News Media Industry  That is another attack on workers, Mr. Speaker. Why are the Conservatives so scared of middle-class workers? Under the Harper regime, they waged a war on workers' rights. They made it more difficult for workers to organize freely, bargain collectively and work in safe environments.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, from the outset, we have stressed the importance of having everyone around the table, including newspaper owners, the people working in the newsroom, and unions representing journalists and workers. What we on this side of the House want is a free press, a strong press, an independent press.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, we do not want only CEOs around the table. We need the workers and the journalists. We want francophones, anglophones and members from the ethnic media. We want everybody to be represented, because this is something extremely important. In the last year, thousands of jobs have been lost.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives want to decide who should be on the panel. They decided that the workers should not be there and that the journalists should not be represented. The Leader of the Opposition, this week, went as far as to say that he is going to tell CBC how to cover a story; he is going to tell CBC how to write a story, which questions to ask and whose questions should not be asked.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, we will do so by ensuring that we have a strong and independent free press. That is exactly how we are going to do it. That is exactly what the Conservatives do not want. We want a strong press that asks tough questions. Sometimes, we may not feel like answering all of those questions, but we do it because that is our duty.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, that is a fascinating conspiracy theory. It is impressive to hear. Ultimately, the Conservatives are attacking one of the foundations of our democracy. They are attacking the media. A free and independent press is one of the pillars of democracy and that is what they are attacking.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are playing a dangerous game. They are attacking the media. They are attacking the independence of journalists. I have been very clear since day one that everything will be transparent. Instead of attacking professional journalists, the Conservatives should be there to support them, because they are part of our democracy.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, the Conservatives are playing a very dangerous game. They are attacking the media. They are saying that our journalists can be bought. Yesterday, they said that our journalists were for sale. Instead of supporting professional journalism, they are attacking it.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, if they want to talk about the CBC, let us talk about the CBC. The Leader of the Opposition just said that he would like to dictate to the CBC how it covers its stories, how it tells its stories. That is totally unacceptable. When he was asked if he would cut the CBC, once again he did not answer.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, it is quite something to hear that from a Conservative who wants to get rid of the CBC and control how it covers the news. Once again, the Conservatives are playing a dangerous game by attacking professional journalists and calling them fossils. We, on the other hand, are introducing a program that respects fundamental principles such as the independence and freedom of the press.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, what we need is a panel that is both independent and representative of the entire industry. Yes, it takes employers and people from newsrooms, but it also takes people who represent workers, people who represent journalists, people who represent minority communities and people who represent ethnic media.

News Media Industry  That is a direct attack on our journalists, Mr. Speaker. Our colleague had a very long career in journalism. I am sure he acted very professionally, independently and neutrally. I am sure he did a great job. Therefore, why does he not show the same respect to our journalists who work here and around the country who are very professional?

Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague that the Conservatives did absolutely nothing for an entire decade. I commend him for pointing that out. With regard to the other part of his question, we have been working for a long time to set up a program to support professional journalism.

News Media Industry  Mr. Speaker, again, this is a dangerous game. The Conservatives are saying that the journalists can be bought in our country and we strongly disagree with that. Journalism is one of the pillars of our democracy. We should be there to support it, instead of attacking like the Conservatives are doing.

Government Policies  Mr. Speaker, when the panel was created, including representatives from across the industry was essential. The panel is made up of people from newsrooms, newspaper owners, worker advocates, journalists, ethnic media and francophone communities. It is a balance. That is not the real question, though.