Canadian Heritage committee  Can you just explain that a bit more? Why would an inquiry not be victim-informed?

Canadian Heritage committee  Madam Chair, I have a point of order on this. I don't know if it's appropriate, before we even do a study, to ask to report back to the House. That's something we do after we do a study. Why, in the initial study, would we say we're going to report to the House? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Canadian Heritage committee  We haven't heard anything yet, though.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. Mr. Speer, quickly, you said in your remarks that the tech giants had given you a platform in order to do your work. You also said that you're supported by philanthropy. Is that sustainable?

Canadian Heritage committee  What I saw over more than 20 years of being a journalist was a massive shrinkage of newsrooms. When I started in 1999, we had hundreds of journalists in a newsroom. Today, the newsrooms are virtual, and there's maybe a handful of reporters producing the content. What is the effect on our democracy and our society of having such a dearth of voices in journalism today?

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. Ms. Benavidez, I will turn to you now. In some of the articles through your platform, you talk about how social media companies have abdicated all responsibility to their users. You've said that certain demographics in particular are targeted by advertisements and discouraged from participating in voting and in censuses.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Chair. I will start with Mr. Peinert. It's nice to see you again today. I'm glad we can hear you, finally. You mentioned in your opening statement that tech giants have been able to monetize content that journalists produce at a huge expense, or something to that effect.

Canadian Heritage committee  Chair, I don't think he heard that he has two minutes left. You still have two minutes, Michael.

Canadian Heritage committee  I have a point of order, Chair. I don't know if we need to hear, on this committee, about that issue. It's a totally separate issue, and I don't think it's relevant. I would not ask him for that information.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think you also have done some research in terms of the value of news to big tech platforms. Would you tell me whether there's any threat to journalistic integrity and independence if tech giants are helping to fund journalism organizations? Indeed, if there are government funds to help with journalism organizations, does that have an effect on journalistic independence?

Canadian Heritage committee  I noticed, Chair, that there was a bit of a glitch in her response. The audio seemed to cut out momentarily, similar how to how it did earlier today. I was still able to understand what she was saying, but there was a moment when there was a technical glitch.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today. Ms. Radsch, I want to go to you. I'm not sure whether you saw the details of the government's deal with Google that was announced last week. If so, would you give us your reaction?

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Chair. Thanks to all of you for being here. I think I've mentioned that already. One thing I've heard since the announcement about the Google agreement yesterday is that people on social media are saying that this is the government supporting and paying money for journalism, but in fact, what I understand is that it's a direct deal between the news organizations and the Internet service.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for mentioning that as well, because we keep hearing that our framework is more transparent than the Australian version. Can you describe more for us why that is the case?

Canadian Heritage committee  I'll pass the rest of my time over to my colleague Mr. Noormohamed.