Rodriguez lashes out at Online Streaming Act critics, Senate begins study

Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez attacked Conservative party critics of Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act during Question Period Thursday. Three Tory MPs raised the issue hours after the House of Commons Committee on Canadian Heritage went through clause-by-clause study of the legislation. All three opposition MPs are members of that committee. First up was Conservative Heritage critic John Nater, who has been leading the party’s fight against the bill. Nater is a vice-chair of the heritage committee. “In the dead of night, the Liberals pushed through amendments and rammed through amendments, without a single amendment that would support excluding user-generated content. Why was there all the secrecy? Why was there the disrespect to Parliament? What is the government hiding?,” Nater asked. Rodriguez blamed delays on Tory tactics. The party has been moving amendments to the proceedings and then talking them out, sometimes leading to the dismissal of potential witnesses or the delay in the testimony of other stakeholders. “Everyone knows that the Conservatives, when they wake up in the morning, think about filibustering. When they go to bed at night, they think about filibustering. What do they do in between? They filibuster. That is what they do,” the minister fired back. “The Conservatives have abandoned the creators. They have abandoned our artists. They have abandoned our culture.” Conservative MP Tim Uppal carried on the attack. “It is clear from expert testimony that this bill would allow the CRTC to regulate user-generated content,” he asserted. “That is why, through a series of vital amendments, the Conservatives tried to fix this bill. Our common-sense amendments were shot down by the Liberals and the NDP without any debate.” The minister rejected that argument. “If Conservatives read the bill, they would know it is about online platforms contributing to our culture,” he parried. “If they have a problem with that, it is a shame.” Last up was Conservative MP Rachael Thomas, who has been one of the more outspoken MPs throughout the process. “There was no listening and no discussion. It was just rammed through,” she said. “That was their mode of operation. It was censorship upon censorship.” Rodriguez pointed out that Thomas herself had filibustered for four hours, postponing Rodriguez’s own appearance at the heritage committee. He asserted that the government is acting on behalf of Canadian artists and for Canadian culture. “One of the benefits of the conversation with the Conservatives is that we heard one of the best jokes of the year when they said that they cared about culture. It was really funny,” the minister maintained. “That was a hell of a secret meeting, when the room was full of Conservatives and staff and others. That was very, very secret.” The topic of C-11 also arose in Thursday's Question Period in the Senate. Senator David Richards of the Canadian Senators Group asked about the powers of the CRTC. “How hard will it be for writers dealing with Canadian Heritage and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, to deliver their own original work that does not fit the CRTC’s position or Canadian Heritage’s new mandate?” asked Richards. Senator Marc Gold, the government representative in the chamber, allowed he did not have an answer but added that pre-study of the bill has begun in the Senate and such issues could be addressed in committee. “If this bill is passed, will all artistic or creative platforms, no matter where they are in Canada, be monitored by government officials on a regular basis?” Richards wondered. “Again, I invite you and any interested colleagues to participate in the pre-study and certainly when we get the bill, which we will this week, and when the bill is referred to committee at such time as it is when we return in the fall, then I expect that those answers will become clear,” Gold responded. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca.

Rodriguez lashes out at Online Streaming Act critics, Senate begins study

Broadcast | June 17, 2022

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Rodriguez lashes out at Online Streaming Act critics, Senate begins study

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