By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – As the Senate gears up for a third reading of Bill C-11 tomorrow, the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural (CDCE) is calling for last-minute changes to the Online Streaming Act to ensure an equal playing field between foreign and Canadian streamers.
The coalition is specifically referencing an amendment that was rejected by a Senate committee that would have required an equal contribution in terms of labour from the foreign streaming giants to Canadian productions. The current iteration requires a lesser level of Canadian creative and other human resources from the foreigners, which was a major irritant for the Canadian cultural sector.
“In the section setting out the requirements for the use of Canadian creative resources in the creation, production and presentation of Canadian content, C-11 sets lower expectations for foreign companies than for Canadian ones,” the coalition said in a press statement today.
“This double standard risks creating a two-tiered regulatory system and therefore a race to the bottom in the requirements that the CRTC will have to establish. In concrete terms, this pillar of the Act could even be interpreted as authorizing the web giants to contribute to and promote creations and productions that make marginal use of Canadian talent,” it added.
At the time the government representative in the Senate, Marc Gold had declared: “We need to recognize the reality that foreign players operating in Canada have global business models. It is just not realistic, (…) to expect that foreign broadcasters who operate in a global marketplace to be subject to the same provisions as Canadian broadcasters.”
If the Senate adopts the bill, it will move to the House of Commons for a vote.
