I think it's a complicated question to answer, mainly because it mandates looking for a problem. Part of the issue is trying to figure out why UGC is being swept into this bill and what the outcomes of regulation on it would imply.
I think, unfortunately, that a lot of consideration when applying this bill is looking at the pre-existing Broadcasting Act, which is very broadcaster focused as opposed to production company focused, whereas on the digital side of entertainment, which is not broadcast-driven, platforms are very different in that they don't pay for content and they don't green-light content. It's a service that, as an example, my company uses to self-distribute our own content and allows us to retain our IP.
Without a full understanding of how that industry runs and operates.... As an example, it's an export and tourism industry to a great degree. The bulk of revenue...and put a pin in that. The bulk of opportunity, as far as global discoverability is concerned, is really external. As an example, we're the highest-viewed channel in Canada, but Canada is 3% of our overall revenue. That's not because of anything other than sheer population size. Canada is less than half a per cent of the world's population.
In order for these platforms to operate successfully, global discoverability is the key for a lot of these content creators. I think a lot of that understanding is lost when you look at a geographically niche broadcast enterprise, which the Canadian industry has been for a very long time.
I know that it can get complicated when we talk about discoverability and restrictions of discoverability, but really, a lot of the regulation that's being proposed in the current bill doesn't apply to the platforms; it applies to the content. It's either discoverability mandates on the content, or it's discoverability restrictions on the content, or possible advertising regulations against the content. It doesn't tackle platform-specific.... Applying broadcast mandates as they currently exist to platforms just doesn't apply. The two run parallel to each other as opposed to running similarly.
I think that's the larger key here, a lack of education. Part of the frustration has been that digital content creators have not really been allowed access to the table to talk, and current discussions have gone largely dismissed. There's a lot of sentiment that we work for these platforms, and that can't be any further from the truth. It's more accurate to say that the platforms work for us. We are not employees of platforms. We utilize the free services that these platforms offer for us to figure out our business plans and self-distribute.
That might have wandered a little bit, but that's the scope of it there.