in protecting cultural diversity during the review of the Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Act.