I thought it was a rhetorical question, Madam Chair, but I am pleased to respond to the Conservatives' incomprehensible strategy on Bill C-18.
I am stunned by the whiplash we get from them not supporting it all, trying to stop it, trying to block it completely, and then all of a sudden saying they're in favour of it, but now they're saying they're opposed. I mean, they're doing this sometimes on the same amendment, being both opposed and in favour of Bill C-18. It's just mind-blowing.
I don't where they're going on this. All the witnesses they lined up were folks they wanted to get to say they opposed Bill C-18. It has been incomprehensible to determine where Conservatives are going on this bill.
The reality is that when the Conservatives were in power in that dismal decade we lived through under Harper, these news businesses were collapsing because the Conservative government refused to make sure we were putting in place protections against big tech, so big tech, big banks, big oil and gas had a field day, and regular people really suffered.
I hope this means the Conservatives will support NDP-16. We now know the vast majority of news businesses will benefit from this. This essentially ensures that many news businesses will benefit. The independent online news publishers of Canada strongly support this idea. I hope Conservatives will get with the program; however, I'm mystified by where they are on this. Either they don't understand the bill or.... I don't know what. The confusion around where the Conservatives stand on Bill C-18 has been mystifying.
I hope they will vote and support NDP-16. There's a wide variety of media calling for it.