44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2022 11:00AM
Madam Speaker, the hon. member knows very well that there has been extensive debate on this bill. There were more than 15 hours of debate at second reading, where we heard from 48 speakers, the overwhelming majority of whom were Conservative speakers, and there has been extensive debate at committee, 21 hours. The reason we are here today is that the Conservatives have been filibustering so much that they will not even let the bill get to clause-by-clause consideration, and they literally filibustered their own motion in committee.
They do not want to debate this bill; they just want to block it. They are fundraising off of fearmongering. We are going to make sure that broadcasters pay for great content in Canada. That is what this is about.
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives have had dozens of hours to debate this bill, and so have other members. Conservatives have been filibustering and have been blocking, and they do not want to see this bill move forward.
Just one of the benefits of Bill C-11 is that we would be updating the mandate of the CRTC to include specific focus on supporting francophone, racialized, indigenous, LGBTQ+ and disabled creators in Canada, and this means a portion of the contributions from broadcasting and streaming platforms would be directly supporting the development of these creative platforms and of people in the ecosystem who have been shut out.
As such, it is up to the Conservatives to tell Canadians why they are blocking legislation that would help creators who have been disadvantaged since the Broadcasting Act was first in place in 1991. Why are they not doing their job and making the bill better, instead of blocking it at committee?
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Madam Speaker, I sat with the hon. member at the heritage committee with years ago. He knows very well that policy directives are released after a bill passes.
What is dismaying for me is that the members opposite speak about democracy somehow being undermined. I have to say there is no greater threat to our democracy than when an opposition party attacks great institutions, great parts of the government and Canadian democracy, such as the CRTC, which is fully independent of government, and that is a good thing.
What the bill is trying to do is open up the creative sector to more people and make sure that streaming platforms and big tech pay into the Canada Media Fund. That is a good thing.
Delay tactics will not help Canadians. Passing this bill will.
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Madam Speaker, quite frankly, there has been debate at committee, and the Conservatives continue to block. They filibustered for seven hours in 29 hours of debate and 48 speakers. It has been a great amount of time.
While we are reluctant to be at this stage, this is critical legislation. Canadians asked us to pass it. They want us to move on this. This is going to help us shift from cable, which came to my town of Morinville in 1982. Here we are now in 2022, and we can now stream from our cars, backyards or apartments. It is a streaming world. The CRTC needs to catch up. It needs the legislation to do it. We have to get this out and we have to get this bill passed.
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Madam Speaker, the member opposite knows that there has been hours and hours of debate at committee. He also knows that their side continues to filibuster. The conspiracy theories and nonsensical ideas of censorship are just beyond the pale.
Quite frankly, this is one in a list of examples of the Conservatives going past opposition to obstruction, whether it is Bill C-8, the budget implementation bill or Bill C-11, the Conservatives do not want to debate; they want to obstruct the work of this Parliament.
Canadians elected us to do good work, and they know that the CRTC is independent. They know there is nothing here that is going to affect Canadians' uploading material to the Internet. This is about making sure that the platforms contribute into the Canada Media Fund, that they develop more content here in Canada, and that we open up the platforms to racialized people, LGBTQ people, indigenous people and disabled people who are creating content for Canadians. This is about moving into the Internet age, not the past, where the Conservatives are stuck.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Charlottetown for his intervention and for sticking up for the creators in his constituency and his province, who have been unduly hit by the pandemic.
As we are coming out of the pandemic and as we are trying to modernize the act and as we are making sure that creators can be part of the 21st century, we are going to make sure that islanders have access to these platforms. We are going to make sure that LGBT, indigenous, people of colour and disabled creators on P.E.I. are going to be able to get paid what they are worth and make sure that the broadcasters making money off of these great creators in P.E.I. and across Canada are paying into the system so that we can experience more Canadian content.
We have shifted away from cable. We are now onto streaming. This bill, Bill C-11, helps us to make sure that the CRTC has the tools to make sure that Canadian content continues to thrive. It is a good thing for islanders. It is a good thing for Canadians. That is why we are here today.
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Madam Speaker, as a proud Franco‑Albertan, the first to be a member of the federal cabinet here in Canada, I am embarrassed that only 5% of content in Canada is in French.
What we are trying to do with this bill is boost content from francophone creators, have content from people who are francophone, franco-queer or franco‑curious, hear the voices of first nations people who are also francophone, and have francophone people with disabilities create shows we can watch, while having broadcasters pay for all the good work of these creators.
We had this debate in committee. It is time to move this bill forward.
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Madam Speaker, I think there is a simple answer to my hon. member's question. While those on the other side pedal disinformation and conspiracy theories, they make a lot of money fundraising off of it. They are not advancing the project of the country. They are not advancing making sure we have a bill that is going to meet the expectations of Canadians.
