By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act which has over the past several weeks gone through clause-by-clause review, is going to the Senate.
After a long process, the proposed bill — which seeks to amend the Broadcasting Act to give the CRTC the ability to regulate more online content — passed the report stage* after dealing with amendments — two Conservative ones were defeated and one, proposed by the government, was adopted unanimously.
Meanwhile, the Senate transport and communications committee will be starting the pre-study of the bill Tuesday June 21st with two panels, one from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. with Konrad von Finckenstein, former chair of the CRTC, and Michael Geist, University of Ottawa law professor, both of whom are opposed to the Bill.
The second panel starts at 10 a.m. with panelists in favour, including Alain Saulnier, author and retired professor of communication at the Université de Montréal and Michèle Rioux, professor in the political science department at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Another meeting is scheduled tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. with witnesses to be determined.
*Report stage in the House of Commons was completed June 20, while third reading in the House of Commons and first reading in the Senate were both completed the following day.
