Canadian Heritage Committee on May 31st, 2018

[Pierre Breton, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

Ms. Dupré, do you wish to answer this question?

[Marie-Josée Dupré]

Yes. Taking into account what Mr. Payette just said, I would say that we have to limit the exemptions in the legislation. We could limit them even more to avoid devaluing the work of content creators. It would simply be a matter of implementing minor legislative changes. It would be easy, and would allow all creators and right holders to be paid better.

If we were able to extend the length from 60 years to 70 years for sound recordings, while respecting budget constraints, without the slightest amendment, we can imagine that certain measures will be easy to enforce. They will protect our creators, and will highlight and recognize the value of their work.

[Pierre Breton, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

Ms. McGuffin, Mr. Degiorgio, do you have anything to add?

[Margaret McGuffin]

I'll just say that there are some things going on that are already heading in the right direction. Looking at case management was announced with the IP strategy. The Copyright Board should proceed with that and proceed with the review that is being done on the Copyright Board, because it's going in the right direction. That should be finished and implemented. Also, we worked really hard with a large number of really diverse groups in the music industry to put together one set of recommendations for you. It took 18 months because we felt that each of us needed to understand the others' needs and debate those and move forward in a positive way. We have put together for you a paper that has artists, songwriters, composers, labels, and publishers along with all the regional associations in one document, so we don't need to reinvent a lot of things because they're already there for you, very clearly laid out.

[Vince Degiorgio]

With respect to the term extension, with what it costs my fellow publishers to even import catalogues or to constantly have these conversations with our colleagues around the world about the imbalances for us, it's the icing on the cake. It's incredibly important for our members.

[Pierre Breton, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Fortin, Mr. Lefebvre, do you wish to answer this question?

[Luc Fortin]

Our “grocery list” only has three points.

First, I agree that we must absolutely lift the exemption in the CRTC regulations that the new media benefit from. It is unjust and unfair. Everyone must be subject to the same regulations.

Second, we must extend the concept of private copying to all physical formats. I'm not just talking about CDs, but all formats that can be copied to make hard copies of works.

Third, we must remove the exemption that Internet service providers benefit from, under section 31.1 of the Copyright Act. It is also unjust and unfair.

[Pierre Breton, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you to all of our witnesses. I have one thing to ask Ms. McGuffin.

You referenced the Copyright Board consultations, and for us to properly receive those into evidence for ourselves, would you be able to send us the link to them? Then we would be able to have those submissions come in. That would be helpful.

[Margaret McGuffin]

I think that one link will have all the submissions from all 60 people who participated.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

It's just a simple link, which would help us out. Thank you for that.

[Margaret McGuffin]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you to all of you. We are going to suspend briefly so that we can look at Bill S-218, an act respecting Latin American heritage month. I'm going to ask people to not go too far from the table while we do that so we can get back to it quickly.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you, Peter Kent, for coming in today. Thank you for coming to present on Bill S-218, an act respecting Latin American heritage month.

Would you like to begin by making your presentation, please?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I won't spend a great deal of time on this because Senator Enverga's Bill S-218 has been very well discussed in both chambers of Parliament, including in the upper house of course, where Senator Enverga tabled the bill originally and spoke to it just a month before his untimely passing while he was on parliamentary business in Colombia with ParlAmericas. Not a word of criticism has been spoken against the bill in either the upper house or the House of Commons. In fact, I was heartened, as I said, at the end of debate in the House that there was such enthusiastic and universal support for the bill, for a Latin American heritage month to be recognized, as Senator Enverga originally intended in the wake of Black History Month and in the wake of the recently passed Jewish Heritage Month, which again last night was celebrated in a very non-partisan way just up the street. All parties in the House enthusiastically participated and recognized and celebrated the contribution of the Jewish Canadian community in Canada.

This was Senator Enverga's second bill. He had a bill before the House in the last Parliament, which died at the election in 2015. For this one he reshaped it and expanded it. The original bill was called “Hispanic Heritage Month”. For this one he deliberately changed the name and the characterization to Latin American heritage month. He wanted to recognize the nature of our hemisphere, not only in Central and South America but also in the Caribbean, given the centuries of shifting, government shifting, control, colonization, and independence as it came. It includes the Latin romance languages Spanish and Portuguese and also those communities and languages that have been cross-pollinated through the Caribbean and now into Canada where, in fact, through Senator Enverga's expanded vision of those touched by Latin Americans and who would celebrate Latin American heritage, we would be looking at probably well over one million Canadians, a significant number of Canadians.

Yesterday, as members from all parties know, there was non-partisan representation behind the Honourable Irwin Cotler when he presented the expert report of the Organization of American States on the findings of crimes against humanity perpetrated in Venezuela. It was the same sort of non-partisan support that we saw in the celebration of the Jewish Heritage Month last night, and, I think, the same sort of non-partisan...even at this time of the year in the parliamentary season, where unanimity could be found without some of the quibbling, some of the amendments that we see put before other committees of the House to correct perceived shortcomings or unacceptable elements.

