Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 4th, 2010

[Pamela Miller]

Just to respond to that question, there is a plan under the economic action plan, Broadband Canada, which has had two rounds of funding announced, and a third round will be announced. So there will be 220,000 households that have been connected or will be connected through that and there will be further numbers announced. So that is certainly progress being made.

In terms of specific problems and specific locations, there are often particular geographic issues that could arise and that providers will have to deal with. Part of the action plan will be that when we look at the end of the plan we'll assess if there are any remaining gaps. There has been a concerted effort to see where the gaps are, to see what we can serve through this and the funds that were made available. At the end of the program, there will be an effort to see what remaining gaps exist. But certainly, as you get closer and closer to closing the gap, the ones that are left are the hardest because they have the most challenging geography, the least population--

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Who should I call if I have problems with a certain...?

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Call Mr. Beaudoin. He'll deal with it personally.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you very much.

Before we go to Mr. Angus, perhaps Madam Miller could just tell us how that money is being spent, to answer Mr. Pomerleau's question. Through whom is the money being spent?

[Pamela Miller]

It's being spent through Industry Canada. There is a national program. It was a competitive bid process. We did a mapping, first of all, to map all the unserved communities. Then there was a competitive bid through the private sector. It was basically the most coverage for the least cost. I think everyone liked that approach.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

And the applicants were the phone companies themselves and the cable companies.

[Pamela Miller]

Yes, it was any private sector provider. There were two rounds of funding that were announced in May and in June. There is conditional approval for 77 projects with a total funding of nearly $110 million. There's going to be a second round that will be announced as well.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

A third round.

[Pamela Miller]

I'm sorry, a third round. Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you very much.

Merci, monsieur Pomerleau.

Mr. Angus.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Thank you.

It's excellent to have both Industry and Heritage.

Mr. Blais, we've talked many times, so I'm not going to focus on you today, but I want to say that you did say Canada is a world leader. I certainly agree. I think that in the six years I've been here, with much of the frustration we've had about us lagging behind in terms of moving to the new platforms, of getting our isolated cultural silos into the digital sphere, I'm seeing phenomenal change, even within the last year. In particular I commend you on the magazine file. I think it's really exciting.

But I'd like to talk to Mr. Beaudoin because we don't get that opportunity very often. Please don't take it personally after I've complimented you.

Mr. Beaudoin, I'm interested in where we're going to be going in terms of becoming internationally WIPO-compliant in updating our copyright laws. Certainly we all agree that this is a key element.

I'm interested in the decision around the digital locks. Article 10 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty has some pretty specific language about the right of a country to bring into the digital realm, when it becomes WIPO-compliant, the exemptions that existed under its laws, and that the protection for digital locks, or TPMs, can be legally supported as long as they don't interfere with the rights that have existed already.

I see that under Bill C-32 the public will be granted a number of rights, but those rights don't supersede the digital locks. Why was the choice made to say you can have these rights as long as they don't interfere with the digital lock?

[Alain Beaudoin]

Thank you for your question.

I have to admit that I'm far from being the expert at Industry Canada on copyright and digital locks. If you don't mind, we'll take note of your question, and if you wish, we will get back to you.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Blais?

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

In fairness to my colleagues, Industry Canada is a big department, and the people I deal with on the copyright front aren't these folks. I deal with them on other fronts, and we work quite closely on a number of files. I almost have three ADM colleagues at Industry Canada I normally deal with. They really, in fairness to my colleagues over there, are not responsible for that area.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

So I will ask, as chair, that you provide that answer to the clerk, who will ensure that it gets distributed to all members.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I'll follow up with you, Mr. Blais.

On June 10 of this year, the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright met and released that 19 out of 31 of the compliant countries had made the decision that TPMs would not override the existing exemptions that were within their own national copyright laws. Canada, it seems, will be out of step with those countries, many of whom are competitors.

Again, from your perspective, why would the decision be made to put this sacrosanct protection for digital locks when it doesn't seem to be the norm with many of our other WIPO-compliant countries?

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

I can't speculate as to how WIPO comes to conclusions on that.

What I can tell you is that the government has decided to go forward to modernize the Copyright Act in Canada. It has made certain policy choices that the special legislative committee will have an opportunity to discuss.

I can tell you that I watched with much interest the second reading debate. I was impressed by the depth and breadth of knowledge of members of Parliament on the subject matter. We'll have the opportunity to go into that.

It's really not easy for us as public servants to explain or justify why a political choice was made. I can tell you what that choice was, but it's very difficult for me to say why or why not or what other choices—

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

How about I simplify it, then? Being that the bill came out just around the time that the Standing Committee on Copyright released its report, did your department look at where our other WIPO-compliant partners were in terms of the digital locks so that you had a sense of where Canada would be? Or was this done based on a political decision?

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

No, absolutely the advice is informed not only by what's happening in Canada but what also is happening at the international level. You'll notice that in the preamble of Bill C-32, it does reference the fact that we are cognizant of international standards. So yes, it's part of the evaluation.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you very much, Mr. Angus.

Mr. Brown.

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair...Madame...Mr. Chair.

I'm on the health committee too and Joy Smith is the chair, so I'm so used to saying “Madam Chair”.

My first question would be to the industry officials here with us today. I wanted to get your perspective. One thing that there's been a lot of talk about in the last few years has been the copyright bill, and I want to know what your thoughts are in terms of its effect on a digital nation. What will a well-balanced piece of copyright legislation mean to the digital media?

[Alain Beaudoin]

Again, sir, to build on the previous question, the panel and I are not the experts as it relates to copyright for the department.

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Do you have any thoughts that you can share with us in terms of how it will be affected?