Guilbeault calls for C-10 work to resume quickly, CP delays after no-show Justice Minister

Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault wants work on Bill C-10, the revision of the Broadcasting Act, to “resume as quickly as possible,” but the Conservative Party might stall the clause-by-clause amendments after Minister of Justice David Lametti declined to testify before the House of Commons Heritage Committee Friday. Guilbeault testified at the committee on Friday, after it moved this past Monday to suspend its review on the bill to get clarity on the freedom of speech implications of including social media in the Broadcasting Act. Guilbeault reiterated to the committee that the bill is for social media platforms, not everyday users. “Our broadcasters, our production sector and the culture sector as a whole are counting on this new legislative tool to continue to flourish on digital platforms. They are counting on this tool to level the playing field between conventional broadcasters and digital platforms. In other words, the bill is about restoring a balance that the arrival of the web giants has skewed very seriously in their own favour at the expense of local people and businesses,” he told the committee, according to simultaneous translation. Guilbeault added that YouTube is the most popular music service in Canada and “within a few years” Canadian content and creators “risk losing up to a billion dollars annually” if social media platforms are not brought under regulation and not required to make financial contributions to the Canadian cultural system. If brought under the act, Canadian creators could gain up to $830 million per year from web giants' financial contributions, he told the committee. “Let's remember that the audiovisual and interactive media industry employs nearly 160,000 Canadians every year. According to the 2016 census, the median annual income for core artists groups, such as musicians, singers, authors, writers, producers and directors, was only $24,300,” he said. NDP MP Heather McPherson told Guilbeault she was looking forward to continuing work on the bill as quickly as possible but blamed him for the delays, stating she was “disappointed” in the way Guilbeault managed the creation and the communications of the bill. “I know we have seen filibustering … all kinds of things being done to delay and impede this committee's work, but I think a lot of it, unfortunately, does have to fall with you minister,” she said. “Your mishandling of the bill has put all of us on this committee in a very difficult position. If we don't get this right, the legislation will be challenged in court, and it will not be applied for years which will put all of our cultural sector at a real disadvantage.” McPherson then asked the Heritage Minister if he had a plan to address the concern of Canadians that their content will be subject to CRTC regulations, and expressed frustration when he replied that “there's a long list of organizations in Quebec, in English Canada, that's many pages long, that have all come out in support, in the last few weeks, for Bill C-10.” He then added that the CRTC is not “about content moderation” since its 50 years of existence. The second half of the meeting was focused on the absence of Lametti, who on Thursday, issued a new Charter Statement on the Bill to analyze if it infringed on freedom of speech. Conservative MP Alain Rayes implied at the meeting, that the committee did not respect the spirit of the committee’s motion on Monday that stated it would resume work on the bill once the charter statement was complete and the Ministers invited to speak before the committee as well as an expert panel (which will convene next week). “We can't move on until the Minister appears, so if the Minister wants for us to move ahead, then the Minister will come and testify,” he said, according to simultaneous translation. The committee moved, at the request of the Conservative Party, to send a second invitation to Lametti to come testify, however, as chair and Liberal MP Scott Simms noted, the committee cannot pass any motion that would forcefully summon a member of the house or senate to appear before the committee. In a Friday evening email to the Wire Report, a Lametti spokesperson said that "Convention dictates that Ministers testify on legislation within their area of responsibility. Minister Guilbeault, as the sponsor of the bill, appeared today alongside the Deputy Minister to the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General." "Minister Lametti is aware of the Committee’s invitation to appear before it, and will do so along with Minister Guilbeault, who is the responsible Minister. Minister Lametti will be pleased to answer questions concerning the Charter Statement for C-10, as well as the analysis of certain amendments prepared by his Department,” the spokesperson wrote. - Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca

Guilbeault calls for C-10 work to resume quickly, CP delays after no-show Justice Minister

News | May 14, 2021

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Guilbeault calls for C-10 work to resume quickly, CP delays after no-show Justice Minister

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