Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 3rd, 2026

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I'll turn to Mr. Waugh now for five minutes.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Welcome, everyone, to our committee.

We've studied this in Parliament to death. We started in 2022. We continued with 2023, 2024 and 2025. We keep going around in circles. I don't know if it's because the Liberal government in Parliament has done nothing. I mean, we've studied this now for five years. We've had this at the heritage committee twice in the years that I've been here. We've made no progress. Let's be honest with this. We've made absolutely no progress at all federally with any policy.

You've all agreed to come here today, and I thank you for that. I personally don't know if your submissions today will go up on a shelf and we'll never see this again. I'm honest with that, because you see studies go to status of women, to heritage or to other committees, and then nothing is being done. We just study the same thing over and over. It's frustrating as a parent. It's frustrating as a parent to grandkids. Then we hear this testimony.

Sara, thank you for sharing countdown for kids.

Zach, I'm going to ask you, because you're 12 years old, to talk about your screen time and how you're dealing with it. Thank you for coming and sharing your story today.

You're 12 years old. Other studies have been done, and we've mentioned that those 14 years and under would not be able to have screen time. I just want to know your thoughts on that, since you're 12. When did you pick up the phone or go on Internet? I would like to know your experiences, if you don't mind.

[Zachary Fathally]

As you asked me, I got my phone at 12.

You said ban under 14. Am I right?

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

That's what the rumours are, yes.

[Zachary Fathally]

I don't think a ban would really work, because kids can find workarounds, and if you ban, they'll probably protest. That's one. Two, I don't think they'll go outside. They'll just sleep all day and probably skip school. You could find—how do I say this?—a regulation so that kids don't stay on their screens that much. I don't know how to explain it.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

You just said that you're online at the age of 12. You're 12 now. Can I ask you what support systems you have if you see something that you're somewhat uncomfortable with? What do you do then? What kind of support systems do you have, Zach?

[Zachary Fathally]

What do you mean by support systems?

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

You're online for the first time this year. If you see something on your screen that makes you say, “I'm not comfortable with that”, do you go to your parent or parents? Who do you go to when you see something that you're uncomfortable with or that makes you say, “I'm not sure about this”? What do you do then?

[Zachary Fathally]

Usually I go to my parents, or else I just skip what I see or report it.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Who do you report it to?

[Zachary Fathally]

I report it to the website that I'm on. For example, if I'm on YouTube and I see something that makes me uncomfortable, I report it—if I find that it would be uncomfortable for other people around my age too.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Do you ever hear back from them once you report something, or have you reported something?

[Zachary Fathally]

Yes, I have reported something.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Did they get back to you?

[Zachary Fathally]

What do you mean? Are you asking if they have reported back to me?

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Yes. Did they get back to you on your report of something that you were uncomfortable seeing? You just said that you reported it. Has the organization gotten back to you?

[Zachary Fathally]

Usually they email me back.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

What do they say? Can you share that? I would like to know what the email says.

[Zachary Fathally]

YouTube says, “Thank you for reporting this. We'll evaluate it, blah, blah, blah.” Then it says thank you and your name—so “Zachary”.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Thank you for sharing that. I think all of us around the table have the feeling that when you report something, it goes into a hole and never comes back. What do they do about it? That is part of the online harms act that needs to be concentrated on. You shared some of that.

I'm going to—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you, Mr. Waugh.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

I'm done. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Ms. Sonia Sidhu, welcome to the heritage committee. It's lovely to see you here today.

You now have the floor for five minutes.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for their insightful testimony.

My heart goes out to all the kids who have tragically died because of online harms.

Ms. Todd, thank you for your advocacy. I know we met at the status of women committee, but I really want to say thank you for what you are doing as a mom and as an educator.

My question is for you. When you're talking about the social media tech companies needing to take responsibility, what do you think needs to be done? You talked about B.C. schools and how they have restrictions on kids' cellphones. Do you think the restrictions are important? If they are important, at what age, and what needs to be done on that side?