Canadian Heritage committee  You can get around that by loosening up the licences on that, because if the big giants aren't going to do any local programming, maybe somebody else will come along and start up a small.... The licences were brought in at one point basically because the capital cost to start up a radio station was so high and you wanted a certain amount of longevity in that.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, I agree with Mr. McAdams. We have to find a way to get that revenue back into our country. Use Netflix for an example. Where's Mr. Google here? I think they've got about eight million subscribers in Canada. Even at a low rate of $10, and it's up to about $16 now, they're making $80 million a month.

Canadian Heritage committee  I've always been a proud Canadian, and when a show like Corner Gas comes on, or Schitt's Creek or whatever, I always make a point of watching them. I was probably one of the first ones to watch Corner Gas or Schitt's Creek. I was a fan of Schitt's Creek even before it became famous like that.

Canadian Heritage committee  In a way, but how do we get there? We can produce more local content, but the problem is, how do we promote it around the world? I could produce a program here, and I think Ryan.... A lot of people will open up a business and open up a website thinking that everybody is going to go to that website.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think we have to lighten it up there. Like I mentioned before, if the traditional broadcasters are forced to play 35% CanCon, do the online radio stations have to play 35% CanCon? I think we have to lighten it up because it does open up the field here. We don't know where this is going to go.

Canadian Heritage committee  One thing people talk about is Moore's Law—the exponential growth of technology. We almost have to review it every three years because if you look back in the last year, what we're doing today probably didn't exist 18 months ago, before the pandemic. With the way we're communicating through Zoom and technology like that, the growth is phenomenal.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, I did at one time. I'm retired now.

Canadian Heritage committee  You're talking about the CanCon regulations, then? Is that it?

Canadian Heritage committee  CanCon is a tough one, because I'm a firm believer in Canadian content and promoting local artists, and I think you can do that. A lot of our radio stations were restricted—I think somebody brought it up before—by the programming out of Toronto. If I have a guy playing a nice song around Brooks here and it doesn't appeal in Toronto, I don't have much leeway anymore for that music to get on the air here.

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't really know, but I'm just going to deviate a little bit here. I was listening to the last hour here, and one thing people haven't talked about is the collection of data. When Facebook and Google or.... This data becomes so important for advertisers. Who owns that data? Who owns the information about me?

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. Thank you, Mr. Shields. I just wanted to finish off. When we're making rules, we have to have a level playing field. What I mean by a level playing field is we have to make sure whatever happens online happens with traditional media as long as it's around here. If we start to license Internet radio stations, I think it would be nice if they were licensed to Canadians, and there's no limit on that.

Canadian Heritage committee  Good morning. I'm John Petrie and I worked in local radio for over 40 years. My theme will be focused on radio and regulations affecting it as it evolves into new platforms. I know the importance of local radio and connecting to the community from reporting local news, covering local sports teams, doing play-by-play, and especially during critical times such as winter blizzards, knowing which roads are open and closed and what schools are open.