Thank you, Mr Chair.
If I did so, then I'm truly sorry. Sometimes passion causes us to diverge somewhat from what we want to say. I don't have any notes and I'm speaking from the heart on this issue, which affects us personally, because as members of this committee, we have studied the bill and have worked hard. I will now refocus on amendment CPC-9.1, and will wrap up if I can have another minute.
I feel summoned to speak because I'm the person who proposed amendment CPC-9.1. I would ask the members of the committee one last time to allow us to move forward and return to the essence of what the minister was asking of us at the outset, which was to find a modicum of equity in the CRTC regulations.
We are not all in agreement on the extent of the powers the CRTC should have. We need to ensure that the act equitably regulates digital broadcasters like Netflix, Spotify and Disney +, as well as conventional broadcasters.
We need to start working on net neutrality again, which we all have a duty to defend. We need to stop being the only country in the world to attack its own citizens' content.
We also need to allow for artist discoverability. I'll repeat that we are 30 million people in a world of billions. If every country did what we do, our creators, who would like to take advantage of net neutrality to get discovered around the world by millions of people, could be shut out. It could put us in competition and limit the ability of Canadian artists to share their creative work with the people of Canada.
It's a bit like the free-trade principle in economics. Give us the power to provide Canadians with an opportunity to be discovered around the world. Let's not introduce restrictions that force us to stay at home. We need to take pride in all of these artists, even if they are not represented by an association or an organization. Let's give them a voice.
People often say that parliamentarians are there to defend people who are forgotten, set aside and not represented. In this instance, we are responsible for defending the multitude of Canadians on the Internet. We need to avoid excessive bureaucracy, which would have us going around in circles and harm them rather than help them.
Once again, I'm asking members of the committee to think before voting, and to vote for amendment CPC-9.1 so that we can continue with a clause-by-clause study of this bill.