Official Languages Committee on Nov. 25th, 2025

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Political will is needed. We see it in all sorts of areas from the federal government and Quebec. Quebec taxes digital giants, I think. Could they tax more?

[Sylvain Chamberland]

In any case, an exercise is needed, it must be said.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Yes.

Basically, as you said, we need to look at the digital giants and CBC/Radio-Canada.

The government of Quebec could also contribute. When we go to the Festival d’été de Québec and there are bands—

[Sylvain Chamberland]

Honestly, the Quebec government has nonetheless improved in recent years. They have made a commendable effort. I’m telling you, there has really been a change in tone.

If that change were to take place at the federal level, perhaps we wouldn’t have the same debates either, and we wouldn’t be required to come and testify before the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

I now give the floor to Mr. Dalton for five minutes.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Mr. Chamberland, thank you very much for your testimony. It’s clear that you’re struggling for the survival of your businesses, and we’re grateful for that.

We, the Conservatives, want you to succeed. That said, as members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, we also want to protect the French language. This is part of our mandate, and it’s really important. However, as you said, it is difficult to maintain a balance.

For over two years, the Liberals have taken control of the Internet by passing the Online Streaming Act in April 2023. They claimed to need these powers to help Canadian content creators. Can you tell us if such strict government control has helped popularize French-language music? Do you see a difference?

[Sylvain Chamberland]

I think the numbers speak for themselves. As Mr. Beaulieu just mentioned, the decline of French is still very noticeable in terms of online consumption. I would even say that it has worsened over the past three years or so, with a really sharp decline in the consumption of French-language music online.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I see.

Do you believe that the music clips used in short videos on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube can help popularize French songs among young Quebeckers? These platforms use short online videos, but without copyright, and they are not businesses.

[Sylvain Chamberland]

Obviously, there’s the issue of copyright and the duration of the music clip. If it’s a certain length, it’s fine. I think it can help popularize French content to some extent, especially if they are influencers. That said, we agree that it’s a passing trend; it might influence someone for five minutes, but I don’t think it will have a long‑term impact on the consumption of Quebec music.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

In your opinion, are we in a situation where we have to force children to consume French content just like we force them to eat vegetables? There’s real tension. What can we do to encourage young people to love vegetables and French-speaking music more? My definition of young people is those under 40 or 50 years old.

I really love French-language music, but what can we do about this?

[Sylvain Chamberland]

I strongly believe in people’s abilities.

I think I belong to your age group, and I can tell you that I’ve seen enough to say that when you think you’ve seen the end of something, you sometimes witness a rebirth. I fundamentally believe in that.

Traditional media that fact‑check and do all those things will bounce back, but in a different way. We’ve come a long way, but I believe we’re going to return to traditional media. I also believe that traditional radio could make a comeback. Do you know what? Francophone music may come back to the forefront, but we will need to think and do things differently.

I’d like to get back to the issue of diversity, because I’ve often discussed it with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the CRTC. I want to highlight an important point: The regulations are very strict. They force broadcasters to constantly play, roughly speaking, mainstream music. It’s always the same songs, the same stuff that gets played, because they’re required to play 65% French-language music. If we wanted to create a hip-hop music station, for example, we couldn’t do it because there isn’t 65% hip‑hop. There’s some, but at 65%, we would always be playing the same artists.

The regulations are so strict that we don’t open the door to other music styles. It’s extremely difficult. In Quebec, we have a country network that really works because it’s in style right now. All the new songs coming out are country. There’s a lot of new francophone country music. Suddenly, it’s not hard to quench your thirst because you have resources. If I think about rock, on the other hand, almost nothing new is ever offered. There are hardly any new rock songs in French anymore.

In my opinion, that’s also part of the equation. When we say that we need to loosen the system to give more leeway to entrepreneurs in the media sector, it reaches a point where we could really propose discoverability. On the other hand, by imposing a quota of 65% French‑language music in a given style, it’s impossible to do better.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Chamberland.

Mr. Dalton, thank you.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I now give the floor to Ms. Chenette for five minutes.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chamberland.

I want to congratulate you on the success you have had as an entrepreneur so far, and for being a visionary when you embarked on this beautiful project.

We are currently in a media crisis that needs entrepreneurship to reinvent the system. You’re approaching the issue from the perspective of the francophone fact, but the problem—and I agree with Mr. Godin on this point—is not that of the francophonie, but that of the industry. I’m not sure that focusing the debate on the francophonie helps us. There are still 321 million French‑speakers on the planet, French is the fifth most spoken language in the world, the fourth on the Internet, and from 2018 to 2022, the number of French speakers increased by 7%.

It’s clear that the entire planet has experienced the American cultural invasion. The current situation puts us at a turning point. There are indeed opportunities to reinvent ourselves, but the francophonie must remain strong, because there needs to be a multitude of francophone artists from all musical styles and from all over the planet. On the other hand, the industry needs solutions. I’m also grateful to you for all the ones you’ve proposed, which are very interesting. We all took notes.

Another phenomenon in the radio and media sector is misinformation and disinformation. Journalistic rigour has always been essential, but now the competitors are not just the platforms, but also the average man or woman who decides to create their own music or share their own information. We can no longer go back. As you said, it will be important to think differently, but we need to completely rethink the business model, because competition is no longer limited to platforms.

Another phenomenon to consider is the democratic engagement you highlighted: for local radio, the closeness of the private sector matters.

In this context, what is the right platform to discuss all of this? The CRTC has a role to play, but is this the right platform? The problem concerns the entire sector.

[Sylvain Chamberland]

During the last hearings, we proposed to the CRTC that a committee be created. There should be a standing committee without any additional paperwork. We should always be in discussion during this important period. We can’t come here and discuss this, then not see each other again for 15 years to implement the next phase; we would be completely disconnected. There would be a decline, and in the meantime, we wouldn’t be talking.

I believe that the entire community—francophones, Indigenous people, community radio, CBC/Radio‑Canada, and others—must be able to engage in discussions with decision‑makers, parliamentarians, the CRTC, lawmakers and those who set the rules, while looking them straight in the eye. Everyone should be gathered around a table, and we would move forward. We should hold committee meetings regularly to move toward solutions that will help the entire community.

You’re right to say that we are at a crossroads. However, as I told you, I strongly believe in the return of traditional journalism, that is to say, factual journalism. We’ve fallen into opinion journalism, and there’s obviously a lot of future for opinions, but I think that, as you said, everyone is giving their opinion now. Everyone can consider themselves an independent media outlet, a newspaper or a radio station.

I’m therefore convinced that we’ll return to a form of factual media where we’ll verify the facts to ensure that what is said is true.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

That’s an important point. In that context, it’s clear that what’s true and genuine in the francophonie and in our Canadian strength is there and must remain. Reducing the amount of French in our forums may not be the right approach.

I hear all the arguments, but we need to focus on how we keep French alive together. In doing so, it’s clear that the debate must continue. That’s why our government has invested a historic amount of $770 million in culture in this year’s budget.

I’ll finish on that note. I hope you agree on this investment.

[Sylvain Chamberland]

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We will conclude with that answer. This is a good time to do so.

Mr. Chamberland, on behalf of the committee, I thank you for being with us and for sharing your ideas, suggestions and comments.

Colleagues, before we finish, I have a small administrative matter to settle with you. Last week, you should have received a copy of the proposed budgets for the study on the quota of French-language music imposed on French-language media and for the study on the use of French in government communications and federal institutions.

Does the committee agree to adopt these budgets?

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much.

With that, the meeting is adjourned.