SoVote

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Feb/28/22 3:48:50 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

Madam Speaker, I know the member may have touched on this aspect briefly in his speech, but living beside the United States, we are living beside a giant, and the web giants have incredible power. Our artists and our cultural producers really struggle against that dichotomy. Those web giants are really trying to circumvent our tax rules, our funding for Canadians cultural content and its discoverability. I would like to hear the member expand a little more on how we can try to even the playing field to have more fairness for our important artists and the artistic sector here in Canada.

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Context: House Hansard - 37 - Feb/28/22

Mr. Martin Champoux

Feb/28/22 6:11:19 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

Madam Speaker, I think my colleague raises an excellent point. There are cultural gems and treasures just waiting to be discovered in Quebec and all over Canada. We have to give opportunities to these small communities, to these unique and distinct cultural groups, to the entire spectrum that makes up this wonderful country and this wonderful nation of Quebec—until it becomes a wonderful country in its own right. What I would say here is kind of like what I said to the other member just now. It is our duty to protect these treasures and give them their rightful place in our system. If these foreign players come play in our yard, it is up to us to make the rules of the game. Again, the content discoverability piece is absolutely crucial. It is essential to the survival of our culture and our identity, and it is the only way we can put an end to the awful stereotypes I talked about in my speech.

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Context: House Hansard - 37 - Feb/28/22

Mr. Martin Champoux

Feb/28/22 6:13:12 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

Madam Speaker, I would like us to be able to rely on the goodwill of digital companies. I would like them to show us that they do indeed care about the cultural specificity and the specific characteristics of Quebec and Canadian content. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I think the government has to establish some ground rules and enforce them so that artists can express themselves. As my colleague said about freedom of expression, there has to be a playing field to apply it and express it. I think that it is up to Parliament to set some guidelines, at the very least. An organization, the CRTC, will then make regulations on the details. The government certainly has a key role to play in the discoverability of content and in the expression of artists in various media.

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Context: House Hansard - 37 - Feb/28/22

Mr. Martin Champoux

Feb/28/22 6:15:05 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Kitchener—Conestoga for his question. Following our discussion this afternoon, I thought he might ask his question in French, but maybe next time. Amendments were debated and voted on last year when the House was studying Bill C‑10. I was pleasantly surprised to see those amendments as clauses here in Bill C‑11. There are indeed provisions designed to promote the use of official languages by broadcasters, online or otherwise. It is indeed very important to promote minority cultural communities and indigenous cultures. In fact, I am absolutely delighted to see that the latter are becoming much easier to discover in various media and it is well worth doing so. That is yet another example of why it is so important for us to make the rules ourselves and apply them to foreign companies with a digital presence here.

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