Evidence of meeting #60 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A video is available from Parliament.
10 a.m.
Liberal
10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
10 a.m.
An hon. member
On division.
10 a.m.
Liberal
10 a.m.
The Clerk
Dr. Fry, Mrs. Thomas has her hand up.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you.
Well, this is the end to Bill C-18, and it will now be forwarded to the House, so I would like to go on the record as saying this bill started out with the intent—or the stated intent—of wanting to help newspapers, particularly those in rural areas that are of a smaller nature, along with ethnic media outreach or newspapers.
Unfortunately, in the way this legislation has developed and the way it is going forward to the House, it will reward the big players, such as the CBC, which already receives over a billion dollars in taxpayer money. This legislation will support Bell Media, and this legislation will support Rogers. Together, they will take about 75% to 80% of the money available through Bill C-18, which leaves a very small cut for newspapers to take. Once the larger players, such as Postmedia, Torstar and The Globe and Mail take their portion, it leaves an even smaller piece of the pie—if any—for those small players that function within our rural areas, particularly in western Canada.
It's a sad day for those news outlets, and it's incredibly hypocritical that this bill leads out with a preamble that wants to look after the sustainability of news and support good journalism, and yet it has gutted the ability for these smaller outlets to exist.
It's shameful that the NDP member actually ended up withdrawing his amendment that would advocate for those smaller players yet continues to use talking points as if he is advocating for them. He does not have their backs. He had an opportunity to vote for amendments that would allow entities with one journalist to be considered, and again I'll repeat that he withdrew that. Instead, he went into the pockets of the Liberals, as is the mode of operation of what the NDP are doing in this House at this time.
Again, it's a sad day for those smaller news outlets. My condolences to them.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Marilyn Gladu Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Thank you, Chair.
I also agree that the legislation unfortunately is not going to meet its intended purpose; I did vote for the purpose in clause 4, but as I said, I don't think it will.
I want to remind the government that the tech giants are willing to put money forward to go into a fund that could be administered by an agglomeration of small media outlets so that they could make sure their viability is protected, and this is much less bureaucratic and leaves the independence of the Internet, so I remind the government they can still do that at any time.
10:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Dr. Fry, I have one more.
10:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I have one more question to ask, and then we can have the summary discussions afterwards.
Shall the committee order a reprint of the bill, as amended, for the use of the House at the report stage?
10:05 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
10:05 a.m.
An hon. member
On division.
December 9th, 2022 / 10:05 a.m.
Legislative Clerk
I'm not sure there was an answer to the question of whether you shall report the bill, as amended, to the House.
10:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Dr. Fry, there wasn't. Can we please call that question?
10:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
All right. Please call the question. I thought I saw everybody nodding, but there you go.
10:05 a.m.
The Clerk
That's carried on division, Dr. Fry. Thank you.
10:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Okay. I had it written here: “carried on division”. Okay, thanks.
Did I get a vote on “Shall the committee order a reprint of the bill to send to the House?” Okay, that was carried.
Now we have some hands up.
Mr. Housefather, go ahead.