Heritage committee finishes clause-by-clause study of C-18

The House of Commons Committee on Canadian Heritage finished clause-by-clause study of bill C-18, the Online News Act, on Friday morning. Committee chair Hedy Fry was scheduled to report the bill back to the chamber that afternoon. The final day went quickly. An afternoon sitting of the committee had previously been canceled when it was determined that study would end sooner than expected. The panel had set aside two hours for its final consideration and only used 90 minutes. “As a chair, the process, it’s sometimes been bumpy. But that is par for the course in terms of many political parties having different points of view,” Fry said in summing up. “But I would like to say that overall, at the end, the ability of the committee to come together as a standing committee should, and to get this bill moving and to finish clause-by-clause took a lot of collaboration.” Members from all sides of the committee rushed to praise the work done on the bill. “I want to congratulate the committee,” Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said in English. Switching to French he remarked “We worked together to improve the bill.” His NDP colleague Peter Julian noted the minorities that will be helped by the provisions of the new act. “We have adopted amendments that have helped to ensure that indigenous journalists are included in a very meaningful way,” the British Columbia MP stated. He added, “What we’ve done is open the door to independent online news publishers right across this country.” It is a much better bill that is going back to the Commons, he offered. The Conservatives opposed the bill throughout its history in Parliament. Heritage critic Rachael Thomas used her time at the end of the proceedings to speak out against the legislation. “This bill started out with the stated intent of wanting to help newspapers, particularly those in rural areas that are of a smaller nature along with ethnic media outreach or newspapers,” she said. “Unfortunately the way this legislation has developed and the way it is going forward to the House it will reward the big players.” Those big players include broadcasters like the CBC/Radio Canada, BCE Inc.’s CTV and Rogers Communications Inc. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has estimated that three-quarters of the funds raised from digital platforms will go to broadcasters. Bloc Québécois member Martin Champoux dismissed those concerns. “Contrary to what Conservative colleagues say, I think we have established a bill that will allow for a variety of media to come through the crisis that they have been enduring for far too long,” he said according to a translation. Many clauses went through without amendment. Several amendments were defeated. Julian introduced many changes suggested by unions and other interest groups; most were rejected by a 10-1 vote. A series of amendments from the Green Party, which does not have representation on the committee, revolved around the CBC. One would require the public broadcaster to issue an annual report on how much money it receives from digital platforms. The amendments passed, although not with the support of the Conservatives who oppose including the crown corporation in the list of eligible media outlets. A Liberal motion sought to streamline the arbitration process. If an offer was rejected, the arbitrator was expected to report back to the CRTC and the party whose position was rejected could make a new offer. The committee voted to change that clause. “There’s no reason the independent arbitrators should be going back to the CRTC to discuss that with them,” Housefather said. “That’s not how arbitration works.” Instead, if one side’s offer is rejected, the other position should be adopted, he maintained. An amendment that the arbitrator would not disclose commercial agreements was adopted by the committee. The genesis of the bill was similar legislation adopted in Australia which has proved successful. Liberal Chris Bittle, parliamentary secretary to Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, was happy with the outcome of the clause-by-clause study. “We have seen the results from Australia and they have been overwhelmingly positive,” he stated. “I’m usually not, and I think everyone around the table will agree that I’m not usually an optimistic person but I am optimistic about what this legislation does, what it will do and the impacts it will have on Canadian journalism.” –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

Heritage committee finishes clause-by-clause study of C-18

News | December 9, 2022

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Heritage committee finishes clause-by-clause study of C-18

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