Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has the power to issue directives to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, CRTC, exclusively under subsection 23(3) of the Broadcasting Act. Moreover, directives under subsection 23(3) pertain exclusively to conditions imposed by the CRTC to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the corporation, in consideration of those conditions.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), yes, the government has projections of what Canadian production will look like in five years without Bill C-10. With regard to (b), yes, the government has projections of what future contributions to Canadian content will look like in five years with the changes in Bill C-10.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, with regard to Canadian Heritage and (a), the answer is $390,697,000. With regard to (b), information pertaining to grants and contributions is publicly available on the Open Canada website at https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc/?sort=score%20desc&page;=1&search;_text=&gc-search-orgs;=Canadian%20Heritage This website excludes awards provided by the athlete assistance program, as these are disclosed on an annual basis, at the conclusion of each fiscal year.

Canadian Heritage  Madam Speaker, I think most members in this place agree that we need to modernize our Broadcasting Act to make sure the web giants pay their fair share. Our broadcasting system predates the digital era and unduly disadvantages Canadian broadcasters. That is why we introduced legislation that would ensure that online broadcasters contribute their fair share to support Canadian music and Canadian stories.

Volunteerism in Toronto—Danforth  Mr. Speaker, happy Hanukkah. It is the festival of lights. After the year we have had, we can all use more light. When I am lighting my candle tonight, I am going to be thinking of some of the hope and light that I have from amazing community volunteers and all of the wonderful work they do.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the Department of Canadian Heritage has begun work on fulfilling call to action 81. The federal government cannot speak to call to action 82 as this call is directed specifically towards provincial and territorial governments. With regard to (b)(i), for call to action 81, no subsidies have been provided at this time for the building of a national monument in Canada’s capital region.

Canadian Heritage  Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Kings—Hants for his important question. The Canadian broadcasting, film, television and interactive media sectors contribute as much as $19.7 billion to Canada's GDP and represent nearly 160,000 jobs. Modernized legislation would result in an increase in contributions to Canadian music and stories of as much as $830 million per year once the new system is put into place.

Broadcasting Act  Madam Speaker, this bill is actually so that we can continue to build out the system that has been coming into play. It is actually taking into account the fact that the world has changed and that new streaming services are available that we did not have many years ago when these rules were put into place.

Broadcasting Act  Madam Speaker, I am happy my friend across the way raised media, because it is absolutely important to all of our communities. I was happy that Jerry Dias of Unifor, who represents many people who work in the media industry, said that this is a good bill, but what it deals with is broadcasting reform.

Broadcasting Act  Madam Speaker, the member across the way and I have had some interesting conversations about this very topic. The point of this bill is to increase investments in Canadian culture and to level the playing field. The CRTC will ultimately be the body, as it has been all along under our existing system, to determine the set rules as far as domestic content, but—

Broadcasting Act  Madam Speaker, I am happy to speak to the bill and I will be sharing my time with the member for Milton. The bill is about building sustainability back into the Canadian broadcasting system and putting Canadian broadcasters on equal footing with their online competitors. The objective of the bill is to ensure that online broadcasting services that operate in Canada contribute to the creation of Canadian content and support the Canadian audio and audiovisual creative ecosystems, just as licensed Canadian radio and television broadcasters have been doing for decades.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, in processing parliamentary returns, the government applies the Privacy Act and the principles set out in the Access to Information Act. Information on the expenditures made in relation to the current civil litigation action against the Conservative Party of Canada has been withheld on the grounds that the information constitutes solicitor-client privilege.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, this week, we tabled legislation that will modernize the Broadcasting Act. It is the first time this has been done since 1991. The changes have been welcomed by Canadian creators and those working in the industry. In fact, Jerry Dias of Unifor, which represents many media workers, said, “The fact is, this would be a huge boost for Canadian media, and media workers and their families”.

Volunteerism  Mr. Speaker, do you like sandwiches? If you do, I would like to tell you about an amazing group of volunteers in my community. They have been making sandwiches and baked goods for our local food banks and meal programs. Our local pod of sandwich sisters, headed by Darryl Nielsen, have made over 15,000 sandwiches since April.

Small Business  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for raising the issue about that local live venue and the importance of this venue. By the ongoing compliance with public health guidelines, Canada's theatres and live venues have been doing their part to keep Canadians safe during the pandemic, but these cancellations have had an impact on the businesses.