Canadian Heritage committee  It means created by that news business.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Chair. As I understand the objective of the amendment, it is to provide some texture, essentially, to the programming of community media. There are a number of places where the committee has amended the act to make reference to community media and the unique role they play in the system, so this further elaborates on the kind of programming that they would be expected to deliver.

Canadian Heritage committee  In essence, this would add an additional policy objective. If I understood its placement correctly, it would follow on from those that speak to the discoverability of Canadian programming services and whatnot. The only thing I would highlight is that (q), which is the proposed paragraph it falls under, speaks specifically to “online undertakings that provide programming services of other broadcasting undertakings”.

Canadian Heritage committee  The effect of this amendment would be to remove the policy objectives that speak to the discoverability of Canadian programming services and Canadian programs, including French language programs, as well as to the importance of online undertakings promoting and recommending Canadian programming in both official languages and indigenous languages.

Canadian Heritage committee  As a point of clarification, the CRTC is currently engaging with Canadian broadcasters about progressively expanding described video across all their programming. Those conversations between the CRTC and Canadian broadcasters are ongoing. I believe what you have described, Mr. Housefather, would be consistent with the spirit in which I believe Mr.

Canadian Heritage committee  Bill C-11 has a policy objective in proposed paragraph 3(1)(p) about providing “programming that is accessible without barriers to persons with disabilities” and that it is to be “provided within the Canadian broadcasting system”. In the current act, there is language there that talks about “as resources become available for the purpose”, which the government is proposing to strike, so there is no longer a resource qualification, but the aspiration is set very high.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm not entirely sure on the book. Obviously, I would say our trade obligations were certainly kept in mind, as we have crafted this legislation and made efforts to ensure, actually, that it's crafted in such a way as to be non-discriminatory. For example, Canadian online undertakings like Crave, for example, or Club illico would be expected to contribute, just like non-Canadian undertakings.

Canadian Heritage committee  The government's position on this has been that one reason for Bill C-11 is to bring non-Canadian broadcasting services into the system. Generally speaking, these broadcasting services have global business models whereby they are making productions for global audiences and not exclusively for the Canadian audience.

Canadian Heritage committee  The bill does not provide for a definition of a child, so I'm not in a position to advise on what age range that would include in this instance. I'd look to Mr. Viersen to clarify what his intention would be in that respect.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. To situate where this amendment is taking place, it would be taking place in the policy objectives of the act, along with other policy objectives that are set out. Then it goes over to the CRTC to operationalize that through various mechanisms. There is a degree of action already in this space with respect to adult channels that may appear on cable or satellite packages.

Canadian Heritage committee  We're talking about subparagraph (v), which is about protecting the health and well-being of children by preventing the broadcasting to children of certain programs. Again, I would expect the kind of space we would be in with a service like Netflix would be a discussion around the protections they have to make sure that children cannot stumble onto content that would include sexually explicit material, such as the interface whereby you set your kid up and they click through, for example.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Chair. Thank you for the question, Mr. Waugh. Currently in the act there is not language that would specifically emphasize the importance of supporting cultural expression by the Black community. This is indeed a request that they have made to the committee. I've looked at the wording.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Nater. I agree with the assessment that the bill, as currently drafted, is trying to do two things. There is a current policy objective in the Broadcasting Act about the system being effectively owned and controlled by Canadians. As Mr. Champoux made allusion to, that has historically been done by issuing licences to only Canadian-owned and Canadian-controlled companies.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Waugh. There is indeed a regulatory instrument that specifies the amount of foreign investment and ownership that can currently take place in Canadian broadcasting undertakings. That is set out in regulation. There are thresholds there, so you are right that there is some foreign investment, for example, in TSN, but it does respect those CRTC regulatory instruments that prescribe a maximum amount of foreign investment so that the broadcasting undertaking remains Canadian owned and controlled, to be consistent with the current policy objective of the act.