There is a genuine problem with where the Conservatives are heading. They go down these rabbit holes of disinformation, misinformation and conspiracy theories and lose sight of what Canadians have asked us to do, which is to modernize the CRTC; make sure the broadcasting platforms are paying into the Canada Media Fund; and make sure that, as we stand next to the juggernaut of culture that is the United States, we can have our own Canadian voice on the international stage. When that voice is heard, co-productions with Ireland and other countries in the world will get our Canadian voice out there.
That is what this bill is about. The Conservatives can stay in their rabbit holes. We are here to advance for Canadians.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Saskatoon—Grasswood. I sat on the heritage committee with him. My question for him is this: What does he have against Corner Gas and the fantastic content coming out of not just Saskatchewan, but from across the Prairies and this country? We want more of that.
I do not know what is happening on that side. Maybe there is a leadership issue, or the party is in disarray until it has a new leader, but the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle, who ran for the highest office in the land, went on Twitter and compared the independent CRTC to the Orwellian ministry of truth. The member for Thornhill said this bill would put Canada in “good company with dictators from countries like Iran, Turkey and North Korea”.
Canadians have asked us to move. They have asked us to do this work. The other side is quite frankly beyond the pale.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her very good question.
With only 5% of content coming from francophone creators, we have work to do and progress to make. With Bill C‑11, we are updating the CRTC program and focusing on racialized people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, indigenous peoples, francophone creators and people with disabilities. This bill will open up the CRTC to accommodate more people.
The act has not been updated since 1991. I had hair back then. That is an indication of how old the framework under which the CRTC operates is. It is time to update it in order to help francophones, francophiles, the franco-curious, anglophones and people across the country who simply want to create good content, and to ensure that the platforms pay their fair share.
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Madam Speaker, I think their number one goal is money. They are fundraising off of their misinformation and disinformation. It is objectionable, but that is what they are doing in the midst of a leadership race, which has ripped their party into many factions. Quite frankly, I would like to look, in the face of truth, at what the Conservatives have been doing.
Earlier this year, the chair of the CRTC said that it would never regulate user-generated content as it is not interested in that. There are hundreds and millions of hours of content uploaded every day, and the CRTC is not only not interested in doing that, it would not be able to do that. This is why we are focused on these platforms: creators will create; the platforms will pay; and Canadian society will benefit. I do not know what the Conservatives are up to. Maybe they can tell us.
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Madam Speaker, these are just more conspiracy theories and more arguments that simply do not hold water.
I sat at committee for four years, from the first time I was in this place, and I understand robust debate. I understand trade-offs, and I understand voting at committee and making sure that we can make bills better. However, the Conservative Party, Her Majesty's loyal opposition, has become Her Majesty's loyal obstructionists. They do not want to debate. They want to oppose, and they do not want to move this bill forward because it helps them raise too much money.
Let us just look at the stuff that is being put out on the Internet. We have members saying that this bill is about controlling what Canadians think and manufacturing group think, which is not the case. The CRTC has said very clearly that it cannot regulate algorithms, nor will it.
Quite frankly, this bill is about who we are as individuals. The Conservatives are heading to a dark space. We are going to do this work because Canadians asked us to.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his observation.
Quite frankly, I would love to see this place work, but it requires the participation of the Conservative Party of Canada, the loyal opposition, to do its job and actually come to the table to debate amendments, and to lose those amendments if they do not have the majority of the committee. However, they are not doing that. They are filibustering, and it is so absurd, but they are filibustering their own motions. I have never seen that in my time here in this place.
Quite frankly, the committee needs to get back to work, and Canadians want us to get back to work. That is what they sent us here for.
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Madam Speaker, I think we have to go back to the numbers. There have been 15 hours of debate at second reading, 21 hours of debate at committee, with seven hours of filibustering, including the Conservatives filibustering their own motion.
To the hon. member's question, what is at stake here and what is important is that the whole thrust of Bill C-11 is to showcase Canadian creators and to make sure that Canadians can discover more of the great stories that Canada has to offer. We will always, as Canadians, have the choice to watch and listen to whatever we want. Bill C-11 just asks platforms to showcase more Canadian stories. What could be nefarious about that? Absolutely nothing about that is nefarious.
This will make it easier for Canadians to discover up-and-coming homegrown talent. Quite frankly, I grew up and discovered The Tragically Hip . I fell in love with Corner Gas, Kim's Convenience and Schitt's Creek. I can go through the list.
I also discovered Mensonges and Tout le monde en parle. Everything we have in Canada is worth broadcasting around the world.
That is what this is about.
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Madam Speaker, exceptional disruption requires exceptional measures. That is why we are here today. We have had dozens of hours of debate on this bill. The Conservatives continue to decide that they do not want to move forward. They will not even let the bill get to clause-by-clause. This is something we almost never see in this place. They will not do the work at committee. It is what their constituents sent them here to do, which is to debate, improve and move forward.
They simply will not let the CRTC go from 1991 to 2022. It is beyond the pale. It is unparliamentary. They are simply obstructing the work of Parliament. That is why we are here.
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Madam Speaker, from Alberta to Toronto and from St. John's to Yukon, this vast country has stories that deserve to be told. Platforms need to pay their fair share. That is what this is about.
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