Rodriguez urges senators to pass Online Streaming Act

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and members of his department were the final witnesses as the Senate Transport and Communications Committee wrapped up its hearings into the Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11. The minister praised the committee, pointing out it has looked at the legislation for six months and held more than 40 hours of proceedings. He urged the senators to proceed with the bill, saying a modernization of the act is long overdue. "The last time the Broadcasting Act was adapted was 1991. I had black hair,” he joked in French, according to simultaneous translation. “We were listening to music, remember we had those things, Sony Walkmans.” Switching to English, he said, “That’s why it’s important today that we adopt this bill quickly. I’m asking you, please senators, take action. I think the Senate has worked very professionally.” Keeping the status quo is not an option, the minister told the committee. C-11 is crucial to protect our heritage, he added. “We made a choice to protect our culture,” Rodriguez stated. “We keep making that choice every day.” The real winners will be the small players on internet platforms who are just being discovered, he said. Celine Dion and Drake are not affected. Only the platforms themselves will have obligations under the terms of the new regulations. The bill will ensure flexibility for the CRTC, the minister noted. He denied claims by some senators that the cabinet will have expanded powers under the provisions of the legislation. Committee chair Leo Housakos once again raised the issue of a CRTC decision about the use of the N-word on Radio-Canada, labeling it as censorship. Rodriguez did not respond. His testimony lasted an hour, following which he had to dash off to the weekly meeting of cabinet. As he was taking his leave, the minister again exhorted his colleagues to pass the bill. “Let’s change history together. Let’s be ambitious,” he said. Rodriguez was joined by Thomas Owen Ripley, associate assistant deputy minister for the department. The second hour of the hearing heard from Ripley, who was accompanied by two other public servants. Neither Amy Awad, senior director of marketplace and legislative policy nor policy and research analyst Charles Kouri were asked any questions by the senators. Ripley did not agree with panelists who asserted that the United States government might retaliate for C-11 under the terms of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, the successor to NAFTA negotiated under the previous American administration. The provisions apply to Canadian streaming services like Crave just as much as they apply to Netflix, he noted. He gave senators an insight into the department’s thinking when it drafted the legislation and why certain recommendations did or did not make it to the finalized version of the bill. He said the ministry had done extensive consultations on the bill and learned from the debate over an earlier version of the act, Bill C-10 in the previous Parliament. That bill died in the Senate when last year’s election was called. He offered to provide the committee with public opinion polls the department had done to garner Canadian support for the bill. Ontario senator Donna Dasko asked about the CRTC’s power to arbitrate between broadcast distribution companies and programming services. It does not have similar power for online distribution and C-11 does not provide for it. Ripley said that was a deliberate choice drafters made. “The assessment was you do not need the same degree of economic regulatory tools that existed in that Canadian context,” he said. Some stakeholders may disagree but that is the approach the government chose to take, he added. Ripley too had to leave immediately upon finishing his testimony, explaining that he had to be before the House of Commons Committee on Canadian Heritage, which is going through clause-by-clause study of Bill C-18, the Online News Act. Housakos teased the bureaucrat that the committee would see him again when C-18 makes its way to the Red Chamber. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

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Rodriguez urges senators to pass Online Streaming Act

Broadcast | November 22, 2022

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