Evidence of meeting #24 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was crtc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Executive Director, Forum for Research and Policy in Communications
No, because it has decided to exempt online broadcasting from regulation. Having decided to exempt, it's asserted its jurisdiction. It does have jurisdiction over broadcasting online. That's not to say that it has jurisdiction over the entire Internet, just broadcasting.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
There have been some incorrect interpretations of Bill C-11—this isn't directed at you, but to some other opponents, many across the way—related to user-generated content. Some go so far as to say that cat videos will be taxed. Many have focused on proposed section 4.2 to overstate the scope of the bill. There are 12 different places in the act that exclude social media users.
Can you speak to those sections of the bill?
Executive Director, Forum for Research and Policy in Communications
I'm not prepared to speak to each of those sections in detail. What I am prepared to say is that, from my perspective, Bill C-11 attempts to clearly regulate broadcasters, not individual users. There's a distinction. It is able to regulate broadcasters that carry content provided by users. It is very clear that it is not directly regulating users, but it is also clear that it has the power to regulate the platforms that carry users.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
To follow up in terms of the minister's statement, the direction of the bill and what's been stated in the House by our party is that there will be policy directives coming forward. If there are policy directives that specifically scope out user-generated content, can you speak to the CRTC and if that will prohibit it from scoping that content back in?
Executive Director, Forum for Research and Policy in Communications
No, I don't think it would. First of all, I have a great deal of admiration for the legal minds at the commission. If it really wants to do something, it will find a way. The second point is that the commission has already, essentially, regulated users of the broadcasting system through the 1988 online programming guidelines. The commission did not regulate individuals calling into phone-in shows, it simply regulated the broadcaster's decision to carry specific individuals calling in. It did indirectly what it chose not to do directly. That's the point.
All you have to do is get the platforms in a room, ask them to develop a code of conduct, and then have somebody enforce a code of conduct whose effect is to regulate users.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you very much. It fits the time very nicely.
Now we have come to the end of this second round. I think we may want to chance the beginning of another round. If everyone wants to have some time, how about my asking if we could go to a three, three, two, two, three, three round.
How does everyone feel about that?
Peter.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thank you.
Just on a point of order, Madam Chair, Heather McPherson, a very capable member of Parliament for Edmonton Strathcona, will be replacing me on committee for the final few minutes.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you, Peter.
Welcome, Ms. McPherson.
I should begin then with for the Conservatives for three minutes. I will go with Ms. Thomas.
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
I have a point of order, Madam Chair.
Did you say we were changing the time from five minutes to three minutes?
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I think Mr. Julian will tell you the logic behind that is that I think there may be a vote, and in case there is a vote, we will not be able to finish. I want everyone to have a chance to finish this round. That's all.
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Would it be a 30-minute bell? How many minutes are the bells going to be?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
When the bell begins, I will ask for unanimous consent to continue for another 15 minutes. Now if we do that—
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
No, because 15 minutes will give us 10 and 10 and 5—25. We would not have time to finish. That's why I moved it so that we could get the time.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you, Madam Chair.
My first question is for Mr. Fares with the Walt Disney Company.
Mr. Fares, I'm hoping that you can perhaps just talk a little bit about the extent to which Disney has gone in order to generate Canadian content or content that would support Canadian creatives.
Vice President, Global Public Policy, The Walt Disney Company
As I mentioned in my response to an earlier question, we believe that every production we produce in Canada contributes to the health of the Canadian ecosystem because we're training Canadian talent and we're producing infrastructure in the marketplace. Over and above that, in my opening statement, I outlined three examples of Canadian stories that we have produced in Canada: Barkskins, Turning Red and Washington Black, which is still in production.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
I was hoping that perhaps you could go into a little bit more detail in terms of your intentionality behind supporting Canada in this way.
Vice President, Global Public Policy, The Walt Disney Company
Thank you for asking that question, because one of the things I wanted to say was that we launched Disney+ in Canada in November 2019, and we've launched in other foreign markets since that time and we continue to launch in other markets. We've understood from our subscribers that they like local content on our service as a supplement to the global content that fits into the six brands that make up the totality of Disney+, which I have mentioned is unique compared to our competitors in the marketplace.
As we speak, we are actually developing a Canadian programming strategy right now for the Walt Disney Company and that is being conducted by my colleagues in Canada in the Walt Disney Company. We are looking toward the development of a local Canadian programming strategy indeed.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
That's great.
In your mind then if Bill C‑11 were to come into effect, would it help you generate more Canadian content or would it hinder the good work that you're already doing?
Vice President, Global Public Policy, The Walt Disney Company
I would argue that we are already producing a significant amount of content in Canada with a $3-billion spend in the marketplace over the last three years. There is a massive amount of production. We, from the market, are being driven to develop local content, so I think it's actually the market that's driving us to do a lot of these things. It's ultimately up to the committee to determine if and how we're regulated. If you do choose to regulate us, we ask for that to be flexible so that we can continue to maximize our investments in the marketplace.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you, Mr. Fares.
What I hear you saying is that the market is magical and that, when there is demand for something, which there appears to be for Canadian content—the celebration of Canadian artists and the possibilities that exist here within Canada to be realized—Disney is responding and going in that direction. Is that correct?