Thank you.
The Broadcasting Act and the CRTC prevented foreign broadcasters from entering our market for decades, allowing a thriving media industry that heavily supported local news. This committee got it right again when taking on the Rogers-Shaw merger, when you said, “it is essential that Canadians have access to local news that reflects their identity and reality.” Almost all witnesses in this study said that local news is critical to a strong democracy.
To sum up, local news is in crisis. Local news is essential to the public good. We know that a local news fund administered by the CRTC can work, because they've already done it successfully. Bill C-11 is just a much-needed update to the Broadcasting Act to ensure that Canadians have access to Canadian local programming, which couldn't happen if we let these Internet giants control our media.
Let's not get sidetracked by noise. Let's get Bill C-11 passed with this small amendment to ensure a sustainable future for local news. Let's all imagine a world without news, imagine that void, and now imagine that you could do something about it.
Thank you.