Canadian Heritage Committee on May 5th, 2026

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

On the multiculturalism you just brought up, I was disturbed, again, that the department.... Here we are again, tracking $99,500. You see, I was here in 2022, when we never did get the Laith Marouf money. He ran off to another country. We tried to get it and got a little bit of it.

Thank God you stopped the 2026 grant, but how will you retrieve last year's nearly $100,000 grant from this group?

[Francis Bilodeau]

Do you mean the Toronto Palestinian Families?

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Yes.

[Francis Bilodeau]

I think the minister spoke to this and to the fact that there have been measures taken in that space. It's currently a function of legal proceedings. In respect of the legal proceedings that may be occurring, we won't be commenting further.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

When you issue grants like this, do you go back? I see that you did go back on March 30 of this year: We have some flags here. We'd better not give them the 2026 grant.

When did you start the procedure of trying to get back the 2025 grant of $99,500 from this organization? When was it first brought up?

[Francis Bilodeau]

Again, I won't speak to the procedure. This is relatively recent, as you will have seen in the news media. The government is taking measures. It has previously assessed, and on the basis of that assessment is now taking steps. Again, I won't comment on the details of this one, because it is subject to legal proceedings.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Okay.

FIFA is five weeks away. How much is the department spending on FIFA in Vancouver and Toronto? Give me the ballpark number.

[Andrew Brown, Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage]

The amount that the department is providing to Toronto and Vancouver, the host cities, is the $220 million that was previously announced to support their operations. There is some other funding being provided by the Government of Canada to support the hosting of the games. As was announced in budget 2025, there was also $100 million there, largely to support safety and security in relation to the FIFA World Cup in Canada. Finally, in last week's spring economic statement, there was also an announcement of some additional funding, a total of about $145 million, again in relation to safety and security related to the FIFA games.

I think that really sums up the financial investment the Government of Canada has made, continuing to work to ensure that Canada can benefit, to the extent possible, in terms of travel, tourism and developing business opportunities among people who visit Canada for the tournament.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Doly Begum, welcome to the heritage committee. You have the floor for five minutes.

[Doly Begum, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Good morning, everyone. I really appreciate the opportunity to be able to join this committee for a little bit.

I know that there has been conversation about reliable, high-quality journalism. As we see the new age of social media, what worries me, especially with a lot of our seniors...and it's not because my dad sends me WhatsApp news videos, or what he considers news videos, and I then have to call him about and say, “Dad, that's not real. That's not true.” It also happens in my community. I hear about it. A lot of folks, especially seniors, and of course our youth as well, who are exposed to this end up in situations where they're exposed to fake news or misinformation. It's not really trustworthy.

I know that there have been some steps. Could you elaborate on some of the steps that have been taken to strengthen public trust in Canadian news and to really combat the misinformation going on in these kinds of outlets?

[Francis Bilodeau]

I would say you could break it down into two components.

One is around strengthening the financial support for Canadian news media, as well as supporting organizations like the CBC as a public broadcaster, to ensure that there are reliable sources of news.

The other part you're bringing forward is around online safety. The government has signalled the intent to bring forward safe social media legislation, building on a previous bill brought in by the government around online harms.

We are pursuing a dual approach. The aim is to provide supports for Canadian news sources to make sure there is reliable news, and to advance initiatives, including recently reconvening our advisory panel on online harms and safe social media to build up an ecosystem that supports safe access.

I'll turn to my colleagues who are leading some of these initiatives.

[Blair McMurren]

As the deputy said, our support for the journalism and news media sector is a response to misinformation and disinformation. Our support will improve the quality of information that is circulating in communities.

For several years, the government has invested in a program called the digital citizen initiative. This has funded action research in this space with leading researchers, community advocates and organizers to look at this issue and to try new approaches, including in minority communities where it could be an issue, potentially, but also very broadly. The results of that research are widely disseminated now and are available through our departmental website. It can give a flavour of best practices with regard to working with communities and looking at issues of information intake.

[Doly Begum, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

On that point, one of the things I find important is having different voices in our outlets as well. I know you have taken some initiatives. Could you speak to some of those aimed at the diversity—indigenous journalism, media organizations and diverse voices—that reflects the fabric of Canada?

