Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise once again to speak to Bill C-32. However I must say right from the beginning I am extremely disappointed with the deal that has been made between the Bloc Quebecois and the government to end debate on this issue. Many Canadians still are very concerned about so many aspects of Bill C-32 which simply do not fill the needs of interested parties, not the least of whom are Canadian broadcasters.
I will declare my sympathies off the top as I always do. As I always point out to my colleagues across the way, I come from a background in broadcasting and I think it is important that be known.
We are again seeing collusion between the Bloc Quebecois and the Liberals to end debate on an issue that affects millions and millions of Canadians. People still had all kinds of questions they wanted addressed. Unfortunately the government ignored them just as it ignored the concerns of people on the HST legislation on which the government also moved closure. It is becoming quite a common feature of the government, more so than the previous Mulroney government. That is the first point I wanted to deal with.
Second, I will deal with the legislation specifically. Broadcasters have asked over and over and over again for a number of things. They have asked that the government move amendments to the legislation that would permit them to time shift, which simply means they would have the ability to record a program at one time
and then play it back at a different time without having to seek the permission of people who were playing music on that particular broadcast, without having to go through all the hoops, without having to go through all the paperwork. It is a common sense request, but for reasons that escape me or anybody with a modicum of common sense the government has denied it.