Bill C-10 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts

This enactment amends the Broadcasting Act to, among other things,
(a) add online undertakings — undertakings for the transmission or retransmission of programs over the Internet — as a distinct class of broadcasting undertakings;
(b) update the broadcasting policy for Canada set out in section 3 of that Act by, among other things, providing that the Canadian broadcasting system should serve the needs and interests of all Canadians — including Canadians from racialized communities and Canadians of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds — and should provide opportunities for Indigenous persons, programming that reflects Indigenous cultures and that is in Indigenous languages, and programming that is accessible without barriers to persons with disabilities;
(c) specify that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (the “Commission”) must regulate and supervise the Canadian broadcasting system in a manner that
(i) takes into account the different characteristics of Indigenous language broadcasting and the different conditions under which broadcasting undertakings that provide Indigenous language programming operate,
(ii) is fair and equitable as between broadcasting undertakings providing similar services,
(iii) facilitates the provision of programs that are accessible without barriers to persons with disabilities, and
(iv) takes into account the variety of broadcasting undertakings to which that Act applies and avoids imposing obligations on a class of broadcasting undertakings if doing so will not contribute in a material manner to the implementation of the broadcasting policy;
(d) amend the procedure relating to the issuance by the Governor in Council of policy directions to the Commission;
(e) replace the Commission’s power to impose conditions on a licence with a power to make orders imposing conditions on the carrying on of broadcasting undertakings;
(f) provide the Commission with the power to require that persons carrying on broadcasting undertakings make expenditures to support the Canadian broadcasting system;
(g) authorize the Commission to provide information to the Minister responsible for that Act, the Chief Statistician of Canada and the Commissioner of Competition, and set out in that Act a process by which a person who submits certain types of information to the Commission may designate the information as confidential;
(h) amend the procedure by which the Governor in Council may, under section 28 of that Act, set aside a decision of the Commission to issue, amend or renew a licence or refer such a decision back to the Commission for reconsideration and hearing;
(i) specify that a person shall not carry on a broadcasting undertaking, other than an online undertaking, unless they do so in accordance with a licence or they are exempt from the requirement to hold a licence;
(j) harmonize the punishments for offences under Part II of that Act and clarify that a due diligence defence applies to the existing offences set out in that Act; and
(k) allow for the imposition of administrative monetary penalties for violations of certain provisions of that Act or of the Accessible Canada Act.
The enactment also makes related and consequential amendments to other Acts.

Broadcasting Act

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and will be voting no.

[Yasmin Ratansi, Independent, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and I will be voting no.

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and I will be voting yes.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to vote against the motion and would ask that the following votes be tallied with those of the Conservative Party.

[Ramesh Sangha, Independent, Brampton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and I will be voting nay.

[Derek Sloan, Independent, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and I will be voting no.

(The House divided on Motion No. 5, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #168

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I declare Motion No. 5 defeated. I therefore declare Motions Nos. 7, 15, 19 and 23 defeated.

The next question is on Motion No. 8.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to apply the previous vote to this vote, and Conservatives would be opposed.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we would agree to apply, with the Liberals voting no.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting in favour of the motion.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP agrees to apply and will be voting yea.

[Jody Wilson-Raybould, Independent, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and will be voting no.

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and will be voting no.

[Yasmin Ratansi, Independent, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and I will be voting no.