Thank you very much, John, for pulling that out for me.
Sometimes in the deepest, darkest wilds of Vancouver here, we have a miss when we try to connect in any sort of way with the Wi-Fi, but I'm on now, so there we go. Thank you.
Good morning, everyone. I apologize for being late trying to get onto this sort of contraption.
I call this meeting to order.
Welcome, everyone, to meeting number 43 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
I want to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the House on Tuesday, May 31, and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, September 20, the committee is meeting on the study of Bill C-18, an act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada.
Today's meeting, of course, is taking place in a hybrid format, again, pursuant to a House order of Thursday, June 23.
Members attending in person in the room know how to use the interpretation and how to get the translation. For those of you attending virtually, interpretation is at the bottom of your screen. There is a little globe. Press it and you will get English or French, depending on what language you want to use.
I want to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and members.
Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon when you wish to speak, and then mute yourself when you're not speaking. For those of you on Zoom, you know how to use it. Again, at the bottom of the screen, there is interpretation. There is a “raise hand” function if you should have a need to use it. I remind everyone that all comments should be addressed through the chair.
In accordance with our routine motion, I am informing the committee that all witnesses have completed the required connection tests in advance of the meeting.
I want to welcome our witnesses here. The first witness we have is Jen Gerson, co-founder of The Line and independent journalist. We then have Michael Geist. We then have Rod Sims, professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy, the Australian National University, and he is on by video conference. We have Hebdos Québec and Benoit Chartier, chair of the board, by video conference; and Sylvain Poisson, general manager, by video conference. From The Logic Inc., we have David Skok, founder and chief executive officer. From News Media Canada, we have Paul Deegan, president and chief executive officer; and Jamie Irving, chair.
I will begin by giving each one of those people who I have named five minutes. After that, there will be a question-and-answer session.
Please begin, Ms. Gerson.