Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Calgary Skyview for sharing his time with me.
I respectfully acknowledge the Anishinabe people as I join the debate from the national capital region located on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin nation.
It is an honour to rise in the House today to speak in support of Bill C-11, the online streaming act. This bill represents an important milestone in supporting Canadian culture, both today and into the future. Some critics of the bill have questioned the need to safeguard Canadian culture, and I would like to take the opportunity today to talk about some of the unique benefits provided by the Canadian broadcasting system.
While online broadcasters are an important element of the Canadian system in this day and age, some genres like sports remain the mainstay of traditional broadcasters. With this legislation, the sports programs that Canadians currently enjoy would remain available in the future as technologies evolve and business models change.
Canada has a rich history of athletic excellence, and Canadian broadcasters have been there to capture these moments and share them with our fellow Canadians. In the earliest days of radio, Foster Hewitt would welcome fans to hockey broadcasts on Saturday nights with his iconic sign-on: “Hello, Canada, and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland.”
Broadcasting helped inspire a love of one of our national sports for generations of Canadians. Broadcasters have covered innumerable Stanley Cups, the historic summit series between Canada and the U.S.S.R. at the height of the Cold War, and both our men's and women's national teams winning gold medals on home soil in the 2010 Winter Olympics, hosted by Vancouver. Moments like these bring Canadians of all backgrounds together. They are fun, entertaining and dramatic. Such experiences strengthen the cultural fabric and sense of sovereignty of our country.
It is not just hockey that broadcasters showcase for Canadians. Through the small screen, Canadians have seen numerous remarkable athletic achievements. Television and radio have chronicled the Toronto Blue Jays, first in 1992 then again in 1993, and the Toronto Raptors in 2019, becoming the first champions from outside the United States in professional baseball and basketball respectively.
We watched as Mike Weir became both the first Canadian and the first left-handed golfer to win the Masters in 2003. Similarly, Georges St-Pierre won two UFC welterweight championships, cementing his reputation as a renowned athlete and possibly the best MMA fighter ever. Traditional broadcasters, through a range of offerings like basic cable and pay-per-view television, have allowed us to follow these careers and share in these exciting moments.
We saw Donovan Bailey go down in history as the fastest man in the world when he won Olympic gold in 1996. We marvelled when Bianca Andreescu captured the first tennis singles major in Canadian history by winning the 2019 U.S. Open.
The country was captivated by one of the most inspiring athletic achievements in history when Terry Fox ran 5,300 kilometres across Canada in 143 days to raise money for cancer research during the Marathon of Hope.
Sports and athletic achievements are without a doubt an important part of Canadian culture. Canadian athletes set records and break ground. They reflect the diversity of our country, and we can celebrate their athletic accomplishments in real time, in part because these sports programs are made available through our broadcasting system.
Cross-country skier and biathlete Brian McKeever has a career total of 17 medals and is now Canada's most decorated winter Paralympic athlete, an honour previously held by the late Lana Spreeman. The Paralympic Games raise the profile of accessible sports with coverage by CBC and by other broadcasters. In the recent winter 2022 Paralympic Games, Canada ranked third as a country, bringing home 25 medals.
As a particular point of pride, Canada is a leader in women's sports and making strides toward gender equity in the field. For instance, when Christine Sinclair scored her 185th international goal, she broke the scoring record for both men's and women's international soccer. Quinn became the first transgender, non-binary athlete to earn a medal when the Canadian women's soccer team won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Moments like these inspire Canadians and create a shared sense of national pride and unity. Canadian broadcasters have played a key role in sharing these events with Canadians. That is why Bill C-11—