Canadian Heritage Committee on June 14th, 2022

[The Clerk, Ms. Aimée Belmore]

Yes, Dr. Fry.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Peter.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

I don't believe it was, Madam Chair. That being said, I always take the opportunity to speak when you grant it to me.

I'm wondering if Mr. Housefather is contemplating an amendment.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Madam Chair, I think we want to achieve the same thing. The concern is that the way this is drafted may not fall within the framework of something as strong as paragraph 3(7)(p).

If we were to take paragraph 3(7)(p) and add the words to the end of it, “including, without limitation, closed captioning services and video services available to assist persons living with a visual impairment”, I think we've left exactly the wording and have the same strength. It's not limiting it to those two things, but making sure we include those who are concerned that those two things be included.

If Mr. Nater wanted to make the amendment that way, I would certainly support it.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

I'd be open to that amendment. I've already moved this amendment, so I suppose we'd need unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment. I would then be happy to propose the amendment that Mr. Housefather just mentioned.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Creative procedure. I love that.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

I will seek unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment, and I will introduce Mr. Housefather's.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Is there unanimous consent to withdraw?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

(Amendment withdrawn)

I think, Mr. Nater, that you may go ahead and put in the other amendment that you're speaking about.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I will move the amendment that Mr. Housefather kindly read into the record just a couple of moments ago, because I don't have it in front of me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I don't have it in front of me either, so could someone please read it?

Mr. Housefather.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

What I had suggested was replacing line 41 with the following. It would leave the words “Canadian broadcasting system, including, without limitation, closed captioning services and video services available to assist persons living with a visual impairment”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Is there any discussion of this new amendment that we have on the floor?

Mr. Waugh.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Madam Chair, it's a good amendment.

I will say small and medium-sized television stations have a dickens of a time with closed captioning, especially during the holiday season. They just don't have the people available in these markets to provide this service. It's unfortunate.

That could maybe be a study: Out of the 365 days, how many newscasts are closed-captioned in small or medium...? I'm not talking about Toronto. I'm talking about the small or medium.... There would be very few, I would think, and it's an area of concern, but well done, Mr. Housefather, on moving this amendment with Mr. Nater.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Yes, Martin.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Madam Chair, despite the fact that we did not receive an official French version of the amendment, I understood its meaning very well. Obviously, I trust the law clerks to produce a French version in line with the English text.

I simply wanted to say that we will not get bogged down in the details on this point.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you. That's very generous of you, Mr. Champoux.

[Philippe Méla]

Would Mr. Housefather read the amendment again, so we can make sure we have it?

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Would it be possible to read the amendment in French?

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I will try to read it in both languages.

In English—just to be sure we get it right—line 41 on page 6 would be replaced by “Canadian broadcasting system, including, without limitation, closed captioning services and video services available to assist persons living with a visual impairment”.

In the French version, I imagine that on line 44, immediately after the end of the word “obstacles,” which is split in two by a hyphen, it would add “y inclus des services de sous-titrage codé et des services de vidéodescription afin d'aider les personnes ayant une déficience visuelle.”

John, was that okay with you, since it's your amendment?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Is that fine with you, Mr. Méla? Did you get that?

Is there any further discussion?

(Amendment agreed to)

We're going to go to amendment CPC-7.11.

Before I ask the mover of that amendment to speak, I would like everyone to note that if CPC-7.11 is adopted, then CPC-7.12, BQ-9, Liberal-5, NDP-7.1 and BQ-10 cannot be moved due to line conflicts. Shall I repeat that, or did everyone get it? Was I slow enough?

I see no hands up, so obviously everyone got it. We will turn to Mr. Nater to move CPC-7.11.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

This is a very simple amendment. It simply deletes a few lines. I'm sure we will pass these slowly on division.

This one deletes line 42 on page 6 all the way to line 14 on page 7. The effect of this removes the discoverability aspects of Bill C-11. We're doing this because we still haven't had a policy directive from the minister to the CRTC in terms of how discoverability will be implemented and how this will come into practice.

We've heard speculation all throughout it, and a lot of this could have been remedied with a simple, clear direction from the minister to the CRTC. Barring that and looking to the future, we are proposing that we remove this from the bill.

Obviously, at some point it's going to pass, and the CRTC will be tasked with implementing this. I recognize where our votes are on this committee, but at the same time, this is something we feel strongly about. We want to see Canadian productions and creations excel and thrive here at home and around the world. I think there's a real concern and hesitancy among many domestic creators on how discoverability gets implemented. It may, in fact, harm some Canadian creators.

In not wanting to see Canadian creators be hurt or harmed in their ability to find success globally, we are proposing that these clauses be removed from the bill.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Is there any discussion on CPC-7.11?

Go ahead, Tim.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe through you I could ask Mr. Ripley a question.

To me, it sounds like this would very much weaken the act and affect artists greatly.

Mr. Ripley, can you explain if would this remove requirements for platforms to showcase any kind of Canadian content?