Canadian Heritage Committee on April 19th, 2021

[Philippe Méla]

Mr. Chair, I'm sorry to interrupt, but once Mr. Champoux reads that into the record, it will become the translation of the amendment. The office of the law clerk won't be able to provide a new one. This is said to make sure that we know what we're doing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Mr. Champoux, bearing there's no conflict, of course, between the two, I offer you the chance to read it in French if you want to. Why don't you go ahead?

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Knowing that the version I read here will be the official version puts me under pressure. My colleagues may prefer to rely on the drafters and translators. I wouldn't dare take the initiative at this stage without my colleagues' approval, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Okay, that sounds like a good idea.

Mr. Housefather.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I simply want to say that I trust Mr. Champoux's translation and that I would be pleased to have him read the French version of the amendment as it would be amended. I also think it's important to read the French version before adopting such a substantial amendment. That's why I'd like him to read it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Mr. Champoux, things seem to be coming back to you.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Then here I go. The French version would read as follows:

f) les entreprises de radiodiffusion canadiennes sont tenues d'employer des ressources humaines — créatrices et autres — canadiennes et de faire appel à celles-ci au maximum, et dans tous les cas au moins de manière prédominante, pour la création, la production et la présentation de leur programmation, à moins qu'une telle pratique ne s'avère difficilement réalisable en raison de la nature du service — notamment, son contenu ou format spécialisé ou l'utilisation qui y est faite de langues autres que le français ou l'anglais — qu'elles fournissent, auquel cas elles devront faire appel aux ressources en question dans toute la mesure du possible;

f.1) les entreprises étrangères en ligne sont tenues de faire appel dans toute la mesure du possible aux ressources humaines — créatrices et autres — canadiennes et de contribuer fortement, de façon équitable, à la création, la production et la présentation de programmation canadienne selon les objectifs de la politique canadienne de radiodiffusion en tenant compte de la dualité linguistique du marché qu’elles desservent;

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Okay.

Mr. Housefather, your hand is up. Did you want to speak again?

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I'd actually like to comment on my colleague's intent.

Mr. Champoux, I believe you added a word that doesn't appear in the text of the amendment, which reads as follows:

f.1) les entreprises étrangères en ligne sont tenues de faire appel dans toute la mesure possible…

You read, "dans toute la mesure du possible." I don't believe the word "du" appears before the word "possible" in the text of the amendment.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

You're right. Thank you for correcting me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Mr. Champoux, hang on one second.

Folks, thank you very much, but again, I ask everyone to try to do this through the chair so I can identify who's speaking for those taking the record.

There's one other thing. I'm not saying you folks did this, but when we read things off paper, we tend to speak much quicker. I ask, when you're reading from a paper, to please slow down. That was a valiant effort. It's not that you made a mistake; don't get me wrong. I do it too sometimes, so I'm reminding myself as well as you.

Is there any further conversation on this?

Mr. Champoux, I see your hand is up. Do you want to speak again?

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I simply wanted to point out that Mr. Housefather was correct. The exact wording is "dans toute la mesure possible," not "dans toute la mesure du possible." That was my mistake.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

I'm glad we have that clear.

[Philippe Méla]

Pardon me, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Is there any further discussion on what is proposed in the subamendment by Ms. Dabrusin?

[Philippe Méla]

Mr. Chair, I'm sorry to interrupt again.

In the act, the same language is indicated as

"dans toute la mesure du possible".

If Mr. Champoux agrees, we can write "dans toute la mesure du possible".

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Go ahead, Mr. Champoux

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thought I did it right the first time. So, yes, I entirely agree.

[Philippe Méla]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Is there any further discussion?

Seeing none, we'll now go on to the vote. This is the subamendment of NDP-7, as put forward by Madam Dabrusin. I understand that everyone has a general comprehension of this now—or, at least, for goodness' sake I hope so.

Shall the subamendment carry?

(Subamendment agreed to)

Now we go back to the main amendment, NDP-7, which is on page 24 of your document.

Seeing no further discussion, we will go to a vote. Shall NDP-7 as amended carry?

(Amendment as amended agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Now with NDP-7 adopted, that means BQ-5 cannot be moved because of the line conflict. I don't think I need to explain “line conflict”. We went through this last time.

Let's move on now to BQ-6.

Mr. Champoux.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Chair, the purpose of the amendment moved is to remove any mention of programming control. We think that persons carrying on broadcasting undertakings should be responsible for the programs they broadcast, period.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Do we have any discussion on BQ-6?

Ms. Ien.

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to my colleague for bringing this forward.

We see BQ-6 as similar to NDP-6, which we have already discussed. We think, at this point, this is not the place to discuss user-generated content. We don't feel that it should not be regulated. Our government has been very clear on this point. We are going to bring forward a bill that deals with this, and we look forward to debating that in the House on the floor. However, at this point, this is something that we don't feel is necessary or appropriate.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I don't share my colleague's opinion, Mr. Chair, because we know that online undertakings and social media control their programming and the content that is distributed, and that their control is much greater than they dare admit.

I believe there's good reason to include provisions respecting broadcasting in the Broadcasting Act. I don't think the nature of distributed content will conflict with these provisions or those of any future act. In any case, we can't offer an opinion on that act since it's not yet on the table.

I think it's important that online undertakings, including social media, accept responsibility for distributed content to the extent they can do so. I needn't remind you of the many recent examples of distribution of user-generated content that could have been avoided. Full coverage of tragic stories has been broadcast and is still available on certain parts of the web. It's our duty to regulate that as best we can now, without waiting for the next act.