Bill C-18

Online News Act

An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada

This enactment regulates digital news intermediaries to enhance fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace and contribute to its sustainability. It establishes a framework through which digital news intermediary operators and news businesses may enter into agreements respecting news content that is made available by digital news intermediaries. The framework takes into account principles of freedom of expression and journalistic independence.
The enactment, among other things,
(a) applies in respect of a digital news intermediary if, having regard to specific factors, there is a significant bargaining power imbalance between its operator and news businesses;
(b) authorizes the Governor in Council to make regulations respecting those factors;
(c) specifies that the enactment does not apply in respect of “broadcasting” by digital news intermediaries that are “broadcasting undertakings” as those terms are defined in the Broadcasting Act or in respect of telecommunications service providers as defined in the Telecommunications Act ;
(d) requires the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (the “Commission”) to maintain a list of digital news intermediaries in respect of which the enactment applies;
(e) requires the Commission to exempt a digital news intermediary from the application of the enactment if its operator has entered into agreements with news businesses and the Commission is of the opinion that the agreements satisfy certain criteria;
(f) authorizes the Governor in Council to make regulations respecting how the Commission is to interpret those criteria and setting out additional conditions with respect to the eligibility of a digital news intermediary for an exemption;
(g) establishes a bargaining process in respect of matters related to the making available of certain news content by digital news intermediaries;
(h) establishes eligibility criteria and a designation process for news businesses that wish to participate in the bargaining process;
(i) requires the Commission to establish a code of conduct respecting bargaining in relation to news content;
(j) prohibits digital news intermediary operators from acting, in the course of making available certain news content, in ways that discriminate unjustly, that give undue or unreasonable preference or that subject certain news businesses to an undue or unreasonable disadvantage;
(k) allows certain news businesses to make complaints to the Commission in relation to that prohibition;
(l) authorizes the Commission to require the provision of information for the purpose of exercising its powers and performing its duties and functions under the enactment;
(m) requires the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to provide the Commission with an annual report if the Corporation is a party to an agreement with an operator;
(n) establishes a framework respecting the provision of information to the responsible Minister, the Chief Statistician of Canada and the Commissioner of Competition, while permitting an individual or entity to designate certain information that they submit to the Commission as confidential;
(o) authorizes the Commission to impose, for contraventions of the enactment, administrative monetary penalties on certain individuals and entities and conditions on the participation of news businesses in the bargaining process;
(p) establishes a mechanism for the recovery, from digital news intermediary operators, of certain costs related to the administration of the enactment; and
(q) requires the Commission to have an independent auditor prepare a report annually in respect of the impact of the enactment on the Canadian digital news marketplace.
Finally, the enactment makes related amendments to other Acts.

News Media Industry

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the media crisis has once again swept away a part of our news media and a part of our democracy.

Bell is laying off 4,800 employees. This comes on the heels of more than 500 job cuts at Quebecor and 600 at CBC/Radio-Canada. The entire industry has been imploding for years with no meaningful response by the federal government.

Bill C‑11 is having no apparent impact because the CRTC is making zero progress on the regulatory framework. Bill C‑18 is all well and good, and we will happily accept Google's millions, but the job cuts continue.

When is the government going to take action?

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not talking about helping a billion-dollar company. I am talking about helping an industry that has been suffering and in crisis for years. As we speak, the only new money to assist our media organizations with Bill C‑18 came from Google, which put it on the table. That is like putting the fox in the chicken coop.

There are so many options: an emergency fund, a payroll tax credit for electronic media, a tax credit for advertisers who buy time on traditional media and more government advertising on traditional media, instead of slipping $50,000 into Meta's pocket, like the Prime Minister and the Liberal Party have been doing for the past three months.

When will this government take action?

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is another sad day for the media, news and democracy.

Bell just announced that it will be cutting 4,800 jobs and selling 45 radio stations, seven of which are in Quebec. The federal government is literally watching our news media die before its eyes by not extending a single penny to save broadcasters.

Meanwhile, there is no emergency funding, as the Bloc Québécois called for this fall. There are no tax credits for electronic media modelled on what is already offered to print media. How many more workers will have to be sacrificed before the minister realizes that Bill C‑18 will not save news media in Quebec?

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

I would encourage you to consider the question to see whether there is an impact.

We also know that Bill C-11 and Bill C-18 gave sweeping new powers to the CRTC. We've heard from witnesses that Bill C-26 as written also grants too much power, mainly ministerial power. How do you recommend amending the act to give Canadians the confidence that there will be proper oversight without overreach and that transparency and accountability will be balanced?

[Rachel Curran]

Again, no other government has pursued legislation like Bill C-18. We would be happy to work with the government to put news content back up, if they are able to carve us out of that bill. The Canadian government is unique in pursuing that particular piece of legislation.

That is separate and apart from our efforts to protect youth on our platforms, which are ongoing. We've had a number of recent announcements in that respect. We're going to continue that work very actively, because it's a key, critical priority for us.

Again, it's quite separate from the issue of news online in Canada, which we have had to remove in response to the government's Online News Act.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

I am almost out of time.

I am really concerned that the response to Bill C-18 is not the same across different countries. The spread of misinformation related to the topics that I've noted is particularly troublesome.