This is a very basic bill. It's a very simple bill. It follows exactly the other heritage month bills that Parliament in its wisdom has passed over the years. I understand there is an amendment before the committee but I would respectfully ask that the amendment be withdrawn, because if this bill goes back to the House and given the possibility of prorogation during the summer, then what I think is not only a worthy piece of legislation but also a legacy piece of legislation in Senator Tobias Enverga's name would be lost forever.

With that, I'm willing to take questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

We're going to begin questions with Julie Dzerowicz, please.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

I want to begin by saying a huge thank you to you, Mr. Kent, for shepherding this bill through the House of Commons. I also want to thank Senator Tobias Enverga for finding a way to in absentia introduce the bill that will finally get us through. I think this is about the fourth or fifth attempt, actually, through many different Parliaments. There have been a lot of attempts to try to put in a Hispanic heritage month or a Latin American heritage month, and I'm glad that we finally have managed to make it through.

Thank you so much for your leadership.

I am Hispanic Canadian—there are only two of us in the House of Commons—and I think people would be surprised. My mother's name is Maria Amparo Lizarraga Zatarain. It sounds nothing like the “Dzerowicz” that you have here. She is Mexican and was born in a small town called El Recodo, which is very well known for its bands and music. They're known all over Mexico. She came here to Canada in the late sixties or early seventies after she met my dad. She was very much part of a time when a lot of those who are now Hispanic Canadians started coming to Canada in the seventies and mostly in the eighties.

We have around half a million Latin Americans here in Canada, from over 20 countries. I only recently learned about a group called the “10 most influential Hispanic Canadians”. They're an amazing group. They've been in existence for around 11 years, and they have been presenting awards and highlighting the contributions of Latin American Canadians not only to their own community but also to all Canadians and, in many cases, to the world. It's an unbelievable group. It just shows you how all the different cultures contribute to our great country. As you know, our Prime Minister always says that diversity makes us strong, and the Latin American and Hispanic communities definitely make us a stronger and better country.

In my riding, I'm very blessed to have a growing Hispanic community based on Mexicans, Ecuadorians, and Chileans. We have a number of programs that serve that community. We have a number of small businesses that are really great.

As soon as I came into office, one of the first things I did was work with Pablo Rodriguez to help start “Hispanic Day on the Hill”. We wanted to make sure it was something that we were recognizing here nationally.

I note that we're starting to do a number of trade relations. Mercosur is now under way. I know that there was a lot of work done in the former administration as well to build relations with Latin American countries, and I think we're building on that great work. Right now, we have the CPTPP, which includes Peru, Chile, and Mexico. We have a Canada-Chile agreement, and now we're working on Mercosur. A lot of really great things are happening.

I have a question for you, Mr. Kent. It's quite interesting.... I've had a number of people come to me and ask, “Why is it called Latin American heritage month versus Hispanic heritage month?” I wonder if you could comment on that a bit. Whether it's important or not important, it is something that's an issue within the community. I'm sure you've heard about it as well.

The second thing is that one of the things that's really beautiful to learn.... I think that to a certain extent these Hispanic heritage months are actually a way for Latin American and Hispanic Canadians to learn about each other. Could you comment on that as well?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Yes, absolutely.

Thank you for your remarks. I was very impressed by your fluency in Spanish during debate.

I have been to those awards ceremonies on a number of occasions. It is truly impressive to see the recognition of Latin American contributions to medicine, science, the arts, and culture generally in Canada.

With regard to the discussion that took place with previous bills—certainly with Senator Enverga's first bill and then this incarnation, Bill S-218—he, as you know, was a Filipino Canadian. Spanish was one of the colonial languages, and it's a language that is still used, celebrated, and marked. Some of the most important religious locations for Filipinos, including Filipino Canadians, are actually in Mexico. There's a cathedral in Mexico to which Filipino Canadians and Filipinos from around the world make regular missions to see a painting of the Madonna.

Senator Enverga, in choosing the words “Latin American” rather than the narrower “Hispanic” definition, wanted to speak to all of those people who have been touched by the Spanish language and did not want to exclude the Portuguese language. As I said—

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I'm very sorry. I have to jump in for a second. The 30-minute bells are ringing for a vote.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Oh, gracious.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. If we have unanimous consent, we can....

There are two ways we can do it. We can allow for more questions, or if we want to try to move quickly to clause-by-clause, we can see if we can get this done in 10 minutes. It is a short bill.

I'm putting this to you. I'm just trying to think of the best way to go about this.

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

If there is unanimous consent to adopt the bill as passed at second reading, I would agree to do that now. Otherwise, I think we have to go to the vote.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

How many minutes do we have now?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

It's a 30-minute bell.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

We have 28 minutes and 50 seconds.