[Blair McMurren]

I can field that one.

This is an important part of our broad-based support for journalism, through the Canada periodical fund, which funds a wide range of publications. There are eligibility criteria designed to improve access for different minority communities. These could be official language minorities or 2SLGBTQ audiences. That's been built into our broad-based programming.

At the same time, under the action plan on combatting hate, we've invested in a specific initiative called the changing narratives fund. It is specifically designed to invest in the pipeline of talent for journalism coming out of these communities. We're coming at it from different angles.

I would point to that one in particular. It's a time-limited program from which we hope to learn valuable lessons for mainstreaming these practices in other programs or perhaps for investing in that program going forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Mr. Diotte, I'll pass the floor over to you for five minutes.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

I don't think I got great answers from the minister about the whole issue of the CBC. It's interesting that you're now talking about misinformation online. Well, if truth be told, a lot of people think the CBC is involved in misinformation.

This is to the deputy minister.

I will recap some of the testimony we've heard from witnesses.

Mike Fegelman, editor-in-chief of HonestReporting Canada, said their “two-year study on [CBC's coverage of] the Hamas-Israel war” found that the CBC “elevated radical voices”, including a “radical, anti-Zionist hate group”. He said, “Giving them this platform bestows a kind of credibility, which they don't deserve.” This study also found that the CBC “promoted ideology over facts...and did so at the taxpayer's expense.”

It's clear that many Canadians don't trust the CBC. I hear it all the time.

Considering that your department funds the CBC, what's being done to fix this?

[Francis Bilodeau]

I am aware of the report you referenced. The minister gave one part of the answer, which is that it is certainly normal in Canada and other countries to ensure that public broadcasters have a clear level of independence from the government. There are important reasons for that, and they are baked into the structures and governance of those organizations. That's intended.

That being said, it's also expected that the CBC, within its own operation, be accountable to Canadians and take on the highest levels of the standards of professional journalism. That is also baked into the expectations set for it. It has mechanisms in place, like an ombud, that allow for complaints and for looking into any of those allegations.

Again, I'm aware of the HonestReporting Canada report. We have taken note of it. We have also taken note of dissenting voices within the journalism community vis-à-vis that report.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Getting further into the whole idea of independence, how can an organization be truly independent when the government gives it $1.6 billion?

[Francis Bilodeau]

Again, there are a number of publicly funded organizations that are intended to be independent. Think of the Bank of Canada with regard to some of its decisions, or the competition commissioner's own decisions. The CBC has structures around it that are intended for this. The government looks to have a role on the board but is not able to interfere with regard to programming. That's very intentional.

There are ongoing discussions and reviews across the world regarding public broadcasters. The tendency has been to think about how to strengthen the independence of those public broadcasters.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

When they violate their own standards, what is done? I know the CBC has a very high-sounding standards package, yet we heard from Amir Epstein of Tafsik, who said that the CBC reported that Israel bombed a hospital and killed hundreds of people.

What was done when it was found out that this was false—that it wasn't Israel that bombed the hospital but rather Palestinian ordnance that caused the damage and killed hundreds of people? What happened there? We fund the CBC.

[Francis Bilodeau]

It's a useful question. In that context, I will talk a little about the role of the ombud and the measures put in place, or intended to be put in place, in order to strengthen the journalistic integrity of the CBC.

Joëlle, can you fill that in a bit?

[Joëlle Montminy]

As you may be aware, like any broadcaster, the CBC has a very robust system to uphold journalistic independence and the highest journalistic standards, including through the ombud system they have, where anyone can make a claim—

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

They failed miserably in that instance alone.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Mr. Myles, you have the floor now for five minutes.

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

Thank you very much for being here.

We had a really robust study on artificial intelligence and its effect on the creative industry. We heard a lot of concerns, particularly around the protection of intellectual property and the importance of copyright. I think we can all agree that there is more and more content on our streaming services that is AI-generated. Now they're saying that it's up to 30% or 35%.

The question is for Monsieur Bilodeau, because I know he has much experience from the Department of Industry and is now here in this department.

I am wondering what you foresee as some of the challenges and how the department can respond to those challenges, particularly given your experience, coming from Industry and being, now, at Heritage.