Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 12th, 2026

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

The minister just said he would stay for another four minutes, but you're going to start another round and the time won't be split fairly between the parties. I think we should insist that the minister stay a bit longer so that each party can have two and a half to three minutes. It seems to me that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Is it really four minutes, or can you stay a bit longer than that, Minister?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I can give you five or six minutes. Six minutes is fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Would two minutes for each of the first two parties and one minute for the third party work for you, Mr. Champoux?

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

How about two minutes, two minutes and two minutes, for a total of six minutes?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Okay.

Mr. Diotte, you have two minutes.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Okay.

Minister, thanks for being here.

Have you seen the report by Honest Reporting Canada that has some very disconcerting findings about the CBC? Basically, it used AI to examine the CBC's coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. It analyzed 2,789 CBC news articles published between October 7, 2023, the day of that terrible massacre, and June 7, 2025. It found that CBC's coverage of the war demonstrated “a significant imbalance” and there was consistent, overwhelming bias “against Israel”.

Minister, does it concern you that public dollars are being sent from your department to the CBC and that this report calls into question its very impartiality and actually questions its stated journalistic standards and practices?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I'll say a couple of things, and I don't presume that my answer will make you happy, Mr. Diotte.

First and foremost, the CBC, as you know, is independent. It doesn't mean that it is unaccountable and that I'm not entitled to an opinion on this matter, but I want to be very judicious in my answer, in particular because of the ongoing situation in Gaza but also because the CBC has its own mechanism internally.

Ultimately, the CBC is accountable to the public, and it's important not to attach that type of condition to the financing of the publicly supported broadcaster.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Okay, that's fair enough, but their own editorial culture is being questioned. Actually, this report from Honest Reporting Canada says they're calling for an audit of CBC's editorial culture—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you, Mr. Diotte. That's exactly two minutes.

The floor is yours, Mr. Ntumba. You have two minutes.

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, I know it's easy to single out the show Heated Rivalry, given all the success it's had. It's important to point out, however, that it's not an exception; rather, it's a case that highlights the value and impact of Canadian content and intellectual property.

How can the government continue to promote Canadian identity, and values that resonate across the country and throughout the world?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I think it's important to note that shows like Heated Rivalry should be the rule, not the exception. Despite the many francophone references in the show, it's not a French show. I urge everyone to watch the show Empathie, which is enjoying record-breaking popularity. It's a Canadian production. I think it's important, without being too heavy-handed, to embrace producers who take risks to make shows like these and to trust their instincts.

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Minister, to wrap up, I want to talk about foreign digital platforms again. They have a dominant hold in Canada.

What tangible steps is the department taking to better showcase Canadian content so that our creators, especially those from under-represented cultural communities, can reach audiences and enjoy the economic and social benefits.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I think we need to maintain confidence in an institution like the CRTC, which establishes the rules and manages the regulation of Canadian content. That's extremely important.

Of course, without commenting on the discussions between us and our economic partner, the United States, concerning digital platforms, I can say that we must always keep culture as a red line in those discussions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Perfect. Thank you very much.

Mr. Champoux, you have the floor for one minute.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

We had agreed to two minutes, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Go ahead. You have a minute and a half.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

In any case, Minister, you can take much longer than two minutes, as this is the last round of questions. Don't be shy.

You probably heard about the report featured last week on Enquête about Live Nation, a U.S. company that is often accused of having established something of a monopoly in the ticketing and show production industry.

We know that the company is a 49% shareholder of Evenko, a major producer of shows and festivals here. We also see that the presence of an American multinational, with Ticketmaster and Live Nation, has a serious impact on the entertainment and festival industry, not only in Montreal, but throughout the major festivals industry.

Do you have any thoughts on that? I ask because it's extremely concerning to see that small venues, which are trying to hold their own, especially in the Quartier des spectacles and around Montreal, are in extremely precarious situations because of the rules that these large, extremely dominant companies are putting in place.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Yes, I'm concerned about that. Any monopolistic behaviour worries me and should worry all politicians.

As part of my role, I looked into this very briefly and I believe that this institution, through its relationship with Evenko, receives a maximum of approximately 1% of funding that is allocated in this area. It's not huge, but it's still something. That's not an excuse, either.

The reality is that I'm more concerned about the artists than the producers. Of course, as you know, that organization produces Osheaga, the Festival international de jazz de Montréal and other big events, but in any analysis that we undertake at the department, we have to keep an eye on artists, especially those who are potentially exploited.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Yes, but 80% of shows produced in the venues owned by Evenko, and by extension Live Nation, involve mostly foreign artists, after all. There isn't a lot of space in their programming for local artists and for the promotion of local culture.

That should also be a concern for the department, and you should make sure that it is reflected in the way support funds, grants for these activities, these events, are allocated. Wouldn't you agree?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I agree. As I said earlier, in any consideration of this nature, we have to ask ourselves where and how the government will intervene, especially in a quasi-monopoly situation.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Okay. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you, Minister. We really appreciate your visiting us today.

I'll suspend for a couple of minutes while the minister gets out of the room.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

I call this meeting back to order.

Mr. Diotte, we will start with you. You have six minutes.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Thank you. It's nice to have a little bit more time this time.

Thanks to all of you for being here. It's always very revealing.

I'm wondering about advertising. I'd like to talk a little bit about that. I think we all remember Heritage Minutes and all of that. As a department, how much advertising is run in terms of dollars?