Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. As I noted earlier, it is challenging when you include within scope, effectively, a toll on links. You are going to end up seeing severe friction on that. That is an erosion of freedom of expression. I would note, if I may, Ms. Gladu, that the—

Canadian Heritage committee  Madam Chair, I would also note that it is, of course, doubly challenging, because 2022 is the year Canada chairs the Freedom Online Coalition, which is very much for, and supportive of, a free and open Internet.

Canadian Heritage committee  If I may, I just want to correct the record on a previous round where I was not allowed to answer but I had very clear answers. I think, for the record, it's important for the committee to hear the truth. I've never signed an NDA, just to be clear, so I wouldn't want someone making the opposite claim because that would obviously be inappropriate.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think there are a number of amendments that we are going to share with the committee in due course.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, we will.

Canadian Heritage committee  Let's be clear: We've never made any kind of commercial agreement to pay for marketing that's already free. We signed commercial contracts in Australia, and in Canada as well, to develop new innovative models for the platform and for Internet tools. The people who made those comments may have misunderstood.

Canadian Heritage committee  I haven't checked those numbers myself. We can continue with your hypothesis, but I can't confirm those numbers.

Canadian Heritage committee  No, I think there's a flaw or a logical problem with this method of calculation. The fact is that the percentage of content on Facebook is not equivalent to percentage of revenues. People post billions upon billions of pieces of content to Facebook. Your average person, Canadian or Quebecker, can see close to 1,000 pieces of content per day.

Canadian Heritage committee  I would simply say that as recent events have shown, nobody is immune to the market forces, the very significant competitive market forces, in the advertising industry. We are no different. But it would be false to claim that this started because of digital platforms like Facebook.

Canadian Heritage committee  Mr. Housefather—

Canadian Heritage committee  I think you asked both of us.

Canadian Heritage committee  Mr. Housefather, would you like to ask me, because I—

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much for a very good question. I think this is really at the heart of what preoccupies a lot of people beyond the platforms. Simply put, links are the lifeblood of the Internet. Obviously, links connect people from one site to another. It effectively facilitates the free flow of information and, therefore, freedom of expression.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's going to be me, Madam Chair.

Canadian Heritage committee  Madam Chair, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak today to Bill C‑18, the online news act. Today we want to share directly with the committee our concerns about this draft legislation and the unintended consequences we worry may flow from it in the fullness of time.