Julie Dabrusin

[Canadian Heritage, May 28th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, once again, the Broadcasting Act has not been modernized in over 30 years. Bill C-10 is about bringing us that update, and it is an important update that will support Canadian jobs and Canadian creators.

If the member would like to, he can continue to follow the debate and work with us to help our creators, but the Conservatives have been vowing to block this law from going ahead since before it even went to committee. This is about web giants contributing to our creators. Why will the Conservatives not help us to make that happen?

[Canadian Heritage, May 28th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, Bill C-10 is about modernizing the Broadcasting Ac, which has not been updated in 30 years. That is before streaming services became a part of the way that Canadians found their shows, movies and music and it needed an update. However, from the very beginning, before the bill even went to committee, the Conservatives vowed to block this law from going ahead. The Conservatives have been against web giants contributing to the creation of Canadian stories from the beginning. Why?

[Canadian Heritage, May 28th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, the only obligations in Bill C-10 for social media companies are for the companies themselves, not individuals. The proposed obligations for the companies are restricted to having them advise the Canada Revenue Agency, contribute a portion of those revenues to Canadian production and make those creators discoverable.

Nothing in the bill asks social media companies to hide content. It is about requiring web giants that make money in our country to contribute to our Canadian shows, movies and music. Why would we let web giants make money from Canadians and not contribute back?

[Canadian Heritage, May 28th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, Bill C-10 is about having web giants, like Netflix, contribute to the creation of Canadian productions. It is about Canadian jobs and Canadian artists. Bill C-10 does not deal with Internet service providers in any way. There is nothing in Bill C-10 that would allow or support in any way that Internet service providers could block people from accessing a service like Skype, or slow down a service like Netflix or YouTube in order to encourage someone to buy a different streaming service.

[Canadian Heritage, May 28th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, Canadian news publishers deliver essential information for the health and safety of our communities, and they should be fairly compensated for their work.

It is important. We are continuing to work, and we are committed to ensuring a fair and well-remunerated system for our news publishers here in Canada.

[Community Solidarity Against Racism in Construction, May 27th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, last summer, nooses were found on an EllisDon construction site at Michael Garron Hospital. Community members came together to show their support for Black construction workers and for the need to take action against anti-Black racism on construction sites. Out of this community response, a group was formed: Community Solidarity Against Racism in Construction, or CSARC.

Members of CSARC are taking on the larger issue of racism on construction sites across our country, because the nooses in our community were not an isolated event. The group started a petition calling for the creation of a national task force on racial violence, and requiring recipients of any federal construction contract to conduct anti-racism training and have an anti-racism strategy. The group's activism is having an impact. Our most recent Ontario transit funding announcement included a condition requiring that contractors have in place an anti-racism strategy.

We thank CSARC.

[Canadian Heritage, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, Canada's analysis confirms that Bill C-10 remains consistent with the Charter's guarantee of freedom of speech. As a government, we have upheld, and we will continue to uphold, Canadians' fundamental rights.

I would like to confirm once again that individuals posting to social media are specifically excluded in Bill C-10. Also, to be clear, of the obligations for social media companies in the bill, none would require them to restrict or review posts by individuals.

[Canadian Heritage, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, we are modernizing the Broadcasting Act, which has not been updated in 30 years, since we rented videos from video stores. We are asking web giants who profit in Canada to contribute to the creation of Canadian stories and music. This would support creators across our country.

The bill would apply to social media companies only. It would ask social media companies to advise us of Canadian revenues, contribute a portion of those revenues to Canadian cultural production funds and make our creators discoverable. Individuals posting to social media are excluded.

[Canadian Heritage, May 11th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I would invite the member opposite to actually review the amendments that are before committee at this moment. This bill had nothing to do with regulating users' content, and it is specifically excluded in the bill.

I look forward to the Conservatives doing the responsible thing and helping us to move this bill forward. We can work together to support our artists.

Numerous stakeholders have said that the Broadcasting Act is in dire need of an update. It has not been significantly updated since 1991, which was well before most Canadians had home Internet access.

I think we can all work together to make sure that we modernize the Broadcasting Act.

[Canadian Heritage, May 11th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I am honoured to have the opportunity to respond to the issues raised by my colleague tonight.

Our government is committed to upholding the ideals of freedom of expression and protecting Canadians' rights as guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That is why I want to clarify that Bill C-10 in no way seeks to silence Canadians.

Our government stands strongly in favour of the protection of freedom of expression and charter rights, and it is incorrect for the opposition to state that Bill C-10 would regulate the Internet or that it would restrict freedom of expression.

I would like to point out that the act itself has a specific requirement that the Broadcasting Act be construed and applied in a manner that is consistent with freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence. I would like to further clarify that the changes that we are proposing through Bill C-10 to modernize the Broadcasting Act do not have the impact that the member opposite states.

The purpose of this modernization is to update a law that has remained unchanged since we were renting videos from the local corner store and we had yet to even imagine streaming services. The law is outdated and has created an uneven playing field for web giants that do not have to contribute to the creation of Canadian stories and music. Our artists have shown overwhelming support to update this law.

The bill does not apply to individuals posting content to social media. In fact, individuals are specifically excluded. This bill is not about what Canadians do online; it is about what web giants do not do in Canada, which is support Canadian works, languages, stories and music.

There is an amendment before the heritage committee that clarifies the powers that the regulator, the CRTC, would have over social media companies and the companies alone. The only things that will be asked of social media companies are the following. The first is how much revenue the platform makes in Canada, Second, they are asked to invest a certain percentage of that platform's Canadian revenues into our cultural production funds. Third, they are asked to promote and make discoverable our artists.

Another important point is that the discoverability requirement for social media companies is not the same as the one that applies to traditional TV and radio broadcasters. The social media company will not need to show or play a proportion of Canadian shows or music. The discoverability requirement for social media companies is only to make our creators discoverable, for example, to include them as suggestions in playlists.

Finally, the regulator will not have any powers relating to broadcasting standards for social media companies. The only powers will be the three that I have stated on Canadian revenue, investing in Canadian stories and music and making our artists discoverable.

I was pleased to see that Quebec's National Assembly unanimously supported Bill C-10. I would like to thank its members for their commitment to creative artists. The CRTC is not just going to start regulating content posted by users. Let me reiterate that this bill is in no way an attack on Canadians' freedom of expression.

I look forward to welcoming the justice minister's new charter statement on Bill C-10 as well as hearing from expert witnesses on the changes that have been proposed.

Canadians are at the heart of Bill C-10.