Thank you, Madam Chair.
The good news for my friends is that if they think this one is too high, we have more amendments that may be more appropriate to our friends. I know that Ms. Thomas wants to speak and perhaps make a small amendment to address the issue of Mr. Housefather, which I take. It should be clarified that it should be “annual”. I can't amend my own amendment, so I appreciate the addition that it is an “annual” amount.
I want to address very quickly the point made by Mr. Housefather about whether this ought to be regulatory in approach, and the fact that we don't want to see small and niche enterprises captured. I agree. That's why we did this. The challenge we have is that we don't have the policy directive. We don't have the direction to the CRTC of how this ought to be moving forward.
We've heard pronouncements, obviously, and I know there's the clause or the commentary on material impact, material benefit. I accept that. The challenge is that this is obviously a once-in-a-generation update to the Broadcasting Act of 1991. That's a long time, and if we go another 30-plus years, this is something that has to be done right and done correctly now. In the absence of a policy directive and in the absence of the draft regulations from the CRTC or the directive from the minister, we are resorting to this option to put it in the legislation to ensure that these enterprises aren't affected.
I accept some of the comments. I accept some of the commentary. In a perfect world, we would have had the opportunity to see that policy directive and to see the direction that would be given, so that we could have assurances that those small enterprises aren't there.
I just want to make one final point. I don't want to talk specifics, as we have a stack ahead of us. I was talking to a small independent streamer in my riding. I want to see them excel. I want to see them thrive, go forth and spread their content across Canada and around the world and not be caught up in regulatory messes.
I'm going to leave my comments there. I know Ms. Thomas wants to make a small amendment to clarify that. I will yield the floor.
Thank you, Madam Chair.