Hon. René Cormier: Honourable senators, I rise today in support of the passage at third reading of Bill C-11, whose short title is the online streaming act. I want to acknowledge that the land on which I am speaking to you today is part of the traditional unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin nation.

The objective of Bill C-11 is clear, and I believe it is important to reiterate it at this stage. Its objective is to include online broadcasters in the scope of the Broadcasting Act so that they contribute to our Canadian broadcasting system and ensure the discoverability of Canadian content.

Although this objective can be summarized in simple terms, the complex issues it underpins go far beyond these few lines. Bill C-11 is one of the first key steps Canada is taking to adapt its cultural policies for the digital age, and it gives us a glimpse of the considerable challenges involved.

[English]

I would like to thank my fellow senators on the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications for having shared their perspectives and questions throughout our study. It was a real sober-second-thought process that allowed us to address and explore many of the issues pertaining to this important bill and to propose some very relevant amendments, not to mention the many witnesses who appeared before the committee or submitted briefs. Their passion and commitment to Bill C-11 is a testament to our democracy’s vitality.

[Translation]

Although it is not perfect, Bill C-11 provides major gains for our cultural ecosystem and Canadian society, the main one being the equity it creates between “traditional” Canadian broadcasting undertakings and online Canadian and foreign broadcasting undertakings.

Another major gain is that the bill modernizes the way the Canadian broadcasting system identifies and takes into account Canada’s diversity and representativeness. Speaking of equity and diversity, my speech will also address some technical aspects of the bill that support these two things, and I will highlight some of the amendments adopted by the committee that will strengthen them.

[English]

From the outset, the bill amends the broadcasting policy so that the Canadian broadcasting system will now include foreign broadcasting undertakings, including online undertakings, that provide programming to Canadians, and that these undertakings will be required to contribute to the implementation of the objectives of the broadcasting policy for Canada.

Equating Canadian and foreign undertakings and their contributions to the Canadian broadcasting system was questioned by more than one witness in our study. Similar reactions were observed with respect to the exception that could include social media in the broadcasting system.

In response to this last concern, Senators Simons and Miville‑Dechêne proposed an important amendment. That said, it is important to remember, colleagues, that the Broadcasting Act provides a framework for the CRTC to regulate and monitor the industry and that a framework that is too precise could prevent it from evolving with new technologies, for example.

It is also important to keep in mind that the CRTC can exercise its power over platforms, not individuals.

In addition, the CRTC’s expertise and the consultations it will conduct prior to the implementation of Bill C-11 will allow it to modulate the obligations of each type of business. Indeed, in exercising its regulatory and supervisory powers — and I quote clause 5(2)(a.1) — the CRTC must take:

. . . into account the nature and diversity of the services provided by broadcasting undertakings, as well as their size, their impact on the Canadian creation and production industry, particularly with respect to employment in Canada and Canadian programming, their contribution to the implementation of the broadcasting policy set out in subsection 3(1) and any other characteristic that may be relevant in the circumstances . . . .

This is to say that a small, emerging, independent online platform would likely not be subject to regulation, while a large platform with a large share of the Canadian market would.

[Translation]

While we welcome the significant advances in this bill in terms of equity, we must recognize that this equity is far from perfect. The proposed paragraphs 3(1)(f) and 3(1)(f.1), which address the use of Canadian talent in the creation of Canadian programming, impose less demanding requirements on foreign companies. Indeed, this is the only place where the bill treats these two types of companies differently.

In its brief and testimony before the committee, the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which represents 50 cultural organizations across the country, warned us of the dangers of the two-tiered system created by the proposed paragraphs 3(1)(f) and 3(1)(f.1). These clauses send a message to the CRTC that it is acceptable to set lower expectations for foreign companies to use Canadian talent, effectively undermining the primary objective of the bill.

This concern stayed on my mind throughout the committee study, which is why I introduced an amendment that offers a solution by standardizing the criteria around using Canadian human resources while allowing the CRTC flexibility in applying it.

Unfortunately, this amendment was not retained by the committee, and I will not be reintroducing it at third reading. That said, I still want to share this important element of the bill with you, because the industry has serious concerns about its potential repercussions.

On another note, thanks to the appearances of the Union des artistes, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and many others during the study, the committee identified a serious inequity in clause 31.1 of the bill, which made the Status of the Artist Act inapplicable to online companies. This clause would have had a disastrous impact on the working conditions of artists hired by online broadcasting platforms and would have had a detrimental effect on existing agreements.

Fortunately, the committee adopted an amendment to correct the profound inequality that such a clause would have created for Canadian artists. Once again, I would like to thank senators for supporting me when I introduced that amendment.

Another major gain is that Bill C-11 modernizes the way the Canadian broadcasting system identifies and takes into account Canada’s diversity and representativeness. Here are some examples.

As other colleagues have mentioned, the bill recognizes for the first time that Indigenous programming, reflecting Indigenous cultures and languages, will have to be provided by broadcasting undertakings operated by Indigenous people. This principle is inspired by Article 16 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I sincerely thank Senator Clement for her amendments, which have improved the text of the bill by ensuring better recognition of Indigenous peoples and languages.

A second example is the recognition of communities that represent diversity through their sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions. The broadcasting system will have to respond to their needs and interests and reflect their living conditions and aspirations through its programming and employment opportunities.

