Summaries of the Committee’s study of the bill – February 19, 2021

On this page

• Subject of the meeting
  • 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  • Members in Attendance
• Summary
  • Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC)
  • Canadian Association of Broadcasters
  • Independent Broadcast Group

Subject of the meeting

Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts

Videoconference – 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Report Prepared By:
Christine Holke
Patrimoine canadien

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC)

• Carol Ann Pilon, Executive Director

Canadian Association of Broadcasters

• Kevin Desjardins, President

Independent Broadcast Group

• Luc Perreault, Strategic Advisor
• Joel Fortune, Legal Counsel

Members in Attendance

• Scott Aitchison (CPC)
• Lyne Bessette (LPC)
• Marci Ien (LPC)
• Julie Dabrusin (LPC)
• Anthony Housefather (LPC)
• Tim Louis (LPC)
• Heather McPherson (NDP)
• Alain Rayes (CPC)
• Martin Shields (CPC)
• Scott Simms (LPC)
• Kevin Waugh (CPC)
• Martin Champoux (BQ)

Summary

Due to an unscheduled vote in the House of Commons, the meeting lasted only 30 minutes, while the witnesses on the first panel made their opening statements. Members did not have the opportunity to ask the witnesses questions. In light of this setback, the Chair of the Committee indicated that all witnesses scheduled for today’s meeting would be reinvited to appear on March 12, 2021, or at a later date as determined by the Committee. The members therefore decided that they would meet in camera to discuss the work of the Committee once the vote was completed today.

Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC)

Carol Ann Pilon, Executive Director

• Welcomes the fact that Bill C-10 aims to end the current inequitable treatment between traditional broadcasters and online companies with respect to obligations to support, create and distribute Canadian content.

The objectives of Canadian broadcasting policy must include provisions to ensure that the broadcasting system, as a whole, reflects the situation of official language minority communities (OLMCs) and encourages the production of programs by French-language producers.

• The CRTC only imposes vague expectations on private broadcasters regarding Canadian and French-language content.
• The Act must include clear guidelines to ensure the vitality of OLMCs.
• The objectives of original French-language programming must be included in the wording of the Act.
• The CRTC must be able to put in place meaningful provisions to govern the contractual relationship between independent producers and broadcasters.

Canadian Association of Broadcasters

Kevin Desjardins, President

• Bill C-10 comes at a critical moment for the broadcasting sector.
• Unregulated actors have entered the market and have turned the traditional broadcasting business model on their head.
• Online platforms are consuming half of the advertisement market and have fundamentally changed consumer behaviour.
• There exists inequitable regulatory obligations between Canadian broadcasters and digital giants, and his association welcomes the revision of the Broadcasting Act.
• Canadian broadcasters are heavily regulated and can no longer shoulder the same obligations in the current context. Bill C-10 fixes that inequity and needs to be enacted expeditiously.
• Bill C-10 brings the digital giants into the regulatory regime, which is a necessary first step. This is particularly vital for the survival of local news.
• It is important not to add new regulatory obligations on Canadian Broadcasters at this time.

Independent Broadcast Group

Luc Perreault, Strategic Advisor and Joel Fortune, Legal Counsel

• Forty percent of all employees in the broadcasting sector work for independent broadcasters.
• Bill C-10 has one crucial gap: regulation of Internet distribution.
• The CRTC needs to preserve its authority over internet distribution for the following reasons:
  • To ensure that Canadian broadcasters have fair access to our own market.
  • To ensure that Canadian services are visible to Canadians.
  • To ensure that the CRTC is able to resolve disputes between different types of broadcasting undertakings.
  • To ensure that there are regulations in place regarding the distribution of programming services regardless of the technology used.
  • Bill C-10 removes the objectives of Canadians having any ownership interest in our own broadcasting system.