Canadian Heritage Committee on April 9th, 2019

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

In my riding, you did.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

The program was not for the weeklies. It was there for the other papers. For the weeklies, we have the Canada periodical fund.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Would you consider changing that criterion?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

The panel can consider that. I'm not there to tell them what to do.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

No, but you have that criterion already set. All I'm asking is that you change it.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

The criteria that are there that launch the conversations.... It opens up the conversation. They can end up with some few things that are different. However, there's one thing: I'm not going to name the panel and I'm not going to tell them what to do.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Oh, I got that. It's just that one line in the criteria, and then that all the print ads have been pulled. It really makes it difficult under this criterion you've put in here, and then with the print ads from the federal government gone. These weeklies are the lifeblood of my communities, all of them. We don't have a daily.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I invite you to tell them to go to the periodical fund, which they probably already know.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

All right.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

We will now move on to Mr. Nantel for seven minutes.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Laurendeau and Mr. Francis and Mr. Rodriguez for being here.

As you know — and I think everyone on this committee agrees — this is a topic that is absolutely vital to our cultural distinction and overall cultural diversity, for a place like Canada, but Quebec in particular, which has such prolific television production, to continue to thrive and be given a promising future internationally as well.

Let me begin by saying that since I have only seven minutes and I have already lost 30 seconds introducing myself, I will ask you the shortest questions possible and I hope you will give me the shortest answers possible.

In your circle, do you ever have the chance to spend time with children who are 10 or 12 at most and have you noticed that they are not really exposed to Quebec culture any more?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I'm just going to ask that you sideswipe the supplementaries.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Yes, there are a lot of children in my life.

Are they no longer exposed to Quebec culture? No, they still are.

Would I like them to have more exposure to it? Yes.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Well, the truth is that recent statistics show that 42% of children under four have their own devices, iPads or tablets, and can watch whatever programming they want. Adults are happy that television and radio broadcasters are no longer imposing their content on them. We have to acknowledge that a five-year old watching the same episode of Paw Patrol in English is a problem.

The cultural sector has asked you several times — as recently as mid-winter at the Montreal conference on the future of broadcasting, distribution, creation and francophone production in the digital era, or CEMAD — to establish interim emergency measures, things the government can do.

I blew my top when I reported these facts. I was told it was the same old thing. It is not at all the same old thing. The information was very pertinent. Industry's best of the best and other stakeholders were there. They asked you to intervene. I was told that I was asking for the same old thing. I was told I was repeating myself.

When will you intervene and do what needs to be done? When will you bring in interim emergency measures? The Yale commission preliminary report doesn't come out until June.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Mr. Nantel, what exactly are you alluding to?

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am talking specifically about page 2-62 where it indicates a $9-million adjustment for vote 5b because the government isn't doing anything and as result has to use public funding, or the Canada Media Fund budget. It is all related. The government is spending Canadians' money while the Canada Media Fund dries up because fewer and fewer people are subscribing to cable.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Yes, but, Mr. Nantel, you know that the government is committed to making up for declining revenue. We are doing that with the government's own money.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

That's right.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

The Canada Media Fund is very important to us as a government just as it is to you. We share the same opinion on this.

As far as the fund is concerned, June is two months away. We have put a tremendous amount of importance on the work of this committee and we are waiting to see the report. What is more, we asked the committee a very specific question. We asked what we can do to ensure that online companies — Canadian or not — support the creation, production, and distribution of Canadian content. That is essential to us. It is fundamental. I have always said that those who want to take part in the system have to contribute to the system. Now we just need to determine how.

That is what we will do together.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

That's the issue. If we have to wait until June for these recommendations, we will be in election mode. Do you promise to apply the interim recommendations of the expert panel?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

We'll see. What I will promise is to ensure that all those who take part in the system contribute to it. No one gets a free pass on that.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Regardless, we all agree that when the Liberals were elected, Ms. Joly, your predecessor, said that the situation made no sense, that the ecosystem wasn't working any more, and that we had to fix it. Four years later, nothing has changed and the safety of cultural content has not improved whatsoever for Quebec even though it has invested to ensure that its society is represented on the screens of every platform. Today we are dealing with a series of unregulated platforms. It is very worrisome.

Look at how courageous France was in fighting the European Union to get — and its not nothing — these corporations to pay their taxes. We would like these major U.S. companies to pay their corporate taxes, collect tax on transactions, including GST, and to guarantee 30% local content. Those are some stand-up people. Why wait so long? Why have we lost four years? I want to believe that you are waiting for the interim recommendations, but at least tell me that you're going to enforce them. You told industry stakeholders to trust you, or the Conservatives would come back and cause problems.

I ask the chair to allow me to read the motion I moved the last time. We haven't voted on it. It says:

That the Committee take interest in our cultural industries and in the challenges of the digitization of the economy, and undertake a study on interim measures which could be adopted in the short term to support the Canadian cultural and media system; and that the Committee make recommendations and report its findings to the House before June 1, 2019.

I ask that we vote on this proposal that I talked to you about and which you all received. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Mr. Boissonnault, you have the floor.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

I think now is not the time for that and we can just say no to that proposal. I have a point of order to reiterate an important fact. We invested $100 million in the Canada Media Fund. It is not accurate to say that we haven't done anything.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I'm not sure it's acceptable for you to respond to me. We are supposed to be voting, but you refuse to do that. I want to point out that the $100 million in public money is supposed to come from Internet service providers. It is not supposed to come from taxpayers. There was a system in place that was working, but no one had the courage to stand up for it, and that is going to jeopardize Quebec culture on screens in the future.