Here is another example: the presence of clauses requiring the Canadian broadcasting system to take into account the needs and interests of Black communities and other racialized communities by supporting their productions.

Finally, Bill C-11 adds important provisions concerning official language minority communities. I applaud the fact that the CRTC will now be required to consult official language minority communities when making decisions that could adversely affect them, based certain criteria set out in the legislation.

This provision is crucial to official language minority communities, as the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, the Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada, the Quebec English-language Production Council and the Alliance nationale de l’industrie musicale pointed out to the committee.

Thanks to the testimony of these witnesses and many others, including Monica Auer, Executive Director of Canada’s Forum for Research and Policy in Communications, concerns about the CRTC’s relationship with civil society and the need for it to be transparent in exercising its powers resonated more with the committee.

The committee took this need for transparency into account by adopting my proposed amendment, which extends public hearings to the making of CRTC orders and regulations, unless it is considered not to be in the public interest to do so.

While positive, this amendment falls short of resolving this issue. In future, better processes will have to be found to ensure transparency and accountability in CRTC decision making.

[English]

The issues associated with intellectual property and the concept of Canadian content were widely discussed during our committee study. The concept of Canadian content definition, in its current form, was sharply criticized as a risk to foreign investment.

With her expertise in Canadian programming, the President and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, Valerie Creighton, had this to say to the committee:

. . . if we continue to consider foreign service production as totally Canadian, all of the IP is owned by foreign companies and the revenue owned in the majority by that production goes outside of the country. Our producers and content creators here become a service industry to foreign companies. It’s a balance that has to be found. It’s not one or the other.

In the spirit of Ms. Creighton’s assertion, it is vital to reiterate that both the notion of foreign investment, along with a rigorous definition of Canadian content, are not mutually exclusive, colleagues.

It is imperative that our Canadian creators retain ownership of their intellectual property. This concept will be central in revising the definition of Canadian content, which will take place in the form of a regulation and will require careful and considered review by the CRTC.

In this regard, we should also pay close attention to the direction that the Governor-in-Council will issue to the CRTC upon passage of Bill C-11.

[Translation]

In conclusion, honourable colleagues, I would say that beyond the specific issues that were raised and the amendments that were proposed, the study of Bill C-11 raises fundamental questions about our concept of Canadian culture and the Canadian government’s role in supporting and promoting that culture.

Some view arts and culture merely as consumer products, so they essentially treat the relationship between the citizen and culture as a relationship between a consumer and a product. The law of the free market is the only one that seems to matter.

Others, including myself, feel that artists and their creations should be treated as tangible manifestations of a dynamic dialogue between the citizen and the artwork, whether it is on the stage, in a museum, library or movie theatre, or on an online platform. It was through that lens that I studied the bill.

If we really want to respect audiences, colleagues, then we need to encourage them to discover new works. It is wrong to believe that by giving the public only what they want, we will achieve our cultural policy objectives. There is a balance to be struck here.

The audience is not passive toward a work, whether it is experienced live, broadcast or streamed virtually. Quite the contrary. It is the beginning of a process of interaction on the part of people actively participating in our democracy. The public has the right to access new works, and the Canadian government has a duty and responsibility to promote accessibility.

I applaud the success of online content creators who have managed to reach an audience, and I congratulate them for their creativity and economic success. However, that is not the case for all creators. Bill C-11 seeks to further support Canadian creators and the dissemination of their works in the digital realm. This is an important step in improving our cultural policies.

It is not because of talent alone that Canada currently has so many talented artists whose work is gaining recognition both nationally and internationally and helping to increase Canada’s impact on the world. Canadian artists are succeeding and making an impact both here and abroad thanks to their talent, of course, but also thanks to the support of the Canadian government and regulations governing the way their work is broadcast and accessed. We are not talking about censorship or ideology. We are talking about support.

Today, thanks to Bill C-11, we are recognizing and applauding the contribution of foreign online undertakings to our broadcasting system.

That said, these companies that operate on our territory and profit from the talent of our Canadian creators must play by our rules. Our cultural sovereignty is at stake.

In other words, if you come to our rink and hire our best players, like Gino Odjick, you play by our rules, period.

Honourable colleagues, if I may, I’d like to conclude my speech by quoting a former colleague who left us recently, the superb Acadian artist Viola Léger. She said the following in her last speech in this chamber, and I quote:

Canadian culture is the product of the mixing of different cultures and traditions, one as rich as the other. Our distinctive features are enriched by the contribution of Aboriginal cultures and other cultural customs that have gradually been added. Our way of life is Western, North American, but at the same time Aboriginal, Ukrainian, Pakistani, Senegalese, Acadian, Irish, and so forth. . . .

We are a Nordic country with extreme cold and many seasons. Our intellectual life draws on the tremendous synergy of the men and women who have come from all continents; men and women who, through their contributions, play a role in building the great community we call Canada. We are not homogeneous. We are diversity itself, and we stand united in our attachment to our values, which are an important dimension of our culture.

That is what drives me, honourable colleagues.

I am aware that passing this bill is just the start of a conversation that our chamber should continue to have on culture, and I am glad about that. I urge everyone to pass Bill C-11 today so that Canadian creators can continue to shine on our screens, and foreign online platforms that have access to our country are aware of how tremendously lucky they are to be able to count on talented, hard-working Canadian artists.

Thank you.

[English]