Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of Parliament.
My name is Pierre-Karl Péladeau, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Quebecor Media. With me is Peggy Tabet, Vice President, Public and Regulatory Affairs of Quebecor Media.
Bill C-10 is a long-awaited overhaul of the Broadcasting Act. Since the act was last updated in1991, 30 years ago, the broadcasting landscape has changed dramatically and irreversibly with the appearance of foreign online streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon, whose market capitalization totals several hundred billion dollars. We're talking about $1.5 trillion for Amazon and $357 billion for Disney+. To put these amounts in perspective, the figure for Quebecor Media is $8 billion.
In 2020, 68% of French-speaking Canadians were subscribed to an online streaming service. One out of two were subscribed to Netflix.Globalized competition from web giants such as Facebook and Google has destabilized our broadcasting system and, more than ever, traditional domestic players such as TVA and Videotron are facing unjustifiable and unsustainable inequities
When Bill C-10 was tabled, the Department of Canadian Heritage’s presentation document promised, and I quote, to “address regulatory asymmetries” and “provide flexibility and predictability”. However, it is clear that the consequences resulting from the bill in its current form go against these objectives.
For traditional broadcasters, those that showcase our Quebec and francophone culture, and the resulting economic benefits, the bill imposes new regulatory restrictions that will not redress the unfair conditions they have been coping with for years and will only pull them even deeper into the financial abyss and a Kafkaesque universe of regulation. From 2010 to 2019, the profits before interest and taxes of Canada’s main private over-the-air television broadcasters plunged by a combined total of $223 million. By 2020, the decrease was even more drastic, totalling $336 million.
The original and legitimate intention of the legislator to regulate television broadcasting had, as a corollary, the granting of a licence and the holding of a privilege. Today, and for many years now, technology has made it possible to broadcast without borders and without a licence. Trying to regulate what cannot be regulated is unrealistic. That's why the bill should provide traditional players with the regulatory flexibility they need and lighten their administrative and financial burden by removing unnecessary requirements. Quebecor believes that to modernize the Broadcasting Act and make it fair for Canadian businesses, regulation should be eased when market forces are operating effectively, and regulated only when necessary.
We cannot leave unmentioned a point that is notably absent from this bill: a refocused mandate for CBC/Radio-Canada. Recently, the CRTC held public hearings on the renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada’s licences. One after the other, more than 70 industry stakeholders said the public broadcaster has gone off the rails. Add to that all the complaints filed with the CRTC on this issue and the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting petition against the new Tandem branded content service, which was signed by more than 16,000 people
CBC/Radio-Canada’s unbridled pursuit of ratings, its commercial ambitions and its insatiable thirst for revenue are undeniably undermining the future and the sustainability of private broadcasters and the diversity of content. Each player in the system must play its role. For this to happen, it is more important than ever that Parliament overhaul the public broadcaster’s mandate.
Today, after a 30-year wait, the government is proposing to regulate foreign players instead of deregulating domestic broadcasters. We have serious reservations about the CRTC’s ability to enforce these new regulations and restrict the behaviour of foreign online services. If this new act is not to be totally ineffectual, Parliament must urgently amend its laws to allow the creation of a flexible ecosystem with fair regulations and taxation in order to keep our businesses viable and our culture strong
Thank you, Mr. Chair.