OTTAWA – The House of Commons decided last week that Bill C-327 should not proceed further. On May 13, it adopted the April 9, 2008 Report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which made such a recommendation.
As a result, the legislative process on Bill C-327 will go no further in this session of Parliament. The bill proposed to alter the Broadcasting Act so that the CRTC would have to come up with new rules to curb violence on television. The Commission would also be required to police TV programming for any content that crossed those standards on violence.
Bill C-327 was being pushed by Bloc Quebecois MP Bernard Bigras.
Debates before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on the bill, and the committee’s report, concluded that while the bill’s goals were laudable, the strategies proposed to attain them were impractical.
Committee members also noted that parental oversight into their children’s TV viewing and media literacy initiatives were important. They also said that the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and the CRTC currently play a role in regulating the airing of program content.
