Canadian Heritage committee  With pleasure.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm seriously concerned about that. With regard to the $1 billion subsidy, I believe you're referring to section 19 of the Income Tax Act. Yes, that makes no sense. You say that what happens online has an impact in real life. That's what I'm afraid of. I'm also greatly concerned about news-link blocking.

Canadian Heritage committee  I absolutely agree with you. I'd forgotten that section of the Income Tax Act. It could be the subject of a fifth recommendation: that indirect subsidies be immediately halted. That would rectify the situation in no time.

Canadian Heritage committee  I've always wondered why we in Canada couldn't do what the European Union is managing to do. Once again, it's solely up to you parliamentarians to do it.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's hard to say. According to a recent study, Google should contribute approximately USD $11 billion or $12 billion to the news media in the United States. I personally think that's over the top. As for Google in Canada, it's very hard to calculate. I've looked into Meta in the past few years, and Meta generated revenue of CAD $4 billion last year, and the value of information was approximately $200 million.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's exactly why I made those last two recommendations. You have to be demanding with these platforms. Canada could demand to see the figures for the Canadian subsidiaries of Google, Airbnb and all the listed digital multinationals conducting business in Canada. Their operations have an impact on Canadians' lives.

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't think Canada has shot itself in the foot. Journalism needed funding and that looked like an attractive solution. I think what you're proposing is a good idea for a future regulatory effort.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm not very optimistic about information in Canada for the moment. At the time when Facebook blocked news content in Australia for six days, I had conducted a research project on the impact of the suppression of French-language information in Canada in 2020. I didn't find much disinformation.

Canadian Heritage committee  All I said was that it wasn't the best approach.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, it could be useful, but we can also go further. Earlier we were talking about a fund. There's also a complex side to Bill C‑18. It can take a long time to negotiate with everyone. If two businesses said they were prepared to contribute to a fund, it might be up to you legislators to establish the amount of that contribution.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee. I'm going to make a preliminary observation and then suggest four recommendations. First of all, I'm stunned to hear Meta and Google spokespersons say that information has no value for them. I would note that a French researcher, Tristan Mattelart, clearly documented Facebook's efforts, when it was starting out, to encourage the media to create their own Facebook pages.