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.