Evidence of meeting #8 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 pandemic.
A video is available from Parliament.
4 p.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
I'll just take 15 seconds.
Collective negotiating is fundamental because it gives small groups, such as ethnic media organizations and co‑operatives, the chance to negotiate together. When a tiny group negotiates with Google on its own, it doesn't get very far. It's a different story, however, in the case of collective negotiations.
4 p.m.
Liberal
4 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you, Minister.
I'm going to go to Peter Julian for the NDP.
Peter, you have six minutes.
4 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Congratulations, Mr. Rodriguez, on your appointment as Minister of Canadian Heritage. It's an extremely important department, especially these days. I also want to commend you on the work you did in your former role as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.
The first question I wanted to ask you was a follow-up to Mr. Nater's question around Russia Today. A number of cable companies have stopped carrying this. It is a network that is propaganda to justify slaughter, and we know what is happening in Ukraine right now. How many cable companies are continuing to carry RT right now?
4 p.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
I asked that same question this morning. I'm not sure that we have the exact number—we're working on it—but I can say that because those big players took it down, 75% of all broadcasters are not carrying it anymore. We have to look at how the 25% is divided.
Do you have an answer on this, Thomas Owen?
February 28th, 2022 / 4 p.m.
Thomas Owen Ripley Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
No, but as the minister said, we've had four major distributors remove the service at this point. The remaining big distributor, which is Videotron in the Quebec market, does not carry RT. There are a number of smaller distributors, and the situation is a little less clear with them.
4 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
There are some carriers that continue to carry it, and I understand there will be an announcement in the next few hours.
4 p.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
It will be very soon, Mr. Julian, very soon. That could bring this up to 100%, maybe.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Yes, there's no doubt. I think Canadians want to see action taken by the government in those remaining areas.
Thank you for your answer.
My second question is about all the emergency support measures the government cut in October. A great deal of artists suffered the consequences of those cuts. Some 900,000 Canadians were affected by the arbitrary cuts, which they found out about just 72 hours ahead of time.
Many artists are in that boat. In fact, we've heard at length about the dire straits they are in.
Can you tell us how many of them will be able to take advantage of the Canada performing arts workers resilience fund or receive some other type of assistance?
Are you looking into the number of artists who were no longer eligible to receive benefits when the government cut emergency support programming in October?
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Thank you for the question. It's an important one.
We always said that the emergency support programs were temporary. They were extremely helpful and gave a tremendous number of people a much-needed boost.
I believe about 36,000 people are in a situation where they could receive some form of financial assistance. Obviously, certain conditions will apply. Some people have left the arts sector, and others will have to demonstrate that they still earn a living from their craft and are affected by the pandemic. This is a $60‑million assistance program. Artists will have access to $2,500 in financial support for individual projects. It's a one-time payment.
As long as these workers are in lockdown situations, they can still count on other government support programs.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Artists have been very clear that what they need is less stringent criteria for the Canada worker lockdown benefit. It doesn't provide enough help to artists who are suffering the consequences of the emergency support measures being cut.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
I'm less familiar with my colleague's programs, but I can tell you that we are doing everything we can to help artists and get performance venues open again.
Artists don't want money from the government. They want to sing, dance, perform in plays and so forth. Our job is to foster the right conditions so that they can. That's the best way to help them.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thank you for that.
The other question I want to ask you is about online hate. We certainly saw how this has succeeded in radicalizing a percentage of the Canadian population. We saw that with the occupation, and we're seeing that with a rise in anti-Asian hate, anti-Semitic incidents, Islamophobic incidents, racism and misogyny. We are seeing people being radicalized now.
How do you intend to tackle this issue of online hate, which is radicalizing a certain percentage of Canadians and having a profound impact, as we're seeing, on the number of hate incidents across the country?
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
That's so important, Mr. Julian, because online hate is real hate, and sometimes online hate becomes physical hate. We have to protect our most vulnerable and we have to act.
We presented options and consulted with Canadians. There was a consensus, when we did this last summer, that the government had to act. However, there was zero consensus on a lot of stuff, because there were unintended consequences. For example, people from the Black community and the Muslim community said, “Oh, this could affect us. I know that's not the purpose of what you're trying to do, but please listen to our concerns.”
That's what we're doing now. We're taking that back and we're moving as fast as possible. We're creating a panel of experts who are going to analyze this, and we're going to reconsult to make it right.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
What is your timeline? I think we would agree that this is an urgent situation.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
It's something Canadians are seized with, given the increase in incidents across the country. What are the timelines for the government to put forward legislation that will help to deal with this?
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
It will be as soon as possible.
I don't have a date. If it were just me, it would be this spring. Is that going to be possible? It depends on how fast we can go with the consultation. I think the most important thing—and, Mr. Julian, you will agree with me—is to do it right, so that's what we're trying to do.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
It's now. The panel is being put in place. It will be in a couple of weeks.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
I'm not sure whether the chair is trying to cut me off, or maybe she is saying she'll give another minute to the NDP.
Is that what you're saying, Madam Chair?
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
No, she's not saying that. She's saying you've run out of time. You can ask it again in your next round.
We're going to go to the second round now, everyone.
It begins with Leslyn Lewis and Kevin Waugh for the Conservatives, for five minutes.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Kevin Waugh Conservative Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister, welcome back to heritage committee. Owen, Isabelle and David, it's good to see you.
I have a private member's bill, Bill C-250, on holocaust denial. That's coming out very shortly. We've introduced it already. As you know, late April will be the one-hour debate in the House of Commons, so there's a start for you and maybe your committee.
Anyway, Minister, as you know, your government announced the new digital news tax credit in 2020, and digital subscriptions to local newspapers qualify for this credit. I got a $378 credit over the weekend from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, which was nice.
Could you give the committee an update on the cost of this tax credit that you generously gave to the newspaper industry? Do you have an idea of the cost in the last couple of years?
