Rodriguez, Scott, given rough ride on C-18 in appearance before Heritage committee

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and CRTC chair Ian Scott were grilled by opposition MPs on the House of Commons Committee on Canadian Heritage Friday as it considered the government’s news compensation legislation, Bill C-18. Rodriguez began his remarks by stating that 468 news outlets had closed between 2008 and last August. This bill would protect those still remaining, he asserted. “The internet has fundamentally changed the way we create, how we search and consume content, especially when it comes to news,” he said according to a translation. “More and more Canadians are using digital platforms to get their news and in fact according to a Reuters report from 2022—it’s very recent—77 per cent of Canadians will be consuming their news online.” Under questioning from Conservative Heritage critic Rachael Thomas, the minister stated he was open to any amendments that would improve the bill. He disagreed with her assertion that undue preference clauses in the bill would lead to the proliferation of clickbait and misinformation. He said the Australian bill, on which C-18 is modeled, tended to help small and medium enterprises, including ethnic media. He suggested small players could band together to negotiate with large platforms like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Inc.’s Facebook. “This bill is good for big and small,” he stated. When reminded by Tory committee member Marilyn Gladu that Facebook had stopped its news operations in Australia following passage of that country’s legislation, Rodriguez pointed out that that was a business decision by Meta which it ultimately reversed. He reiterated that the goal of the bill was to keep government at arm’s length from the process. He disputed that the government would be including or excluding any players in the process. The government is merely setting the table for the free market to have its way, the minister said. Earlier, Scott pledged his agency’s support for the new regime that would arise out of the bill. “If it is adopted by Parliament, the Online News Act would require the largest digital platforms to negotiate with news businesses and reach fair commercial deals for the news that is shared on their platforms,” the chair said in French. “Those deals would also need to respect journalistic independence and invest in a diversity of Canadian news outlets–including independent local businesses. Should Parliament wish to assign the responsibility of creating and overseeing the regulatory framework under the Online News Act to the CRTC, we are prepared to take it on.” During the question period, MPs preferred to concentrate on other issues. Thomas raised the matter of funds paid to the Community Media Access Centre. One of its principals, Laith Malouf, made antisemitic tweets that have been roundly condemned by politicians of all stripes. Thomas asked about half a million dollars given to the CMAC from government funds. “The CRTC did not give funding and the number is absolutely incorrect,” Scott corrected her. “The CRTC has granted two costs awards in relation to an accessibility proceeding to the organization that you cited. We completely condemn the remarks of that individual.” The costs awards process is being reviewed, he stated, and it is unlikely the CMAC will be permitted to intervene in future commission proceedings. New Democrat MP Peter Julian asked about Telus Corp.’s application to levy a surcharge on customers who pay using credit cards. The regulator recently announced a delay in processing the request from the western telecom. Scott said he would not comment on a proceeding currently underway. The session began with Conservative MP Kevin Waugh being elected as first vice-chair of the committee. He replaces John Nater, who no longer sits on the panel. Earlier in the day Google hosted a web chat about its proposed amendments to Bill C-18. Jason Kee, government affairs and public policy counsel for the tech giant, laid out his company’s objections to the bill and its suggested changes. Much of what he shared was an expansion of what Google head of public policy Colin McKay testified about to the committee earlier this week. Kee said the aim of the legislation is to make platforms and digital news providers negotiate a suitable economic plan. “But then purports to create a very intricate and complex regulatory structure administered by the CRTC to give effect to this, which is probably what generates some of the consternation, concern and frankly vagueness,” Kee stated. “It’s both incredibly broad and sweeping but also very undefined in some respects and it also tends to leave quite a bit of detail to be determined later, either by government regulation or by the CRTC itself.” Google has concerns that some of the terminology in the legislation is not defined precisely enough. The undue preference provision is too broadly worded, the platform maintains, and could influence ranking of authoritative sources of information. It continued the charge of a link tax, which bill supporters have said does not exist. Copyright law could be affected by those parts of the bill. The definition of eligible news businesses is also too broad, Kee maintained. It should be restricted to qualified Canadian journalism organizations, a group already defined in public policy, and not others. Bloggers could qualify under the current wording in the act, he said, and foreign players could be in line to receive payments. That could result in funding going to groups that do not follow standard journalistic practices. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

Rodriguez, Scott, given rough ride on C-18 in appearance before Heritage committee

Broadcast | October 21, 2022

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Rodriguez, Scott, given rough ride on C-18 in appearance before Heritage committee

Broadcast | October 21, 2022

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