Canadian Heritage Committee on May 5th, 2026

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

That's excellent. Thank you.

In the time we have left, can you elaborate on efforts to incorporate or promote indigenous arts, language and culture?

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

Yes, and I think the nuance there is that we have to make sure that we are providing the support to indigenous people and communities to do this themselves, as opposed to what we've perhaps done in the past, which was to dictate a stylized version of what that represents and perhaps what seizes the imagination of non-indigenous people.

The independent Canada Council for the Arts does amazing work in making sure that indigenous voices are represented. The indigenous languages commission has done a great job over the last.... Again, they're independent from me, but we do fund them through the portfolio organizations in making sure that they are advocating for the revitalization of indigenous languages, which comes and is expressed through the arts.

I'd say the indigenous screen board has done amazing work, with productions that members have heard of, like North of North, which is now into its second season and is doing great, and it is done in their own way, in their own voices.

As well, there are other envelopes, which I could probably spend more than five minutes on. They exemplify exactly what you're getting at, which is indigenous people using this moment in time to leverage their own voices and show Canadians what they're capable of.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Given your original question, I'll take this quick opportunity to advise this committee that the latest Michael Rubinoff production is playing in Hamilton right now at Theatre Aquarius. I saw it on the weekend, and it was brilliant. It's The Tragically Hip musical, It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken. Everybody should go and see it.

Mr. Champoux, you have two and a half minutes.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Minister, you spoke earlier about the tech giants. We all agree that they are thugs and do not make life easy for us. Something must be done.

Beyond the fact that they are currently challenging our recent laws in court, is the government doing anything? Are you in regular contact with Meta or Google? We know it’s a bit easier with Google, given its co-operation, but what about Meta, for example? Do you have any leads that would suggest that one formula or another could be considered to ensure that digital giants contribute and accept the reality that, when you make billions of dollars in a country, it is only fair to contribute to its ecosystem?

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

That is an argument being raised in court.

As I pointed out earlier, people are entitled to question the effectiveness of legislative measures resulting from Bills C‑11 and C‑18, but those bills took an inordinate amount of time to pass. People may criticize the CRTC, but the fact remains that the Conservatives are to blame for how long it took the Senate to pass these bills. I think this is the longest it has ever taken for bills to be passed in our history. They should have gone through much earlier.

So, here we are. There are hundreds of millions of dollars that could be freed up specifically to support our creative sector, the media sector, which is struggling.

Yes indeed, every time I talk to these people, I talk to them about discoverability and I tell them how wonderful it would be if we could see where the puck is going so that we can discover our local stories.

Look, I don’t want to call anyone a thug, but—

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I can get away with it—you, less so.

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

I know. You're a member of the opposition.

However, I can offer the example of the Vitrerie Joyal series, which was released over the weekend and is a huge hit. It’s produced by Prime Video. Yes, the production received tax credits from Canada and Quebec, but it’s a huge hit, and it’s by Prime Video.

These platforms are here to stay. However, I want them to operate fairly. I want our local content to be discoverable. I want them to stop telling me that all we have to do is select French in the settings to see what we’re entitled to see if we want to view francophone Quebec culture. I don’t want to hear their bogus argument about the integrity of their algorithms anymore. Anything is possible online, and I think we have every right to demand Canadian culture from the people who are making money at the expense of Canadian taxpayers.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

The important takeaway for me is that you are in ongoing dialogue with these companies. The lines of communication are not severed. There is hope to be found in the new products being released. We can reasonably expect that at some point, they will decide to get on board.

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

Yes.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

Mr. Miller, there has been a request by members that I ask whether you have an extra 15 minutes to stay with us until 12:15. Do you have a hard stop at noon?

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

I have a hard stop.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lisa Hepfner]

Thank you.

I will quickly move, then, to Mr. Diotte.

You have the floor for five minutes, although I understand you'll be sharing with Mr. Waugh.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

That's right, Madam Chair. I'll split with Mr. Waugh.

Mr. Minister, in your opening remarks, you talked about diversity and inclusion and funding that in your department, but many Canadians say that the CBC doesn't truly have a diversity of opinion.

We've heard several times at this committee from experts who have studied the CBC. There was Mike Fegelman, editor-in-chief of Honest Reporting Canada. His organization did a two-year study of the CBC's coverage on the Hamas-Israel war and found that the CBC elevated radical voices, including a radical anti-Zionist hate group. He said that giving them this platform bestows a kind of credibility, which they don't deserve. The study found that the CBC promoted ideology over facts and did so at the taxpayer's expense.

Another official from Honest Reporting Canada told us the CBC “is beating a very one-sided drum, a very one-sided narrative.... CBC is not telling Canadians how to think about an issue. They're showing Canadians what to think about [an] issue, and that should not be the role of our public broadcaster.”

It's clear that many Canadians don't trust the CBC. Considering it's your department funding the CBC, what's being done to address the very broad and dangerous issues of bias in reporting?

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

I'd preface this by saying being independent, like the CBC should be as part of the fourth pillar of democracy, is critical. Independent doesn't mean unaccountable. I'm entitled as a citizen to have my views on what the CBC, or any other organization, reports, but I think it's important to recognize that I have to respect its independence while I may have different views on the content and scope of its reporting.

It's that type of thinking that is currently guiding the reform that is under way at CBC/Radio-Canada. That is something I think any parliamentarian would agree with, regardless of whether they share the views you have expressed or think they're completely wrong and false.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Another gentleman we heard from, Mr. Amir Epstein of the Tafsik Organization, was particularly upset with the CBC. He said that it rushed to judgment and reported propaganda from Hamas that Israel bombed a hospital and killed hundreds of people when, in reality, the bombing was a misfire from within Gaza and Israel didn't do it at all.

Does that concern you?

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

It concerns me that any news organization needs, at all times, to be punctual and accurate in its reporting.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

He also said that this contributes to anti-Semitism in Canada in a very real way, and we know that anti-Semitism has gone through the roof.

Does it concern you that the CBC would contribute to anti-Semitism?

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

I would first have to share his conclusions to have that concern.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Have you read that report from Honest Reporting Canada?

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

I have read the same summary as you have.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Thank you.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Thanks, Kerry.

Thank you, Minister, for being here.

I see we may have another Laith Marouf incident with Canadian Heritage.

You're trying to claw back $99,500 that, in the multiculturalism and anti-racism program, you gave a group out of Toronto last year. This year, you denied them on March 30 and went back and looked at some of the posts from this Toronto group.

How successful have you been in getting some of this $99,500 back?

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

Mr. Waugh, I share presumably the same concern you're expressing. The court case that is currently involving Toronto Palestinian Families is under way, and because I don't want to compromise the outcome of it, it would be imprudent to comment on it any further.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

I'm just flagging it, because I thought we learned our lesson from 2022 with Laith Marouf, who took $133,000 and walked away from this country with over $100,000. I'm a little disappointed, again, with the department not only last year but this year. Thank heavens on March 30 you made the correct decision that they're no longer up for the grant.

There is another one I want to talk about. Canadian Heritage paid $72,000 to see the advance copy of the StatsCan report on the police report on hate crimes from March 30.

What was in that report that made Heritage pay $72,000 upfront to see that report?