Uncertainty around whether Senate will meet Nov. 18 deadline
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – The Transportation and Communications Senate Committee (TRCM) continued its pre-study of Bill C-11 yesterday and the committee staff should be commended for very effective casting.
The first hour featured two visions of intervenors and their approach to the bill. Peter Menzies, previously vice-chair of the CRTC, outlined some (he only had five minutes) of his objections.
“Bill C-11 seems to be inspired by a desire to assist those whose business models are having difficulty adjusting to the Internet age. That’s an understandable desire. But to the extent this overly broad legislation will assist those groups, it will do so at the expense of those who have adapted and succeeded,” he said in his opening remarks.
“If the government wants money from web giants, just go get money from web giants. If it wants to protect certain groups from change, go ahead and try. But not at the expense of those who are thriving through innovation and adaptation,” he went on.
To make a point about the slowness of the CRTC’s process, he told the committee the tale of the CBC’s licence renewal, which has now been sent back to the Commission for review and which will likely be issued in 2023. The last time the public broadcaster’s licence was renewed was in 2013.
His successor, Robert Armstrong, who made his presentation in French and is a broadcasting consultant to associations of francophone creators, had two main issues: Although he seemed to support the bill he opposed the different (or preferential) treatment foreign broadcasters get.
“Bill C-11 proposes separate objectives for Canadian and foreign undertakings. However, the current section 3(1)(f) already provides a loophole for foreign undertakings, where appropriate, by conceding that the use of creative and other resources may be “impractical because of the nature of the service”, in which case broadcasting undertakings “shall make use of such resources to the greatest extent possible,” he said in his opening remarks.
Armstrong also has issues with the powers the bill gives cabinet: “With Bill C-11, the government appears to be seeking to take almost complete control of the regulation of the system at the expense of the independence of the CRTC.” To which, Menzies at some point said the CRTC should be an arms-length agency and quipped that “the arms are getting pretty frigging short.”
While Menzies and Armstrong spoke more on the technical side of things, in the second hour we saw three entertaining entertainers who are thriving on the Internet after struggling in the legacy system, including one who was too old to read news, as per her male boss. No, it was not Lisa Laflamme but Jennifer Valentyne, now a producer and content creator who said age is not a factor online.
The entertainers’ personal stories were as fascinating as their fear of changes to be brought to something that is working for them. On algorithms, when told the act specifically said the CRTC could not touch the algorithms, they were suspicious and asked why there is a section on discoverability if they cannot influence algorithms.
“This bill will potentially ruin our careers,” said Darcy Michael, a content creator, when asked about the worst-case scenario.
When asked by Senator Paula Simon how he felt about the ability to own your intellectual property in Canada, he replied it was impossible. “No one will give it to you.”
When asked if he was asked to do a show on Netflix and they kept the intellectual property, would it still be Canadian content? “I am Canadian. I am a married gay stoner; you cannot get more Canadian than that.” And that brought the house down.
The committee chair mentioned there would be more meetings next week.
Process
Today, for the second day in a row, the chairman of the TRCM, Conservative Leo Housakos, was asked questions during the Senate’s question period even though questions are usually asked to the government representative in the Senate.
Senator Paula Simon, herself a member of the TRCM, revealed a previous committee witness received an email from the chair saying: “Right now, the Trudeau Liberals are dangerously close to being able to control what you see and say online.” The email went on to say the bill “is online censorship, pure and simple.”
Then Senator Renée Dupuis asked: “Where do you draw the line between your responsibility as the chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, which is currently examining Bill C-11, to ensure the smooth flow of debate in committee and the kind of messages that you sign as “the Honourable Senator Housakos” asking citizens to help you stop Bill C-11 in the Senate?”
The following day, Senator Yuen Pau Woo, asked Housakos how the leadership of the Conservatives in the Senate conform to the agreement to vote on the third reading of this bill (after having gone through the committee work, including disposing of amendments) for Nov. 18 deadline.
Housakos sidelined those comments by repeating he would listen to as many stakeholders he could.
What is unclear to us is Senator Woo seems to imply the TRCM is holding up the debates, while the committee study has not officially started since it has to wait for the Senate to conclude its second reading debate and vote – which it has not done yet.
Some suggest the new Conservative leader decided he did not like the deal agreed upon before he came to the helm.
