Paul Manly

[Government Business No. 10—Broadcasting Act, June 21st, 2021]

, seconded by the member for Edmonton Strathcona, moved:

That Bill C-10, in Clause 8, be amended by adding after line 43 on page 14 the following:

“(i.1) respecting the establishment of a framework for contractual practices between independent producers and programming undertakings and online undertakings;”

[Government Business No. 10—Broadcasting Act, June 21st, 2021]

seconded by the member for Edmonton Strathcona, moved:

That Bill C-10, in Clause 8, be amended by adding after line 39 on page 14 the following:

“(7.1) Subsection 10(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (g):

(g.1) prescribing the requirements for Canadian producers who are creating content for foreign undertakings and online undertakings that provide a social media service to be eligible to apply for the Canada Media Fund;”

[Broadcasting Act, June 21st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I have heard a lot from the minister about protecting artists and ensuring they are taken care of when they are up against the big giants.

I put forward a couple of amendments, one that was debated and one that was not debated because of the time allocation. They called for the establishment of a framework for the contractual practices between independent producers who produce a lot of stuff for the broadcast industry and the online program undertakings of the big companies. This was identified in the Yale Report, that there is a huge power imbalance between these small contractors and producers and the big companies. They have a system like this in the U.K. and in France, and it works very well.

The Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions has called for this as have the Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada and the Canadian Media Producers Association. If the government is interested in defending independent producers and small production companies, how come it did not support my amendments?

[Broadcasting Act, June 21st, 2021]

Madam Speaker, the bill has been flawed from the beginning, and we have worked pretty hard at committee to try to fix it with over 120 amendments. The discussion around freedom of expression and whether the small online undertakings are responsible for the content that is uploaded comes down to a question of what is already in the Broadcasting Act. The act, which is from 1991, says, “This Act shall be construed and applied in a manner that is consistent with the freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence enjoyed by broadcasting undertakings.”

Does that include the content that is uploaded by users of social media platforms? Has the minister looked into this to see that the constitutionality of the bill would stand up, or are we going to see challenges to the bill under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for freedom of expression?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 21st, 2021]

With regard to the Department of National Defence (DND) firing ranges in Nanaimo and Chilliwack, British Columbia (BC): (a) did the use of the Nanaimo range change since the 2019 closure of the Vokes range in Chilliwack, BC, including (i) how many days per year the range is being used now versus before the closure of the Vokes range, (ii) any change in the caliber of weapons being used in the Nanaimo range; (b) did the DND assess the (i) sound intensity, including rapidity and decibel levels of the firing range at various distances over time, including before and after the closure of Vokes range, (ii) social and health impacts of the range on local residents within a 10-kilometre radius from the range, including residents with post-traumatic stress disorder and refugees from war zones, (iii) impact of the range on the surrounding environment and wildlife, (iv) feasibility of relocating the range to a less populated area, well outside of present and future residential neighbourhoods and potential developments; (c) did the DND complete its planned review of all of its assets in BC and, if not, when does it estimate it will be completed; and (d) did the DND conduct any of said assessments or reviews, and, if so, (i) what were the results, (ii) what actions have been taken as a result, (iii) will future actions be taken as a result and, if so, when?

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 21st, 2021]

With regard to the government’s acquisition of 88 advanced fighter aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force: (a) in what month are the successful bidder and aircraft expected to be chosen by the government; (b) in what month is a contract expected to be signed with the chosen bidder; (c) will the government conduct a revised cost analysis of the acquisition, and, if so, (i) when will the analysis be conducted, (ii) will the analysis be made public, and, if so, when; and (d) will the government sign the contract before the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s cost analysis of the acquisition is completed and made public?

[Petitions, June 21st, 2021]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to table a second petition on National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada. The petitioners note that indigenous people have rights and title to their traditional territories and have been stewards of these lands since time immemorial.

First nations and indigenous land defenders are calling for the protection of the remaining 2.7% of the original high productivity old growth forests in British Columbia, 75% of which are slated to be logged.

The petitioners call upon the government to work with the provinces and the first nations to immediately halt logging of endangered old-growth ecosystems; fund the long-term protection of old-growth ecosystems as a priority for Canada's climate action plan and reconciliation with indigenous peoples; support value-added forestry initiatives in partnership with first nations to ensure Canada's forestry industry is sustainable and based on the harvesting of second and third growth forests; ban the export of raw logs and maximize resource use for local jobs; and ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production.

[Petitions, June 21st, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I have two petitions today.

It is a privilege to table e-petition 3433, with 1,139 signatures from Canadians across the country.

The petitioners are concerned about the government's plan to purchase 88 new fighter jets for a cost of $19 billion, with an estimated full life-cycle cost of $76.8 billion. They note that this purchase will divert funding from other critical areas and that these jets are weapons of aggression rather than defence. They also note that the Department of National Defence is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases among all federal departments, but that operations are exempt from the federal government's GHG emission reduction plan.

The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to cancel the $19-billion competition to purchase the 88 new combat aircraft; include all the carbon emissions from the Department of National Defence’s military vehicles and operations in the federal government’s GHG emission reduction plan and net-zero plan; and invest in a conversion plan that will create thousands of jobs in the green economy and the care economy to help transition Canada away from fossil fuels and armed force.

[Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, June 21st, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about the collaborative effort that happened in this committee.

The hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands put forward a number of amendments and, in fact, one of those amendments was voted down by the Liberals and the NDP, even though it was the same wording as a Liberal amendment that came after it. He wasted an hour scrambling around to try to reword that amendment they voted down to get that language back in the bill. A number of really great amendments put forward by the Green Party were blocked.

This is supposed to be a bill about accountability, but the only accountability in this comes after 2028, and the accountability is that we can vote out the government. That is not accountability. The citizens can do that in any election. We need a carbon budget like the U.K. and New Zealand have, and we need actual accountability.

It would have been good to see a much stronger bill. I wonder if there are some comments about why we have not done that. What is this about collaboration and voting down amendments—

[Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, June 18th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I too would like to reiterate that we need to help businesses that are starting up that needed help and did not get it. Lots of Canadians did not get help in this situation. However, we have also seen CEOs take advantage of this situation and shareholders have been paid huge bonuses.

Does the hon. member think it is fair that there is pandemic profiteering by the big banks and large corporations when so many small businesses and working people are struggling?