OTTAWA — Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, passed third reading in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon and cultural associations in the country were quick to celebrate.
The legislation, which heads to the Senate and is currently in a pre-study phase, seeks to amend the Broadcasting Act to give the CRTC the ability to regulate online content, including having large tech platforms contribute more to the promotion of Canadian content.
The Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) said in a press release it was “relieved and pleased” Bill C-11 passed the third reading.
“CDCE would like to thank the Honourable Minister Pablo Rodriguez for keeping his word on the Bill and, most importantly, for not giving in to the enormous pressure from certain sectors to reduce the level of ambition of the future legislation, particularly on social media broadcasting activities,” the CDCE’s release says. It also thanked members from the parties for tabling amendments proposed by its organization.
“It also worth underlying that Conservative Party members were able to rally around issues affecting official language minority communities, original French-language content and content from Black and racialized communities. A rare unanimity on issues that are important to the CDCE,” the release adds.
Furthermore, it “is also relieved that its proposal, tabled jointly with FRIENDS, to enhance Canadian ownership and control of the system was adopted.”
In its own statement, which was tweeted yesterday afternoon and emailed to Cartt.ca, FRIENDS’ executive director, Marla Boltman, said: “We are very pleased that C-11 has passed third reading and that the bill now includes a number of strengthening amendments, particularly FRIENDS’ proposal to reaffirm the importance of Canadian ownership and control. In a sector increasingly dominated by foreign entities like Netflix, Google, Amazon, it is crucial that the Broadcasting Act continues to prioritize Canadian interests.
“Requiring contributions from foreign tech giants will level the playing field between Canadian broadcasters and foreign platforms — it will send a message to the world that Canada is open for business but there are no more free rides — if you benefit from our Canadian broadcasting system, you must contribute to it. This is why C-11 is so important,” Boltman added.
With Bill C-11 now headed to the Senate, the CDCE said in its press release “it will redouble its efforts and vigilance as the Bill moves through the Senate.”
In particular, the CDCE “will continue to seek changes to the bill to ensure that there is no distinction between Canadian and foreign undertakings with respect to the use of Canadian talent in the creation, production and distribution of Canadian content, an amendment that was unfortunately rejected by a majority of the CHPC members,” its release says.
“It will also reiterate its call for the Governor-in-Council to be able to ask the CRTC to review certain decisions if they contravene Canadian broadcasting policy objectives, and for public hearings to be held as part of the formulation of the orders that will define the conditions of service of broadcasting undertakings.”
Montreal-based Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale (APEM) said in a press release yesterday it applauded the crucial progress of Bill C-11 with its passing by the House of Commons.
“The APEM applauds this crucial step forward, which took place in a context made difficult by the intense lobbying of web giants, disinformation and parliamentary obstruction,” reads an English translation of the APEM’s release.
The APEM’s release said the association “is pleased that most of the CRTC’s jurisdiction over social media broadcasting activities has been preserved, since the opposite would have led to deregulation of the Canadian broadcasting system. Our association is nevertheless disappointed that several important amendments have not been adopted, in particular to protect the use of Canadian talent, to maintain the appeal to the Governor in Council and in favour of public hearings for the issuance of orders.
“In our opinion, the text as a whole…should allow the CRTC to have online companies contribute to the financing and promotion of our music,” the release adds.
“The Broadcasting Act is decisive for the music sector because it allows the CRTC to adopt structuring regulations for our sector, in particular the financing of Canadian content via Factor and Musicaction and radio quotas. The APEM asks for the continuity of the system, online and in the traditional environment.”
Opposition to bill
But not all organizations in Canada were glad to see Bill C-11 pass third reading in the House yesterday.
Industry lobby group OpenMedia issued a press release saying the bill “is still broken and dangerous legislation.”
The release goes on to say: “Despite strong concerns and pushback from critics, witnesses, and experts, Bill C-11 received few substantial amendments at Parliamentary committee.”
The bill “continues to give unprecedented power to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to regulate and manipulate public audiovisual content on online platforms,” the release adds.
“Today our leaders had a chance to make crucial fixes to an out-of-control bill, and they refused to do it,” said OpenMedia’s campaigns director, Matthew Hatfield, in the organization’s release.
“Bill C-11 continues to give the CRTC the power to regulate the pictures, podcasts and videos every Canadian posts online as ‘broadcasting’ content, which is absurd. It sets no revenue threshold on who it will target, meaning every streaming platform in the world could soon be asked to somehow make ‘CanCon contributions.
“And it will worsen our everyday online experience by requiring our searches and feeds contain CRTC-designated ‘CanCon’ over the content we actually want. This is a dark day for Canadian Internet users, who must hope the Senate will step in and insist on fixes that respect our choices and freedom of expression,” Hatfield said.
The release concludes by saying OpenMedia will soon launch a new campaign aimed at the Senate.
