Evidence of meeting #4 for Canadian Heritage in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was content.
A video is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
I don't have a precise answer yet. The fund will be administered by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, based on submissions to it. It could be up to 40%. That's a maximum we have put in. I cannot give you a precise number yet, because it has not yet been determined.
Conservative
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
I simply don't have the numbers. I'm sorry.
Conservative
Mike Dawson Conservative Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
Are there any restrictions with the fund that's being given to Corus?
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
It needs to be expended and used on the same basis as it would need to be expended by an independent local news company and other independent local news television broadcasters.
Conservative
Mike Dawson Conservative Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
Can they use the funds for operating budgets? Are there any restrictions? Can they hire new staff, raise salaries and balance their budget with new funds, or is the money restricted to providing additional service to the listeners?
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
That's an interesting question. They can spend it in many different ways, as other news organizations can, because there is a question about what quality news is. That can lead to more investment in your back office. It can lead to hiring new journalists. They do have some flexibility in doing that, but it needs to be determined that it is being spent on news.
As with any of our programs, of course, we will be doing a review of it in the future to see what the ultimate effects are and whether it has had the effect we intended, which is to provide for better and stronger local news across Canada.
Conservative
Mike Dawson Conservative Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
With Corus potentially getting 40% of the local news fund given out, should I expect local news in my riding in rural New Brunswick, or are we going to lose out to bigger places like Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, where they don't understand where Blackville or Minto or Chipman or the smaller parts of my riding are in rural New Brunswick?
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
That is certainly not the intention of any of the funds we're providing. In fact, we've specified, especially on the radio side, that we want investment outside the major centres. In terms of television use, we want to see investments kept locally and not have everything fed through the five largest cities in Canada. Certainly, that is absolutely the intention of our funding.
Conservative
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Currently, we have about 750 people. That includes roughly 60 people who are temporary resources just for the year to get us through moving ahead on the Online Streaming Act. Those are temporary resources that will not exist in a year.
Conservative
Mike Dawson Conservative Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
Did you say it includes 60 people since the act was enacted?
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
We received funding for roughly 60 people to help us through the Online Streaming Act. Again, that's temporary. That funding will disappear next year.
Conservative
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you.
To date, how much money that has been collected based on the 5% of Canadian revenue has been remitted to the CRTC?
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
I'll answer that.
None of it comes directly to the CRTC. One thing we did when we made our base contribution decision was that we set up a mechanism where, when the streamers asked for an independent company to administer it to preserve some of their corporate secrecy, they were allowed to do that. There is an independent body that is collecting and will administer the money, disburse the money and report to us on the money that it has received from the streamers, so that we can do the accounting that Mr. Hutton talked about, and that will go out.
Because of the court ruling—
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
If I may, I think the question is clear: What is the amount that has been remitted, whether to the CRTC or to a third party?
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
We do not have an accounting yet. As the court has not ruled, they have not been required to provide us with the money that has been collected and what money will be disbursed.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
So, because of the court order, there is a stay. Therefore, no revenue or percentage of revenue has been collected yet.
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
We understand that the money has been received and is being held in trust. In fact, we have been told that, at the choice of the streamers, some has actually been distributed to some of the recipients. They are not legally required to do that. They have chosen to do so.
Our complete accounting will come once the courts have ruled. Then we will receive the complete report on what has been collected and what has been paid out.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you. That is the time.
We're moving over to Ms. Royer. You have five minutes.
Liberal
Zoe Royer Liberal Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The topic of consultation with stakeholders was raised by Mr. Ntumba and later as well. In my riding in beautiful west coast B.C., in the riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam, we have some producers. One of them is Tri-Cities Community Television, which represents five communities of the 21 Lower Mainland metro Vancouver communities. That's one organization.
The other one is the Canadian Ethnic Media Association. In my riding, there are specific outlets, including Parvaz TV and KTV media, among others. The Canadian Ethnic Media Association represents about 85 producers across Canada. I know they are looking for sustainable support.
In the context of consultation, has the window closed or are you still seeking consultation with stakeholders?
Vice-President, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The specific hearings we had this summer have closed and the records have closed, but we are always seeking consultation with stakeholders. In fact, with numerous stakeholders, we've said that if we're not holding a consultation but they want to better understand what we're doing and what they might do in the future, they should reach out to us. Call me. If they contact Vicky, she will put them in touch with me or the other Scott, or anyone else in the organization who could help them.
We encourage people to reach out to us and start communicating with us, and we will keep a dialogue with them. Part of our job is to give them the best information on how they can intervene on the record in our proceedings and be taken into account in our future decisions.
Certainly, there are some specific windows that have closed, but the grand window remains open and we encourage people—I'm going to mix my metaphors—to walk through the door to see us.
Liberal
Zoe Royer Liberal Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
I really appreciate that response. I think it will be music to their ears, so thank you for that.
Looking ahead, what milestones should Parliament and Canadians watch for as final implementation steps continue? How will you track outcomes such as audience reach, employment, investment and growth in the creative sector?
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Perhaps I can start and turn things over to my colleague.
In terms of the milestones coming up, as we've mentioned, there were a number of major proceedings and major public hearings that took place over the summer. In the coming weeks and months, these major decisions will be released.
The big policy part of implementing the Online Streaming Act will be completed over the next several months. After that, there will be specific conditions of service that we will need to follow up on with certain companies.
In all of our work—and I would say this is on the broadcasting side as well as on the telecommunications side—it's very important to monitor. This comes back to a previous question about what's happening with telecommunications. We have said very publicly that we need to continue to monitor to make sure that the measures we're putting in place are meeting the objectives we are trying to meet.