Thank you, MP Julian.
The starting point is that public broadcasters would still have to meet the eligibility criteria set out at clause 27 and, further to the amendments that this committee has now made to the bill, those would include either belonging to a journalistic association with a code of journalistic practices or having one in place, so that would now be a criterion that would have to be respected. The specific mechanism of clause 28, though, is primarily a mechanism to make sure there would be a way the federal government could respect provincial wishes, recognizing that it is not the prerogative of the federal government to impose its will on provincial broadcasters, which again are creatures of the provinces. Therefore, clause 28 has to be read in relation to paragraph 84(f), which says that the Governor in Council can set out conditions on provincial public broadcasters “for the purposes of section 28, if the provincial minister responsible for that broadcaster has made a request to the Minister.”
Again, it's really about respecting provincial wishes, but to the substance of your question, public broadcasters would still have to meet the other eligibility criteria of clause 27.