Pablo Rodriguez Liberal
This bill has received Royal Assent and is, or will soon become, law.
This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.
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) specify that the Act does not apply in respect of programs uploaded to an online undertaking that provides a social media service by a user of the service, unless the programs are prescribed by regulation;
(c) update the broadcasting policy for Canada set out in section 3 of the Act by, among other things, providing that the Canadian broadcasting system should
(i) serve the needs and interests of all Canadians, including Canadians from Black or other racialized communities and Canadians of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, abilities and disabilities, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and ages, and
(ii) provide opportunities to Indigenous persons, programming that reflects Indigenous cultures and that is in Indigenous languages, and programming that is accessible without barriers to persons with disabilities;
(d) enhance the vitality of official language minority communities in Canada and foster the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society, including by supporting the production and broadcasting of original programs in both languages;
(e) 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 English, French and Indigenous language broadcasting and the different conditions under which broadcasting undertakings that provide English, French or Indigenous language programming operate,
(ii) takes into account, among other things, the nature and diversity of the services provided by broadcasting undertakings,
(iii) ensures that any broadcasting undertaking that cannot make maximum or predominant use of Canadian creative and other human resources in the creation, production and presentation of programming contributes to those Canadian resources in an equitable manner,
(iv) promotes innovation and is readily adaptable toscientific and technological change,
(v) facilitates the provision to Canadians of Canadian programs in both official languages, including those created and produced by official language minority communities in Canada, as well as Canadian programs in Indigenous languages,
(vi) facilitates the provision of programs that are accessible without barriers to persons with disabilities,
(vii) facilitates the provision to Canadians of programs created and produced by members of Black or other racialized communities,
(viii) protects the privacy of individuals who aremembers of the audience of programs broadcast, and
(ix) takes into account the variety of broadcasting undertakings to which the Act applies and avoids imposing obligations on any class of broadcasting undertakings if that imposition will not contribute in a material manner to the implementation of the broadcasting policy;
(f) amend the procedure relating to the issuance by the Governor in Council of policy directions to the Commission;
(g) 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;
(h) provide the Commission with the power to require that persons carrying on broadcasting undertakings make expenditures to support the Canadian broadcasting system;
(i) 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;
(j) 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;
(k) 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;
(l) 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
(m) 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.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Carol Hughes
There are three motions in amendment standing on the Notice Paper for the report stage of Bill C-11. Motions Nos. 1 to 3 will be grouped for debate and voted upon according to the voting pattern available at the table.
I will now put Motions Nos. 1 to 3 to the House.
The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, as reported (with amendments) from the committee.
Mark Holland LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I will start by echoing the comments of thanks by the opposition House leader. To all those who serve the House and for everything they have done, particularly over the last year, I offer our deep and sincere thanks. The opposition House leader rightly named all those we rely on to do the jobs on a day-to-day basis that we do in serving Canadians.
We will continue with the second reading debate of Bill C-9 concerning the Judges Act this afternoon. Tomorrow, it is our intention to call Bill C-11 on online streaming at report stage.
On Monday, we will be returning to the second reading debate of Bill C-21 respecting firearms. In the afternoon, we will go back to Bill C-11 for debate at third reading. We will also focus on finding a way to expedite the bill currently on notice concerning the self-induced extreme intoxication defence standing in the name of the Minister of Justice.
Finally, we have had discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion:
That, notwithstanding the order adopted by the House on Thursday, November 25, 2021, with regard to the participation in the proceedings of the House and its committees, the provisions related to the COVID-19 vaccination be suspended beginning on Monday, June 20, 2022.
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is a fact that on Tuesday we saw democracy thwarted. We saw a cloak of secrecy used. At the command of the NDP-Liberal government, Bill C-11 was forced through committee without adequate consultation with witnesses and adequate debate on amendments. There was no listening and no discussion. It was just rammed through. That was their mode of operation. It was censorship upon censorship.
Canadians are rightly frustrated and very concerned by the assault of the House on their online freedom. My question is very simple to the minister and the Prime Minister; either or both could answer. Do they truly believe that this is transparency, according to what they promised Canadians?
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is a matter of fact that on Tuesday, the government, under a cloak of secrecy, did in fact thwart democracy. At the committee, the NDP and Liberal government took Bill C-11 and forced it through without adequate debate or adequate testimony from witnesses.
Tim Uppal Conservative Edmonton Mill Woods, AB
Mr. Speaker, as we just heard, the Liberals have shut down debate on Bill C-11. In fact, MPs voted on over 100 amendments without any debate at all.
