Peter Julian

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the comparison to George Orwell is so unbelievably wacky that I cannot even address that.

I would like to stick to the facts. The facts are that we had the equivalent of five weeks of hearings. The facts are that the vast majority of witnesses who came before committee were in favour of the bill and wanted some improvements. The NDP worked very hard to achieve those improvements, but the vast majority of witnesses supported the legislation because they have seen how the cultural sector has been eroded by the dominance of the web giants.

Fact: The Conservatives blocked additional witnesses by filibustering even some of the witnesses who came, such as the chair of the CRTC and the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Fact: The Conservatives did not submit their amendments after all the other parties had submitted their amendments, leading to further delays.

Fact: The Conservatives did not want consideration at clause-by-clause.

Fact: The NDP pushed through important amendments that I mentioned earlier tonight that actually improved the bill to make Bill C-11 better than ever.

Final fact: This is important, and not a single Conservative addressed this. The fact is that right now there is indiscriminate collection of people's private data by the web giants. The Facebook papers revealed this, yet not a single Conservative has spoken to decry the indiscriminate collection of private data that is taking place right now by web giants.

How does the member respond to all of these facts?

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am saddened by the member's speech. I have had conversations with him in the past and always found him to be very level-headed. It is obvious that he has not read the bill. He does not understand the bill at all, which is fine, as members can stand in the House and speak even if they have not read the material.

However, what he does talk about is disturbing because it does apply, but it applies to the web giants. We have seen with the Facebook papers the indiscriminate collection and use of people's private data, and it is indiscriminate by the web giants. There is not a single Conservative who has risen in the House to say that is wrong, so I want to ask the member about that.

What he says about Bill C-11 is simply not true. It has no relationship to the bill, as I am sure he is aware. He is a very intelligent man. However, the indiscriminate collection of data is taking place, and it is taking place by private companies. As the Facebook papers have revealed, it is something we should be concerned about. Why is he not concerned about private corporations collecting that data and tracking Canadians? Why is he not concerned about that?

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to have the opportunity to ask my colleague a simple question, because we had another point raised by the Conservatives that was not accurate, when it comes to the LGBTQ2S community.

We heard testimony at the Canadian heritage committee that OutTV was basically removed from, or not allowed to be on, a number of online streaming distributors. OutTV came to committee and said that with the way it works currently, it does not have access and is excluded. In Bill C-11, as the member has pointed out, there are no exclusions.

Does the member not feel this is appropriate? Given how these big web giants act and how they can exclude with impunity, does it not make sense to have a level playing field, so that there is access for all Canadians of all communities to these online streaming platforms and streaming distributors?

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about $1 billion that will be paid to cultural organizations. That will certainly make a big difference for our artists.

What difference does the member think that this billion dollars will make for artists from Quebec?

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I also want to thank my colleague from Drummond for his work on the committee. We were able to improve the bill, which is an important part of our work. Another important part of our work as members of Parliament is to pressure the government.

Has the government stood up to the web giants? No, not really. Some of what my colleague said is very true and relevant.

However, we have work to do. The improved version of Bill C-11 is a first step in that direction, but we need to continue our work—

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Victoria for her incredible advocacy and strong push for the environment and for the future of our planet. Coming from British Columbia, I really appreciate and have great respect for her environmental work. It is at such a critical time, when we have seen climate change striking first-hand, particularly in British Columbia as the epicentre.

The member for Victoria has really made an enormous contribution to move this country in a direction we need to go in order to actually and actively combat the climate crisis. I know there is a ton of work still to do, but I wanted to express appreciation for everything that she has done so far, and I know she will continue to keep pushing.

We have had incredible, systematic disinformation from the Conservatives. The vast majority of witnesses who appeared before the committee were in favour of Bill C-11, but they often talked about improvements to the bill. The Conservatives and the NDP took a different tack. The Conservatives' reaction was, “We are just going to shut everything down. We are trying to block everything.” The NDP, as the effective opposition, said, “No, we have to improve this bill.”

The vast majority of witnesses support it. The quotes that the member from Victoria just made are absolutely accurate. We sought to make the bill better, and we succeeded in those five areas I mentioned during my speech, particularly in terms of breaking down the barriers for marginalized Canadians, Black and racialized Canadians, indigenous—

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I would disagree with the premise of the question. I talked about dental care, but I also talked about affordable housing. The affordable housing crisis is something that is right across this country, including in the riding of my colleague, for whom I have a lot of respect.

This took unprecedented investments, and for the first time we have those unprecedented investments. After 50 years, since the former Liberal government actually ditched the national housing program, we will actually see tens of thousands of units of affordable housing—not market housing, but affordable housing based on income—being built across the country.

The just transition act is an absolutely mandatory part of the confidence and supply agreement as well. This is absolutely necessary, as I know the member knows, through the climate crisis that we are seeing. Last year, of course, both with the heat dome and the atmospheric rivers, we saw first-hand the impact of the climate crisis that is striking so close. We need that immediately.

The Canada pharmacare act is again another piece of significant legislation that has to be adopted next year. There are 27 other components. It is all published online, and we can of course direct people there who want to learn more. It is all online, all of the elements of the accord and all of the important things that will come to Canadians and to our planet as a result.

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, that is wild disinformation again. I spoke for 20 minutes, and 17 and a half of those minutes were on the bill itself and the NDP amendments. That is wild disinformation. The Conservatives cannot even calculate with a stopwatch, when 17 and a half minutes are given to what is good in the bill and the amendments that the NDP brought forward. I even talked about confidence and supply.

Yes, I took a couple minutes to talk about what was deplorable conduct from the Conservatives, and there is simply no way to excuse it. What the Conservatives did in blocking witnesses from answering questions and blocking people from getting information was simply deplorable. That does not even make sense. I cannot understand why the Conservatives acted the way they did.

There are many good things in the bill, which is why almost all of my speech, which did last 20 minutes, was on both the importance of the bill and the importance of the significant NDP amendments that have improved this bill.

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I will withdraw it and answer the second question, which of course is a good one.

The Conservatives have been wild in their disinformation on this issue, and unbelievably so. I thought at first it was because members had not read the bill. Then I realized something. We were giving answers in the House about these things and the minister, of course, was responding, and members of the committee who had read the bill were responding. I realized then that this was not about reading the bill or understanding the bill. It was really about talking to a very narrow base that they want to misinform.

I imagine they were fundraising off of it. I imagine that is why they were being so wildly and deliberately inaccurate. However, I find it sad in a parliamentary context. As members of Parliament, we have a responsibility to get the information and deliver to Canadians information that is accurate. The Conservatives have failed now for months to do that in some areas, particularly most egregiously around Bill C-11, where the disinformation is so unbelievably bad that—

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, yes, we wanted to sit until midnight. Yes, I approved it.

On the other question on the importance of how—