Thank you very much.
Mr. Rahn, Ms. Owen and Ms. Moore, it is surprising to see you supporting fair dealing for education whereas, in Quebec, the approach is very different. You say you are representing the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Canadian Library Association, but there is another viewpoint in Quebec, completely different from yours. First and foremost, the Assemblée nationale du Québec was unanimously against Bill C-32in its present form, and particularly against the broader education exception suggested under the bill. The minister of culture, Christine St-Pierre, was against it too. The minister of education—that's quite something—said:
In Quebec, the government wants to make sure that creators get what's fair for their works being used by third parties, especially by schools. Quebec's position that the right to education and the rights of creators go hand in hand is in line with the guidelines set out in the 1980 creators' fair share policy by the ministère de la Culture et des Communications.
I won't mention the Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec. I will skip that and go to the Association des bibliothécaires du Québec. One of its representatives said the following:
Why have Quebec's public libraries taken a position opposite to that of the other provinces? Extending fair dealing and any other exceptions will result in a loss of revenue for authors and other rights holders. If we broaden the scope of these exceptions, as you suggest, the loss of revenue could be quite significant. Isn't this a funding issue rather than an access or fairness issue? Public libraries are certainly underfunded, but should authors be paying for that?
That's how it is everywhere in Quebec. There is also BIBLIO du Québec, another organization that is against fair dealing. Whatever you say, fair dealing, as defined under the bill, means a loss of revenue. It would be even worse if we added the infamous “such as”, as Mr. Rahn suggested. That's basically where we are headed. Yet, in Quebec—unlike the other provinces in Canada, it would seem—we have a great deal of respect for creators, for compensating creators and for our young people. As a result, we want to teach our young people about respect for creators and our duty to compensate them.
Mr. Rahn, you are saying that a professor is entitled to show students something through any digital media. That's true if the professor has the creator's permission and the creator is compensated. The creative work belongs to the creator. Mr. Rahn, if I want to come and visit your house, I will ask for your permission and I might even pay for the visit. It's the same thing: the creative work belongs to the creator. If we want to have a vibrant culture, it is even more important for young people to be aware of that, recognize it and compensate the artists.
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