Canadian Heritage committee  They're in negotiation of the terms of those agreements with the publishers that they have entered into agreements with, so I don't think they're necessarily setting those terms, but they're certainly choosing the organizations with which they enter into those agreements.

Canadian Heritage committee  It does do that. It provides a regulatory oversight to that process itself, but it also allows any eligible news organization to benefit from similar kind of deals as their competitors, which in my view makes the journalism market more equitable while still providing that line of

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't disagree with any of that. My broader belief is that the arbitration process should be maximally inclusive of the terms of deals that the publishers and platforms come to.

Canadian Heritage committee  It depends what they are being asked to share and with whom. If it's with the public, I think we have seen that there is clear hesitation to share the nature of these commercial arrangements between private actors. I think that's a very legitimate position for them to take at the

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, that's the second piece, I think, the second objective. The first is public accountability, so we should all, as the public who consumes this journalism, get some access into the nature of the funding agreements, but the arbitrator who is deciding the outcomes of these negot

Canadian Heritage committee  Thanks for the chance to jump in here. I couldn't agree more that the future of Canadian journalism is going to come from the network of small journalism organizations and journalist start-ups that are innovating the model of news. There's absolutely no doubt about that in my mi

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say it's more appropriate. At this moment, it's more feasible legally, practically and politically. I agree with Professor Geist that there's an elegance to a fund model. I agree with a lot of things that he's argued about it. Many other academi

Canadian Heritage committee  What I'm most concerned about is that there are large amounts of money flowing from platforms to publishers in the Canadian media market under terms that are unknown to the public and unaccountable to government. In a market that is essential, in my view, for the functioning of a

Canadian Heritage committee  —can be accountable to the public via reporting, can be given to an arbitrator so that deals are distributed more equitably and more fairly, and can be provided in an aggregate way to publishers as they enter into these negotiations so everybody gets a similar, fair deal.

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely, but I actually think it's beyond the bounds of this bill. The opacity, the incentive structure and the design of the algorithmic systems that determine what we see and don't see on platforms should be the subject of a public policy conversation, but I don't think it i

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't want to speak to Bill C-11, as it's not the topic of this discussion, but I don't think that Bill C-18 is, no.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm sorry. I didn't hear the start. Was that directed to me?

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't think Bill C-18 is designed to, nor will it reverse the trend of how the financial model and design of platforms preference certain types of content over others. That, in and of itself, is its own dynamic that other policy mechanisms can get at, but that is not what this

Canadian Heritage committee  —in the criteria that platforms could use to not be designated or exempted. That's going to be much more difficult here because there are specific criteria they have to meet, and they have to report against those criteria to the regulator. They will be adjudicated on that basis,

Canadian Heritage committee  No, not about this in particular.