Is there any analysis going on about Bill C-18 and the response by Meta putting youth at greater risk or less risk with the spread of misinformation? Again, your CEO has at least apologized to Americans on this issue, but not to Canadians. In your response to Bill C-18, is there an ongoing analysis on whether it has further harmed and spread misinformation, affecting the mental health of young people who are using your product?

[Rachel Curran]

I think these are two separate issues. Youth safety and youth exploitation online are a key, critical concern of ours. We just announced the further rollout of an initiative with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that is going to ensure intimate images and sexploitation are more easily removed from platforms. We're assigning an individual digital code to those images. Youth can do that themselves from their devices without sharing the image. Once that code is received by us and by NCMEC, we can fan out to make sure that those images are not shared more broadly on our platforms and across the Internet.

We are taking a number of steps to make sure that youth are protected on our platforms. It's an ongoing battle, I have to say, and we're working with other members of industry to make sure that youth are protected.

That's very different from the issue of C-18 and online news content, which we have had to remove as a compliance strategy in response to the government's legislation. We didn't want to have to remove that news content. If we are carved out of that bill, we would be happy to put it back up. I'm hopeful that we can continue to work with the government on that front.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate this.

In response to Bill C-18, Ms. Curran, Meta pulled access to news articles and sharing. One of the criticisms of that from many experts was that it was going to make children and youth more vulnerable to abuse. Your CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, at least apologized to Americans during congressional hearings a few days ago for what has taken place.

Can you explain to us—I'm trying to get at the trust factor here—what type of analysis has continued from that point? Do you disagree with the experts about that exploitation taking place through the products you have? Are we getting the same protections for our youth?

I'm surprised that there hasn't been a general, wider apology. I don't know what difference there is, other than citizenship, among those who have succumbed to this, and it has caused significant problems, including connections to suicide and self-harm. Can you assure us on the committee that an analysis is continuously going on with regard to the response to C-18 and whether or not Canadian youth are further at risk because of the spread of misinformation, which affects them mentally?

CBC/Radio-Canada

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, supporting journalists and local journalism is extremely important to this government, especially in these challenging times. That is why we introduced Bill C‑18, which will help our journalists operate at all levels.

We will continue to be there to defend an independent, free and professional press. We know that a lot of work remains to be done in these times of uncertainty. Unlike the Conservatives, we will be there to work with all parties interested in protecting journalism.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Will you forgo the $7-million share of the $100-million fund that Google is putting on the table as part of the agreement on Bill C‑18?

[Catherine Tait]

I think the reality is that when we know where we are, we will respond accordingly. I think it's premature to be talking about performance pay when, one, we're not even at the end of the fiscal year and, two, we actually don't know what our financial situation will be for the next year.

I would just point out that since my announcement on December 4, we heard there will be additional funding from Bill C-18 for CBC/Radio-Canada. That will have an impact as we plan for the coming year. We run a very, very complex organization, and we are vulnerable to all the vagaries of the market. I am very hopeful that our situation will improve and that advertising revenues will come up, and we will be able to meet all of our obligations and be able to reduce the impacts on programming and on employees.

News Media Industry

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity]

Madam Speaker, we know that the Conservatives do not value the work of journalists, but we do. Over 500 newsrooms have closed in the past 10 years. That is why we passed the Online News Act, to level the playing field for journalists against the web giants.

The publication of our final regulations is the final step in the process for Bill C‑18.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Mr. Elgie, I'll return to you here for a moment with regard to Bill C-18 and the impact that it is having. Now, I should clarify, because Bill C-18.... Meta opted out because they're no longer carrying news links. Google had a few demands of the government and, of course, the government entered into a backroom and created a deal with them, so we now have a Google deal. We don't have Bill C-18 being upheld by anyone.

Given the Google deal for $100 million, how does something like this work to the disadvantage of innovative, new, local, independent or cultural media outlets?

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

For disclosure, I was part of legacy media for over 40 years, and I sat here for Bill C-18 listening to their hardships and to them bashing Meta. Many of them had agreements behind the scenes that they said little about, non-disclosure agreements, and then when Bill C-18 was passed in the House, one of the biggest media giants in this country, Bell, decided to blow off 1,300 of their employees. Again, there was nothing said. CRTC, with its lax regulations, said little, and it was just kind of swept under the carpet. Then when CBC—a broadcaster and digital network—made cuts, everybody was up in arms, yet it's the taxpayer who pays most if not all the bill for CBC.

Mr. Palmer, you mentioned before that there was hardship when Meta withdrew, but I sat around this table listening to these companies and they had certain agreements. Then, of course, when Meta withdrew, they said nobody was going to their websites and this and that. You can't have it both ways. These companies, when they sat here, were in hardship complaining about Meta, so Meta withdrew and they're still complaining today.

You don't think this is constitutional. I did hear you a year ago around this table. What are your thoughts today? Is online news constitutional or not?

[Dr. Joan Donovan]

They're already behaving like nation-states in their negotiations on Bill C-18. If you're a business that services the public interest and you understand that your role in society, especially for Facebook, is to share information with the world, then you have a public obligation to serve the people. That is the greatest thing your technology could do. I do think, though, that Facebook behaving as a state-like entity, such that they feel they should negotiate at this top level, is abhorrent.

The last thing I would say is that there is a $1-billion subsidy from the Canadian government going to Facebook. I think that needs to be addressed.