One of the reasons I started Gonez Media was that the traditional media industry was contracting, so there were fewer opportunities. That means there were fewer opportunities visually, fewer opportunities of thought and fewer perspectives in the room. There was more concentration.
As Canada continues to grow in population and continues to diversify, I wanted to see a difference of thought and experience, not just based on your location in the country but also based on perhaps different income brackets that you may have grown up in. That is all-important to having a healthy democracy, a healthy media ecosystem. When we look at the platforms and the ability to access those platforms, whether as a consumer or as a producer of content, it democratized that.
I have to go back to Bill C-18. It has placed a major roadblock. I also want to make sure this committee is fully aware that for three years now, with Bill C-18 in place, credible news sources, however you think about them, whatever part of the political spectrum they are on, have lost the ability to connect with Canadians on the two biggest platforms they use every single day. Less credible voices, which have no news ethics and no journalism ethics, have filled that void. We have basically ceded our responsibility. All of the outlets, whether legacy or not, have lost three years of building relationships with 40 million Canadians.