Heritage minister denies communications with CRTC on policy directive, “myths and facts” webpage
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A Conservative member of Parliament is requesting information related to any documents exchanged between the CRTC and Canadian Heritage about bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act.
Martin Shields, MP for Bow River, Alberta, tabled the request Monday for detailed communications between the regulator and the department, including the minister’s office, about the legislation which would require online streaming services to contribute to the Canadian ecosystem.
Shields is specifically asking for types of documents and titles, senders, recipients, subject matter and summary of contents.
The government has 45 days to respond to the request.
The CRTC launched three consultations earlier this month to define who and how online broadcasters should contribute to the system and what to do with existing regulations about online media exemptions.
A dozen groups have since asked the CRTC to postpone the comment deadlines in part because Heritage has yet to release its C-11 policy direction to the regulator, which they said would help guide their submissions.
During a House Heritage mandate and spending hearing Monday, Conservative MPs continued to wonder about any communications between the department and the regulator, which operates at arms-length from the government.
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Monday he hasn’t had any communications with the CRTC about the policy directive in response to a question from Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman.
The CRTC has come under fire for releasing a webpage that attempts to debunk some of what has been said about the legislation, which critics have said makes it appear like the regulator is in the pocket of the government. That myth-busting page includes what the CRTC will not do under the legislation, such as not regulating individual content creators or their content.
Lantsman said Monday the page’s “facts” section about the legislation appears to be “parroting” government talking points on the matter. She asked whether there was any “formal instruction” to the CRTC about that page.
“No, not at all,” Rodriguez responded. “If something is not true – it’s very possible that they say it’s not true and I say it’s not true because it’s not a fact. And I think one of the problems around the debate on C-11 is there were a lot of things that were not facts and they had nothing to do with the bill – zero.
Lantsman also criticized the CRTC for moving on the consultations before the policy directive, suggesting that – taken with the myth-busting webpage – Canadians may think there is some coordination there.
Screenshot of Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez at committee on Monday.
