Canadian Heritage Committee on April 21st, 2026

[David Myles, Liberal, Fredericton—Oromocto, NB]

I appreciate that.

I was wondering about when you say innovation “incentives” or even a “fund”. It's helpful sometimes to think about what that might look like. What incentives would be helpful to provide support, specifically, in terms of technological incentives and those kinds of things for your business?

[Brandon Gonez]

When I look at tax credits, for instance the journalism tax credit, which was originally 25% and now it's 35%, it would be great if there was a digital innovation incentive—maybe it's a 25% tax credit—to help offset the losses that we've experienced over the last three years. At the time, Canada's heritage minister did say that he would make sure that we were made whole. That has never happened—and I don't know if it ever will—but I do believe that there is a way that the government can do this. I think that this committee is open to doing that, so there should be, potentially, an additional 25% tax credit for digital media companies who are innovating at scale. Again, it's to inspire and motivate these companies to become bigger, because we are the ones creating jobs.

You hear about these job losses every single quarter or at certain times of year in particular companies. A lot of times when we're hiring, we're getting these people. We're retraining them. We're doing that grunt work to make sure that they are now equipped to succeed in the industry that we are in now. I can't tell you how many colleges have reached out to my company asking for us to consult on how to rebrand their programs and how to make their broadcasting programs relatable but relevant for the 21st century. The demand is so much that I don't have time—my team doesn't have time—but the amount of colleges across—

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

You need to hire more people, clearly.

[Brandon Gonez]

If I were still on those platforms, my revenue would be three times what it is, so this is the impact.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Mr. Waugh, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll probably share my time with Mrs. Thomas.

Mr. Gray, on Sunday, Question Period aired the Prime Minister's full 10-minute video, unedited and with no criticism, no fact-checking and no opposition voice, when the Prime Minister talked about weakness with the United States.

As vice-president of CTV News, were you informed before that this platform, which is YouTube, would be used on CTV's Question Period on Sunday?

[Richard Gray]

We were aware that the Prime Minister was making an address to the nation that was pre-recorded. We did reach out to the opposition Conservatives to get their point of view. As soon as it was provided to us, we did use it on air. In fact, we aired the opposition leader's rebuttal in its entirety yesterday.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

I saw that.

Are you concerned that an American platform, like YouTube, is being used today to give the message to Canadians?

[Richard Gray]

It's an interesting question you ask, and I'm going to make a general statement. I have been very concerned, in recent years, that politicians of all political stripes have chosen to do more interviews with American news outlets, as it relates to the trade issue in this country, than with Canadian news outlets. I remain concerned that politicians seem to be more reluctant than in the past to speak directly to broadcast and traditional media outlets.

That said, I do recognize and acknowledge that no one has an obligation to speak to us. However, I think that all politicians should want to because, as I said, we reach a huge number of Canadians, more than 11 million, with our local and national newscasts on a weekly basis. From a digital standpoint, we reach 46% of Canadians every month.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

As Mr. Gonez said, it's shifting from legacy media to digital outlets in this country. I think that's what you saw on Sunday with YouTube, an American platform, being used here in Canada to give the message of the Prime Minister. Good on you, I will say. Yesterday, you had the opposition leader.

I'll move over to Mrs. Thomas now, who will conclude our comments for the day.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Mr. Gray, you said earlier that you produce 20,000 hours of local news per year, or that Bell does. Is that correct?

[Richard Gray]

Yes.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I'm just wondering: How does this compare to previous years? Is this number going up or down?

[Richard Gray]

That number would be roughly the same as last year.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Okay, and the year before that...?

[Richard Gray]

The year before that, there would have been some reduction as a result of our cancellation of weekend and noon newscasts.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Okay. As you know, part of the mandate of Bill C-18 is that $100 million, which has now become the Google fund, is given out by the Canadian Journalism Collective. You were given $8 million. As part of that, the requirement is that local news is supposed to be increasing. We're supposed to be reaching more Canadians.

In your estimation, then, should you continue to receive those Google dollars to the tune of $8 million?

[Richard Gray]

I'm glad you've asked this question. I think there are a couple of critical points that need to be made about the $8 million we receive. We, and all recipients of the Google dollars, don't necessarily receive that to prop up legacy media. We receive that as compensation for those particular platforms utilizing content we produce.

The other key component or part to my responding to your question is that we don't receive $8 million because we're Bell. We don't receive $8 million because we asked for $8 million—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

No. I'm sorry, but I'm going to interrupt you for a minute. Mr. Gray, respectfully—

[Richard Gray]

—we receive $8 million because of the number of journalists we employ.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

—I'll take back my time. Thank you, Mr. Gray.

The point of the Google dollars, the Bill C-18 dollars, if you will, is to further local news. You just stated today that Bell Media has failed to do that, and that the number of hours being produced year over year has actually declined since receiving those Google dollars. In my estimation, then, Bill C-18 is either not doing its job or has some alternative effort in mind. I think that is very sad for Canadians because, at the end of the day, they need access to local news, and that's certainly not where the dollars are going, as you just admitted.

[Richard Gray]

We receive $8 million in funding from Google because of the number of journalists we employ.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Mr. Al Soud, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Fares Al Soud, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I started my last round by highlighting my slight frustration with the beautiful city of Toronto. My next question will be for our friends from Bell Media, Mr. Gray and Mr. Pineault.

What would it take financially or structurally for a market like Mississauga to sustain deeper dedicated coverage?

[Richard Gray]

That's not an easy question to answer, but I will say this. We actually have taken strides of late, through our 24-hour local service, CP24, in the GTHA to expand our coverage into all communities in that region. We have just launched a weekly feature where mayors from all of the GTHA communities are provided with an opportunity to showcase their favourite event happening in their community on a weekly basis. We are endeavouring every two weeks to get out and do broadcasts live on location from various areas inside the GTHA. We do have plans to double down on broader coverage.