Tories say slow C-32 committee process puts legislation in jeopardy

OTTAWA—At the current rate of study, the Conservative government’s copyright reform legislation is in danger of not passing Parliament and MPs could see the bill remaining at committee stage by summer 2011, Mike Lake, the parliamentary secretary to the industry minister, said Wednesday. “There’s some talk of adding some more witnesses. That puts us into September or something like that before it even gets out of committee,” Lake said in an interview following a meeting Wednesday of the legislative committee on Bill C-32, the government’s copyright reform bill. When asked whether the committee work schedule and the number of witnesses puts the bill in jeopardy, he said: “I think it certainly does.” Observers of the legislation say a potential spring election could spell sudden death for the bill. Committee members say about 200 witnesses are being scheduled to appear as witnesses, and the number could rise. MPs on the committee agree they will hear three witnesses per hour for each two-hour meeting. Still, at six witnesses per meeting, it would take more than 30 meetings to get through the witness list. Lake said there are enough witnesses to fill 36 meetings. “If you look at the parliamentary calendar, as opposed to the regular calendar, that takes us pretty close to September by the time we get through 36 separate meetings,” he said. The committee is now meeting twice per week, in which case it would take about 16 or 17 weeks to hear from 200 witnesses. The opposition parties say they are not willing to rush the process. At a meeting Monday, Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro, the parliamentary secretary to the heritage minister, moved that the committee meet for extra time on Monday and Wednesday evenings or Tuesday and Thursday mornings “to allow all witnesses on the list an opportunity to appear.” The opposition parties voted against the motion. “If we go until March, we’ll go until March,” Bloc Québécois MP Carole Lavallée said in an interview Wednesday. Lavallée said the experts coming before the committee must explain complex, technical issues, and that committee members must read and analyse the written briefs witnesses submit to the committee. Hearing from six witnesses twice per week means committee member will be reading 12 committee briefs per week, she said. She pointed out that some members, like herself, sit on other House committees like the heritage or industry committees, which creates additional work. “We’ll take our time,” Lavallée said. “They tabled it on June 2. They could have brought it for second reading on June 2, and they did not.” NDP MP Charlie Angus, a member of the C-32 committee, agreed, saying that members will do a thorough study. “We’re going to hear from a number of witnesses, and we need to do that to ensure due diligence,” he said. “Some of those can come and appear together as a group, some writers and musicians. It might not be as daunting as it seems.” Lake said the Conservatives will continue to push for a more aggressive schedule in the hope they can persuade an MP to vote with them to change it. The Conservatives need the support of only one opposition member to win votes on the committee. At a meeting Wednesday afternoon, the committee heard from three legal experts: Michael Geist, the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa; Giuseppina D’agostino, an intellectual property law professor at Osgoode Hall; and Barry Sookman, a technology law expert and a partner with McCarthy Tétrault. All of the witnesses said they were happy to see the legislation at committee stage and urged the committee members to move the process along. But the meeting lost time due to a House of Commons vote that interrupted it. MPs had to break the meeting to vote. Geist told the committee Bill C-32’s strict legal protection for digital locks, if passed, would face a court challenge on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. “I think there’s no question we’re going to see a constitutional challenge,” he said. He said digital lock laws that dictate what people can and cannot do with their own property—for instance, consumer items that may have digital locks on them—is outside the federal government’s jurisdiction. “We’re not talking about copyright at all anymore. We’re talking about personal property rights, and that’s within the jurisdiction of the provinces, not the federal government,” he said. But Sookman said that, according to the way the Constitution Act has been interpreted, Parliament has constitutional authority to implement strict legal protection for digital locks, particularly if it simply “rounds out” copyright law. “Parliament has control over how it legislates with respect to copyright,” he said. “There would be constitutional authority. There’s no doubt.” sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Tories say slow C-32 committee process puts legislation in jeopardy

News | 12/02/2010 1:33 am EST

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