Mr. Chair, in the time remaining let us review the government's policy on broadcasting.
The reality is that three-quarters of a million Canadian households, which even the government admits, are accessing services outside the broadcasting system in Canada. That means they are accessing either the black or the grey market. They are choosing pirated systems, which should be and is illegal, or they are choosing to access foreign programming like RAI International through services from the United States or other nations.
What is the government response? The response is that the government twice introduced a bill to amend the Radiocommunication Act, which would have criminalized Italian Canadians for watching RAI International. That is what it would have done. It would have criminalized Canadians.
The Conservative Party opposed that at committee. The government finally backed off, realizing that it was going to lose votes. It backed off and pulled the bill back. Here is what happened at committee. One of its own members, Joe Fontana, moved that the committee address this issue, address the broadcasting industry, by looking at amending the Broadcasting Act to allow more choice and competition for Canadian consumers so they do not have to get an illegal service or a pirated system to watch Portuguese television or Italian soccer. They want more choice here in Canada so they can obey Canadian laws.
The government's response is to do nothing. It did not act on its own member's motion in the industry committee. It is the government member's motion.
What has happened since then? A court decision in Quebec basically legalized the grey market. This government is the one that has put the entire Canadian broadcasting industry in peril because it has refused to act and allow choice and competition. When will the government finally allow choice and competition and ensure a lively and active Canadian broadcasting industry that survives well into the future?