By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Debate on second reading of Bill C-10 in the Senate has been deferred to the next meeting of the Senate, (Tuesday, the last day the Senate meets before it breaks for summer) and then it will be sent to the red chamber’s Standing Committee on Transportations and Communications for review and clause by clause consideration (Ed note: This sounds familiar).
No meetings have been scheduled for the committee but Julie Miville-Dechênes, deputy chair of that committee during debate in the Senate on Monday, suggested the committee could meet in the summer to examine the bill, which would normally be scheduled shortly after Parliament resumes on September 30 – unless of course the election everyone in Ottawa is expecting is called, and then the C-10, which aims to modernize the Broadcasting Act, would die and it would be back to square one.
While listening to the Senators debating Monday, once senses major changes are needed and there is a desire to hear from experts on the legislation to help provide “sober second thought.”
Would a majority Liberal Government reintroduce the same bill after an election? Would the Heritage Minister still be Steven Guilbeault? Nobody knows but cue the speculation machine.
If the bill fails, expect the blame game to start. After all, millions of dollars which Canadian producers hoped were coming soon via the likes of Netflix and Amazon, will be further delayed.
