Thank you, Madam Chair.
I am going to move only part of NDP-28. I will be moving the part that Bill C-18 be amended by adding after line 30 on page 17 the following new clause:
53.1(1) If an eligible news business enters into a covered agreement, the business must file a copy of the agreement with the Commission within 30 days after the day on which it enters into the agreement or 30 days after the day on which an arbitration panel makes a decision that is deemed to be an agreement under section 42, as the case may be.
(2) The Commission must maintain and publish on its website a list of covered agreements, including the names of the parties and the commercial value and terms of the agreements.
(3) The Commission must add a covered agreement to the list within 90 days after the day on which a copy of the agreement is filed under subsection (1).
I am moving those three portions. I am not moving the fourth paragraph. I wanted to be clear about that. We have consulted the legislative clerk. I want to make sure that it is clear to everybody that I am not moving the fourth paragraph.
The three paragraphs that I am moving are reflected in testimony that came from both Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union, which represents so many journalists across the country, and the independent online news publishers of Canada, which publish so many of the terrific online publications, including, in my community, the Burnaby Beacon and the New West Anchor.
What this does is help to set that level playing field to ensure that there is more transmission of information and that particularly the small players have the information they need to ensure they get the best possible agreement, so that the hoovering up from big tech of all the journalistic ad revenues will actually serve to benefit both community publications.
Thank you.