Finance Committee on Feb. 9th, 2026

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

I have answered that question about three times now.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I just don't find it reasonable for you to have the powers of a king, essentially.

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

I certainly don't have the powers of a king.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

If you are allowed to exempt any entity from any federal law, it is like having the powers of a king.

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

Is that a statement or a question?

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

It's a fact.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Ms. Cobena.

That concludes the time for this round.

We will continue with Mr. Fragiskatos for five minutes.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister and officials, for being here.

Mr. Miller, we heard some comments about the public broadcaster. If you check them to their logical conclusion, it could be argued that colleagues are arguing, ultimately, for a system whereby the government is deciding what is and is not broadcast by the public broadcaster.

Can you reiterate the importance of an independent public broadcaster for a democracy like Canada's?

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

It's critical.

The CBC-empowering legislative document goes back 90 years. It has been integral to building up and bolstering the democracy that we have today. CBC/Radio-Canada has been criticized from its inception. There are books by Pierre Berton on this.

It's not an institution that should lack scrutiny, but it certainly needs independence. When I say “independence”, it doesn't mean that it's unaccountable. Ultimately, the CBC is accountable to the legislation that creates it, but also to the public; otherwise, the public loses trust.

We've seen the loss of trust in the last few years for a variety of reasons. In the prevalent media environment with online platforms, there's a lot of misinformation and disinformation spreading around. As a beacon of light in that, sometimes, vomitorium, you need an independent broadcaster that has the resources, often supported by the state but without the influence of the state—independence from the CEO, the board and the editorial boards—and in the context of our bilingual country, content in English and French.

It should never be understated that a key pillar in keeping me and you accountable, but also members of the opposition, is making sure that information is honest and truthful, with a process that ensures that independence, whereby journalists can ask me the same difficult questions they ask the opposition.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

I also want to ask you a question about multiculturalism in Canada and its future. You're the minister responsible for introducing a really important set of reforms that have begun to restore sustainability in the immigration system. Still, though, we see a narrative on immigration in Canada and other democracies, of course.

What future do you see for multiculturalism in this country? How will you be moving forward in continuing to underline the importance of that kind of vision for a multicultural, multi-faith democracy, as Canada is, considering the prevalence of current narratives around it?

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

Hopefully, I won't be alone in it. As the minister in charge of the multiculturalism law, it is to make sure that the principles that underpin it are being maintained in the context of the bilingual country that we are, a country that's built on immigration, other than indigenous peoples.

It's no secret to anyone that there is a large anti-immigrant sentiment. When we see that eating away at the public narrative in a toxic way, it eats away at another fundamental pillar of our democracy, namely pluralism, which multiculturalism underpins.

People do need to integrate into Canada, in a democracy, and subscribe to and practise our values, one of them being our respect for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Key to this is making sure that we continue the investments in highlighting who we are as a country—first and foremost, Canadians, but at times united by our differences, which sometimes requires funds that we come here and humbly ask for, but it also requires engagement from all Canadians, not just elected officials, to realize that we are better because we have the ability to have discussions about our differences and realize that, at the end of the day, we're all Canadians and we're proud of it.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

I have 40 seconds left. The people back home in London wouldn't be happy if I didn't ask a question about the film sector and its future. There's a lot of excitement around the city. We've had a few films and TV shows shot in London.

What would you advise medium-sized communities like London to do to better position themselves for that kind of vision for the future? It's been an emerging area in our economy in some ways.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Give a very brief response, please.

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

Well, get out and go to London. It's a lovely place. I've been there myself.

You see a lot of films being filmed around the country, and we need to keep that up. That reality is under threat in some very asymmetrical discussions with our partner to the south of us, but we need to stay on top of that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Fragiskatos.

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

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, you seem keenly interested in the government's role in broadcasting. As for me, I'm interested in your opinion.

Is it the role of the government to broadcast advertisements on public television? I'm talking about ads for deodorant or potato chips, for example, or political ads broadcast during the news when there's an election campaign going on.

Is that the government's role, in your view? You seem like an expert on this.

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

The government's role is to fund the public broadcaster. If that public broadcaster then seeks to increase its revenue by running ads, that is beside the point.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

That is really interesting. So you believe that CBC/Radio-Canada still running ads after getting an extra $150 million on top of the billions it already gets is beside the point.

I'm asking because your predecessor, Ms. St‑Onge, and even your other predecessor Mr. Guilbeault didn't think it was beside the point at all. When Ms. St‑Onge was working on the file, she said that CBC/Radio-Canada's policy required a basic framework.

Do you believe it's beside the point and isn't deserving of consideration?

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

No. It's beside the point in that the government has no place influencing CBC/Radio-Canada directly by telling it what it can and can't do.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

And yet it gets its funding from the state, so you do have a say. When you give an organization $150 million, you can ask it to run fewer ads. No one likes ads, anyway.

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

I'm simply exploring the counterargument that CBC/Radio-Canada shouldn't necessarily get all of its funding from the federal government. I think everyone can agree on that. However, I'm more concerned about it running ads during the news than if it did so during the rest of its programming.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

If it's not that big of a deal, instead of giving it $150 million of taxpayers' money, why didn't your government tell it to run more deodorant ads?

Why didn't you ask it to stop annoying people with advertising in exchange for that $150 million? I think Canadians would have been grateful to you.

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

I don't think people find advertising annoying, necessarily; some ads are annoying. This might be worth considering.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

I think we would win a referendum over that issue.

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

When it comes to winning referendums, the Bloc Québécois is zero for two.