Canadian Heritage Committee on May 24th, 2022

[Matthew Hatfield]

I would let digital creators speak first on that one, but the short answer is, yes, that's exactly right. The current system.... I think many small creators would look at the point system and realize immediately that they would never be able to qualify and not even bother trying to work with that system.

We'd like to see it radically revised, but we have no indication in this bill from the government of how deeply they will do that revision and whether it will actually be accessible to all digital first creators in the future.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Mr. Hatfield.

Now I'll go to Tim Louis for the Liberals for five minutes.

[Tim Louis]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all of our panellists. This has been highly informative and it has met all of our expectations. I appreciate it.

I'll start my questioning with Madame Paré and Madame Desrochers.

Conversations are happening. We just referred to CanCon. Conversations are happening with regard to redefining the definition of CanCon in this bill. Can you speak to some of the criteria that's included in this bill to be considered? What would the new definition be and how can we work toward that?

[Marie-Julie Desrochers]

I will speak for the music industry.

Canadian content is defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and, in our opinion, that is how it should remain. If there was a public process to review Canadian content, we would be happy to participate.

At the ADISQ, for instance, we have been working in partnership with the Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec for years to identify Quebec content based on joint criteria. That work is entirely possible to do. We set criteria and we identify what meets them. We can communicate that information very easily. So that issue shouldn't really stop us at this stage.

We could define Canadian content if the definition was revised through a CRTC public process.

[Tim Louis]

Thank you very much.

To follow up, the picture that you paint is quite prophetic. The fact that Quebec has done a commendable job of supporting artists over the years honestly shows that we support the strength of how we get more of what we support. When we support our artists, they thrive and we all benefit.

I believe that in your opening statement, you mentioned that 70% of Quebeckers—indeed, most people throughout Canada—think foreign streamers should pay into a system, just as our traditional broadcasters already do.

Can you explain the difference that this support can make for our Canadian artists, having web giants contribute to our cultural sovereignty in the face of Internet giants controlling our media and our choices?

[Marie-Julie Desrochers]

Funding needs are huge.

The business model for streaming is designed for huge markets.

In Quebec, we have always been able to allow artists to have careers in Quebec and to earn a living from what they do.

Artists have the desire and the ability to have international careers. That's really good, and they must be encouraged, but we have always had artists who were able to make a living from their music on our territory. We are always proud to say that 84% of the Quebec music industry's revenue is independent. That's really special in the cultural sector. We have been able to support artists in our local market.

In the case of streaming, that simply does not work right now. We need new funding to be injected to support the production and marketing of our music, as independent revenues are decreasing and traditional radio broadcasters' revenues are also slowly decreasing. Our radio market is very consolidated, and commercial radio revenues are slowly dropping. They are not increasing. All the revenues in the music industry are decreasing right now, not taking into account the two years of the pandemic.

New funding to support French-speaking businesses and independent artists in Quebec will help our ecosystem persevere, so that the wheel can keep turning.

[Tim Louis]

Thank you.

Maybe I could turn to Mr. Cox and Mr. Hirsch. We haven't heard from the Quebec English-language Production Council for a bit.

What will the challenges be as a cultural sector to make sure that overlooked minority voices can be heard, so that we can ensure a true picture of our culture and identity here in Canada and keep our sense of belonging?

[Kenneth Hirsch]

I'm happy to speak to that. With respect to some of Matthew's concerns, I think there's an openness and a willingness in the industry to see an evolution and adaptation of the definitions of Canadian content. With all the stakeholders working together, those will evolve over time.

International audiences are a huge part of what all content producers everywhere want. None of us wants to make shows just for the home audience, but we also want to make home shows for the home audience. We need more money in the system to be internationally competitive. We know that when we have the funding, we can compete internationally and our shows can be seen internationally.

[Tim Louis]

Would you be okay if that funding came from the online broadcasters?

[Kenneth Hirsch]

Yes, absolutely. We absolutely believe that they should and must give back to the system that they take billions of dollars out of every year. We believe strongly in the intent of Bill C-11.

[Tim Louis]

Thank you. I believe that is my time, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

It is. Thank you very much. This brings us to the end of the meeting today.

I want to thank the witnesses for their patience. I know that the technical glitches created dead air for long spaces of time and we all know that dead air is not permissible. Thank you for coming and thank you for all of the very complex answers you gave us.

I want to say one thing, which echoes what Mr. Hirsch said. When Canadians are allowed to show our content to the world, we actually rule. I remember that at one time, four of the five great divas were Canadian. Do you remember Céline Dion and Avril Lavigne? We put on shows, and the world loves our films and stories. Canadian content is important because, as far as I'm concerned—and I would love us to pursue this in another meeting—Canadian content defines who we are. It says who we are culturally, and we're a very unique country culturally.

I also want to thank my colleagues, all of the parliamentarians who sat here for five hours. It's been a long day for most of us. I think you will agree with me that this was a most interesting and exhilarating discussion we had today.

Thank you again, and I will entertain a motion to adjourn.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I would like to thank the interpreters, the technicians and the witnesses.

Thank you, everyone.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, everyone.