By Howard Law
ON MAY 27 CARTT.CA published my suggested compromise on provisions in Bill C-11 impacting Canadian user-generated programming hosted by Facebook, TikTok and Google’s YouTube.
I argued a ministerial policy directive ought to direct the CRTC to regulate user-generated programming that is analogous to conventional broadcasting but exempt the remaining digital first content from regulation.
Last week Leonard St-Aubin wrote a rebuttal. Here is a summary of my take-aways from his critique:
Financing and creating CanCon should not be seen as a burden to broadcasters, but incumbent Canadian media companies treat it this way by electing to spend…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein
THE ONLINE NEWS ACT, recently introduced by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is explained on Canadian Heritage’s website as follows: “Digital platforms have come to play an integral role in Canada’s news ecosystem, shifting the way Canadians access news content that is vital to democracy. They can play an important role in supporting the production of trusted news and information.”
The basic underlying rationale is clear. Canadian news businesses, primarily newspapers, have been severely disrupted by the Internet. Their advertising market and classified ad market has gone online and newspapers’ financial viability is in great danger.
Online platforms do…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Today, the Heritage Committee started by hearing witnesses and, at some point, one member from the government side introduced a motion to set a deadline for the filing of amendments to Bill C-11.
I know I am being repetitive, since it has been the third time this motion has been discussed without resolution.
Then, a Conservative member introduced an amendment to extend the deadline, and spoke to it at length, clearly dragging the puck – to the point where the Minister of Canadian Heritage who had come to speak to the legislation he sponsors had to…
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OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez has always emphatically said no, Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, does not capture individual creators or user-generated content (UGC).
He said this when he first introduced the bill, and he did so again earlier this week during question period. “Platforms are in, and users are out,” he said.
Section 2.1 does specify that a person using a social media service to upload content online to be viewed by other users of the service does not carry on a broadcasting undertaking for the purpose of the act, unless they are “the provider…
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The clock is ticking, and the Conservatives are using that clock
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – This morning, we had written that we anticipated today’s meeting of the Heritage Committee dealing with committee business would bring some resolution on a few issues regarding, amongst others, a deadline for presenting amendments to the bill.
The meeting held this evening, started late as usual because of votes in the House of Commons. Some of those votes, in normal times, would not have to be held, but the Conservatives are using rules to push the government into a corner.
We are not suggesting the votes…
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Conservatives vying to stall government’s efforts to get quick passage of C-11 in committee
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – When committee members from all parties agreed last week to hold a minimum of 20 hours of meetings to hear witnesses, including the first five hours on autopilot (no motion would be entertained), it led us to believe everything would go smoothly, relatively speaking, in the Heritage Committee’s study of Bill C-11.
The government’s efforts, however, seem to have been thwarted by delaying tactics and outside events, such as votes in the House of Commons and main estimates studies by the committee.
The…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Recently, the federal government posted an appointment opportunity on the Privy Council website for the chairperson of the CRTC and its vice-chairperson.
To the dismay of some, working knowledge of both official languages is not a requirement.
In Ottawa jargon, the post reads: “Proficiency in both official languages would be preferred.”
In question period today, the Bloc Québécois raised the issue: “For them (the Liberals), it is okay to appoint someone who doesn’t speak French to oversee a whole segment of our culture,” said Martin Champoux, the Bloc’s critic for Canadian Heritage, in French, after stating that French…
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OTTAWA – A motion was adopted in the House of Commons today to set a time limit on the debate of Bill C-18 to move it past the second reading stage.
If this sounds familiar it is because earlier this month, a motion was adopted to limit the time spent on second reading debate for Bill C-11. When the motion was passed for C-11, the bill had been debated in the House four times, whereas C-18 has been debated once.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez (above) argued this motion was needed because they have already seen the Conservatives…
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OTTAWA – The Heritage Committee will continue to hear witnesses on C-11 this week, starting today from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Tomorrow, the committee will meet from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and on Wednesday, the committee will meet from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The witness lists for today’s meeting can be found here and here. The witness lists for tomorrow and Wednesday are to be determined.
Update: Updated notices of meeting for tomorrow (May 31) with the names of witnesses set to appear can found here, here and here. Among those listed are Kevin Desjardins, president of…
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By Howard Law
HERITAGE MINISTER PABLO RODRIGUEZ has promised a policy directive to the CRTC with cabinet instructions on implementing Bill C-11.
Point number one in the new directive should be making the certification of Canadian content more relevant to the Canadian experience by including qualitative judgments of national subject matter in the video content. I posted about this recently, as have others. The signal from the minister is that he has an open mind to it.
Point number two is to direct the CRTC to reappraise the existing regulatory supports for the money-losing local news industry.
Point number three is what to do…
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