Canadian Heritage Committee on May 30th, 2017

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

That said, I have also said several times that given the technological changes and the transformation that is occurring in the habits of our citizens and content consumers, it is clear that cultural protectionism in Canada is no longer sufficient. We have to make sure that we protect our culture, of course, but we also have to promote it. I hope, consequently, that our content creators are ready...

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

I must interrupt you.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

... to work on exporting content...

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

You are living dangerously, Madam Minister.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

—so that they may, in the end, occupy digital platforms.

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

Expressing things in that way is dangerous. The entire milieu is expecting that you will protect the launching pad of our cultural expression. We can easily talk about exporting content—that is particularly true in Quebec—and do so as well, but we need our domestic market. We constantly hear about exporting, but we are talking here about a whole “millennial” digital technology. There is an industry made up of people who work in Quebec and who are devastated by the cancellation of series. And this is not only happening in Quebec.

Yesterday you invited artists and creators to make themselves heard, but they have been begging you for two weeks. ACTRA, the CMPA, the Directors Guild, and the Writers Guild all asked you to have the CRTC reconsider its decision. You can do that now. They've already told you what they want you to do. How long will it take for you to reconsider and report this decision to the CRTC?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

Minister Joly.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

As I said in French, of course we are right now preparing to present our new vision, which will lead to different projects in line with how we can modernize our broadcasting and telecom systems. We said in budget 2017 that we would be modernizing the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act. That's the first time in 30 years that we will be doing so for the Broadcasting Act.

Our entire tool kit is based on an analog era that is not in line with how people consume content and what their expectations are. I'm hearing what different stakeholders are saying. My team and I have had the chance to meet with them. We're in constant communication. Right now we're studying the impact of the decision from the CRTC that you're referring to, and I'll have a chance to present my vision later this year.

We believe in the arts and culture sector. We invested $1.9 billion—

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

Yes, but I am not talking to you about fine arts.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Nantel, I must say, this is the most creator-focused government in 30 years.

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

Yes, but that takes time, Ms. Joly.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I understand the importance of this decision, and that's why I'm studying the impacts. But let's just be clear here. We have clearly invested in and recognized the importance of the sector; therefore, they can really believe in the importance the government is giving to them because that's really the fact.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

Thank you very much, Madam Minister. We'll have to move on.

We'll turn now to Ms. Dabrusin, for seven minutes.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Thank you, Minister Joly, for being here today to speak with us.

I'm going to be sharing my time with MP Dan Vandal.

Last week I attended an Economic Club of Canada luncheon. Miranda Mulholland spoke very forcefully about what she has seen as some of the negative impacts of the digital shift on music creators. Even just over the weekend in my riding, I talked with local authors and creators who have raised issues, and a lot of them turn on the Copyright Act.

Because we're in 2017 now, what are the government's plans with respect to a review of the Copyright Act?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Thank you, Julie.

I'm happy you were at the lunch with Miranda. I had a chance to discuss with her a couple of times the impact of music streaming, her capacity to live from her work, and the evolution over time in her career in terms of remuneration. That goes a bit to the point of Mr. Nantel.

Of course, I'm very concerned about the question of fairness to creators in the context of this digital disruption. That's exactly why I decided to launch an international conversation about the importance of cultural diversity and fairness to creators with digital platforms. I went to UNESCO to talk about it. I went to the World Economic Forum to talk about it. I went to the first G7 ministers of culture meeting to talk about it. I went to the heart of Silicon Valley to talk with digital platforms, namely, Google, Facebook, and Twitter. That was the first time they had heard from a minister of culture in the world to discuss these issues.

We know there's a parliamentary review of the Copyright Act coming. We'll be working on this, and certainly the importance of fairness to creators and protecting IP for creators is something we will be putting forward.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

Mr. Vandal.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Madam Minister, first I would like to thank Canada 150 for having subsidized a beautiful community celebration last Sunday. The Union nationale métisse was celebrating its 130th anniversary as a franco-Métis organization. It is the oldest Métis organization in Canada. The event was subsidized by Canada 150, and we want to thank you.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Vandal.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I want to talk about indigenous languages, because I know there's funding in the budget for that. According to census 2011, there are over 60 indigenous languages in Canada, and three of them account for almost two-thirds of the population who have an indigenous language as their first language. Since this is an important issue going forward, I'm curious as to how your department will look at moving this issue forward. Will it be the languages that are used most often? Will it be done regionally? Will it be a mixture of the two? What is the fate of languages that are spoken less often, such as Michif in Manitoba and Saskatchewan?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

Minister Joly.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Thank you for the question. This is a very exciting initiative we're working on.

The Prime Minister announced in December at the AFN that, as a government, we would be co-developing the first legislation in 150 years on the protection, enhancement, and promotion of indigenous languages. That will also be the first legislation co-developed with indigenous organizations in 150 years.

There are 90 different languages and dialects in Canada. This, of course, presents an opportunity, but also a lot of difficulties because the state of various indigenous languages is different. We'll be working on this important work with three important national organizations: the Métis, the Inuit, and the AFN. We would like to introduce legislation before the end of our mandate to make sure we have legislation to protect these important languages.

In the meantime, we also examined how we could create a bridge to ensure funding for various aboriginal languages. Several of them are in jeopardy. Their vitality is flagging.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

I'll ask you to wrap up, Madam Minister.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

We invested $90 million over three years in the budget. We also made an agreement with Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories in order to increase funding for aboriginal languages.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Larry Maguire]

Thank you.

Mr. Van Loan, you have five minutes.