The Liberals are actually changing what Canadians see online without debate and behind closed doors. It is clear from expert testimony that this bill would allow the CRTC to regulate user-generated content. That is why, through a series of vital amendments, the Conservatives tried to fix this bill. Our common-sense amendments were shot down by the Liberals and the NDP without any debate.
When will the government listen to some reason and fix this disastrous bill?
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canada's Conservatives will always stand up for our arts and culture sector, but in the dead of night, the Liberals rammed through dozens of amendments to Bill C-11 without debate or explanation. In fact, the Liberal chair of the committee would not even allow Canadians to know what was being voted on. Not one amendment to clearly exclude user-generated content was approved. Canadian—
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, I normally do not want to see bills rushed through this place. The hon. member for Peace River—Westlock may know that I supported the Conservative vote on not rushing Bill C-11 through in the way that it was rushed through earlier this week.
However, in this case, this bill has had an unusual course. In the last Parliament, it actually started on the Senate side, so it has already been studied in the Senate. On top of that, of course, there were deep consultations with the Canadian Bar Association and others in developing the legislation. On many issues, Canadians are inadequately consulted, but maybe if it does come forward, I would hope that we do find a way to move it quickly, because it should have been passed probably about five years ago, if not 15 years ago.
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a report in both official languages.
This is the second report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, in relation to Bill C-11, an act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other acts.
The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.
I want to give specific thanks to all the officials, the clerks and the interpreters who helped us with this extraordinary committee work as we went through clause-by-clause, specifically to Mr. Philippe Méla, the legislative clerk.
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
On clause 37, we have NDP-24.1.
I shall read you the legislative clerk's note on this. It says that Bill C-11 amends mainly the Broadcasting Act in various ways. This amendment seeks to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act by requiring the commission to collect statistical data to be included in the report on its activities in accordance with subsection 13(2) of the act, based on the implementation of section 3 of the Broadcasting Act.
As House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, states on page 770:
An amendment to a bill that was referred to a committee after second reading is out of order if it is beyond the scope and principle of the bill.
In our opinion, the amendment, by requiring the collection of statistical data not envisioned in the bill, goes beyond the scope of the bill. Therefore, I rule the amendment inadmissible. This ruling applies also to CPC-29.1, because it is identical to NDP-24.1.
Shall I move on further now?
Shall NDP-24.1 carry?
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
I move that Bill C-11, in clause 3, be amended by adding on page 7 after line 9 the following:
(iii) ensure the delivery of programming at affordable rates;
That is as one of the components of online undertakings.
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
This is a very simple amendment. It simply deletes a few lines. I'm sure we will pass these slowly on division.
This one deletes line 42 on page 6 all the way to line 14 on page 7. The effect of this removes the discoverability aspects of Bill C-11. We're doing this because we still haven't had a policy directive from the minister to the CRTC in terms of how discoverability will be implemented and how this will come into practice.
We've heard speculation all throughout it, and a lot of this could have been remedied with a simple, clear direction from the minister to the CRTC. Barring that and looking to the future, we are proposing that we remove this from the bill.
Obviously, at some point it's going to pass, and the CRTC will be tasked with implementing this. I recognize where our votes are on this committee, but at the same time, this is something we feel strongly about. We want to see Canadian productions and creations excel and thrive here at home and around the world. I think there's a real concern and hesitancy among many domestic creators on how discoverability gets implemented. It may, in fact, harm some Canadian creators.
In not wanting to see Canadian creators be hurt or harmed in their ability to find success globally, we are proposing that these clauses be removed from the bill.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
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. To that end, the CRTC already engages with broadcasting services about closed captioning, described video and audio description. There are discussions around trial periods for persons with disabilities.
The comment I would make with respect to Mr. Nater's proposal is that these two elements that he has identified are indeed things that the system can do to support persons with disabilities, but there is a broader range of mechanisms, and we expect that there would continue to be a broader range of mechanisms. We had proposed leaving this level of detail up to the CRTC and providing that flexibility for it to work out what makes sense as technology evolves.
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I have more delightful news.
Really, NDP-4 and NDP-5 were, I think, earlier versions, because we sent in a revised version more recently, a few days ago. They aren't really touching what the NDP amendment is, so it has been distributed under NDP-4, which I will offer instead.
It is that Bill C-11, in clause 3, be amended by replacing lines 37 and 38 on page 6 with the following:
digenous persons—within community elements which are positioned to serve smaller and remote communities and other elements of the Canadian broadcasting system;
This has already been circulated in English and French, and it replaces NDP-4 and NDP-5.