Canadian Heritage committee  I'm sorry, Chair, but no.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. My first question is for Mr. Fares with the Walt Disney Company. Mr. Fares, I'm hoping that you can perhaps just talk a little bit about the extent to which Disney has gone in order to generate Canadian content or content that would support Canadian creatives.

Canadian Heritage committee  I was hoping that perhaps you could go into a little bit more detail in terms of your intentionality behind supporting Canada in this way.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's great. In your mind then if Bill C‑11 were to come into effect, would it help you generate more Canadian content or would it hinder the good work that you're already doing?

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Mr. Fares. What I hear you saying is that the market is magical and that, when there is demand for something, which there appears to be for Canadian content—the celebration of Canadian artists and the possibilities that exist here within Canada to be realized—Disney is responding and going in that direction.

Canadian Heritage committee  But it has been stated by the minister that it's necessary in order to see the modernization of the CRTC.

Canadian Heritage committee  It would seem that the minister sees the need for the reform.

Canadian Heritage committee  Are you telling me that, as the chair of the CRTC who has a renewed term, you cannot define the very basic thing that is your job? What is broadcasting?

Canadian Heritage committee  Wow. Competence.

Canadian Heritage committee  But Mr. Scott, there is a new chair being searched for right now because that is deemed necessary to modernize the CRTC. Is that not correct?

Canadian Heritage committee  Mr. Scott, I'm just going to continue here. Bill C-11 does, in fact, leave user-generated content open to being regulated by the CRTC. I recognize that there have been arguments against this. However, Dr. Michael Geist has said, “The indisputable reality is that the net result of those provisions is that user generated content is covered by the bill.”

Canadian Heritage committee  My question for you, then, is this. Isn't the point to modernize it? Why would we keep that so broad by keeping proposed section 4.2 in the current bill? Why wouldn't we remove that?

Canadian Heritage committee  However, I guess what we're faced with today—and you discussed this earlier—is that the CRTC traditionally exists to—

Canadian Heritage committee  —or, the Broadcasting Act looks to oversee a very scarce resource, namely radio and television. With the Internet, there's no problem with scarcity. There's an endless number of websites available to an individual. Any Canadian who wants to set one up can do so. In my estimation, then, why would we need the CRTC to make sure that certain content gets forced in front of Canadians versus other content?

Canadian Heritage committee  However, that's if TV stations and radio stations are limited, so you have to give a certain percentage to French or indigenous etc., but we don't have that problem with the Internet, so how is this a modernization?