By Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor
The Online Streaming Act (bill C-11) has been passed. This means foreign streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and YouTube will be subject to Canadian law and will be required to pay their fair share, just as Canada’s private broadcasters have always done. For too long, Canadian broadcasters, who have been operating in a rigid, highly regulated environment for decades, have had to contend with unfair competition from the web giants.
On the day the bill received Royal Assent, the Minister of Canadian Heritage said, “We are standing up for our stories,…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Meta and Google threatened to withdraw news articles from their platforms should bill C-18 become law, company executives told members of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications Wednesday evening.
The framework of the Online News Act that passed second reading in the Senate last month requires platforms to compensate news publishers for linking to their articles.
“ is quite frankly, Senators, unworkable for us,” said Rachel Curran, the Ottawa-based head of public policy in Canada for Meta, parent company of Facebook, in its first appearance before a parliamentary committee…
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By Connie Thiessen
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) is reporting another record year for Canadian film and television, however its Profile 2022: Economic Report on the Screen-based Media Production Industry cautions it will be difficult to sustain that level of production.
Looking at the state of film and television production in Canada between April 2021 and March 2022, the report indicates total production volume leapt by an unprecedented amount, reaching an all-time high of $11.69 billion. The industry added over $2.56 billion in production spending, pushing it 21.8% higher than the previous pre-pandemic high of $9.60 billion in 2019/20. The…
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CRTC says it has “no intention” to regulate user-generated content
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA — Following a legislative journey that involved back-and-forth amendments between the House of Commons and Senate since it was introduced in the House in February 2022, Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act reached the finish line on Thursday when it passed the upper chamber and received royal assent.
“This new law will help ensure Canadian stories and music are widely available on streaming platforms, and will help to reinvest in future generations of artists and creators in Canada,” said the Department of Canadian Heritage in a news…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Should Bill C-18 not pass Parliament, “there is no guarantee that the deals and the agreements that have been currently negotiated in the Canadian context would continue, because there is no obligation on platforms to continue to bargain in that way,” Thomas Owen Ripley, associate assistant deputy minister for cultural affairs at the Department of Canadian Heritage, said at a Tuesday hearing of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications studying the Online News Act.
“Over time, it would be perfectly open for platforms to stop entering into those agreements with Canadian news businesses.”
C-18, which…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA — Despite its recent test to limit news for some users in response to its objections to bill C-18, “Google is deeply committed to Canada” and is “one of the world’s biggest supporters of journalism,” Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer of the search-engine giant and its parent company, Alphabet Inc.
“We believe that the legislation could be amended to support journalism and to provide consumers with a more diverse range of perspectives delivered in innovative and accessible formats, without undercutting core principles that allow the internet to benefit Canadians and people around…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The fund that bankrolls consumer interest participation in CRTC hearings is warning that it is at a “critical juncture” with not enough money available to reimburse participants in broadcasting proceedings.
The Broadcasting Participation Fund said in a press release last week that it had less than $330,000 remaining in the fund to begin the year. In a busy year, it said, costs exceed $700,000.
“If the gap between available funds and qualified applications is not addressed, the Fund must cease operations either temporarily or permanently this year,” it said in the release. At the end of 2021,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A trio of travel vacation productions has been granted a review of a decision by Canadian Heritage to deny them tax credits on the basis that they met an excluded threshold for advertising.
The Federal Court ruled last week that the decision by the Heritage minister to deny the tax credits to Filmoptional International was based on the 15 per cent threshold for excluded advertising that was “arbitrary” and ill-defined in the regulations.
In its reasons for denial, the minister referenced the same court’s decision in Serdy, which upheld the rejection of tax credits because the production…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – The creative industry applauded the House moving bill C-11 forward after accepting most of the Senate’s amendments Thursday night.
But the industry also held some reservations about certain provisions as the bill heads back to the Senate and inches closer to becoming law.
The law would require streaming services to contribute in an equitable and flexible way toward Canadian content, while prioritizing support for content from francophone, Indigenous, LGBTQ2+ and racialized creators.
The federal government obtained support from the opposition, New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois to accept 20 of the Senate’s 26 amendments, including two with modifications.
According…
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By Christopher Guly
Gatineau, Que. – Neither Canadian Heritage nor the Broadcasting Act should play a role in overseeing telecommunications or the internet, Alberta Conservative member of Parliament Rachael Thomas told an audience at the Canadian Association of Wireless Internet Service Providers conference in Gatineau, Que. on Wednesday.
“When we choose to use the Broadcasting Act, which is meant for TV and radio, and we’re bringing the internet underneath that, that’s an incredibly antiquated move,” Thomas, the official opposition shadow minister for Canadian Heritage, told Cartt in an interview following her appearance at an afternoon panel. The panel discussed Bill C-11,…
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