COMMENTARY: Why USMCA violations inherent in the BTLR recommendations must be avoided

By Konrad von Finckenstein WITH RESPECT TO CANADIAN content, the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review panel report views the internet through a broadcasting lens. It works from the basic tenet that everyone involved in electronic media content (from “curators” like broadcasters, streaming services and newspapers, to “aggregators” like BDUs, Stack TV and MSN News, to “sharing” services like Facebook and YouTube) should be subject to CRTC regulation, and contribute to the creation and dissemination of Canadian content. To that end, it recommended companies providing commercial audio and video content into Canada by way of streaming over the internet (let’s call...