Improve Internet access to help news media, committee hears

OTTAWA — Raising the level of broadband Internet service for Canadians would go far in levelling the playing field for both media producers and consumers, a House of Commons committee heard Thursday, as it continued its study of the media and local communities. Since beginning its study, the standing committee on Canadian heritage has heard a variety of suggestions on ways in which the government could play a role in the supporting the struggling news media industry — some of which concerned Michael Geist, who holds the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa. “The ones I’m concerned about include taxes on Internet providers as a source of new revenue,” Geist said during his appearance in front of the committee Thursday morning. “This would be the equivalent of a digital tax, making it costlier for Canadians to access the Internet and exacerbate the digital divide.” Among the steps Geist said should be taken towards policy reform is to make “world-class broadband accessible to all Canadians.” “We still aren’t there in Canada and experience suggests the market alone will not solve the issue. Our emphasis should be on affordable equipment, affordable Internet access with digital skills development,” Geist said. Changes could also be made to CBC/Radio-Canada’s operations, he suggested. “The CBC’s emphasis on digital delivery of news content I know has created frustration with many established news organizations. Reconciling the need for the CBC to remain relevant by embracing digital delivery with a financial impact on private sector news services could be addressed by asking the public broadcaster to adopt an ad-free approach to its online news presence.“ Geist also identified as a possible reform applying sales tax to foreign online services such as Netflix Inc., which Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has already said won’t be considered in her review of the country’s cultural industries. Staff from the department of Canadian Heritage also appeared before the committee Thursday, and noted the country’s inconsistent Internet coverage as a hurdle. “There’s certainly one thing for rural communities: you need the broadband capacity to carry all that volume of news and Netflix and information,” Jean-Francois Bernier, the department’s director general of cultural industries, said in response to a question from Conservative MP Larry Maguire about the most effective way to ensure people use new technology to access and create quality news on digital platforms. “In certain areas it’s not obvious that the broadband is there to support this.” Bernier referred to the government’s yet-to-be-detailed rural broadband program, noting that the goal is to “get broadband at a level where they’re going to get in rural areas access to Internet as you have in downtown Toronto, but it’s challenging. That’s certainly one aspect of the equation, is to have to the digital capacity to carry all that information.” — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Improve Internet access to help news media, committee hears

News | October 6, 2016

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Improve Internet access to help news media, committee hears

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