Peter is a contributor and a columnist at The Hub. We really appreciate his analysis.
I'm possibly less concerned about objectivity than I am about a diversity of media, especially media by type and size. As I've discussed, there's an inherent tension that seems to exist now between incumbent legacy media and start-up independent media, let's call it, on the extent to which the subsidy regime has entirely worked to the benefit of the former and not the latter. I think objectivity will solve itself—largely, I hope, in the eye of the beholder—and we will have more media outlets like The Hub that follow rigorous journalistic standards.
The Hub is a QCJO, registered with Revenue Canada. We employ professional journalists. In fact, one professional journalist was reached out to in the last week to 10 days by the CBC to see if they were interested in leaving The Hub to go work for the CBC, so I'm a little confused about our friend at the CBC's comments that they don't actively seek out talent amongst competitor organizations like The Hub.
I hope that answers your question. I really hope that the committee in its work on this study will focus on the key words of “fairness and competition” in your motion. That's where this discussion needs to go. In that discussion, yes, we can talk about big tech. We can talk about legacy media's concerns about competition vis-à-vis big tech. However, let's not forget independent media, start-up media and our concerns about competition vis-à-vis legacy media in Canada. I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time.