Consultation will be held for exemption under Bill C-18, committee votes down amendment to force negotiation with all outlets

The committee studying the Online News Act unanimously voted to include a clause in Bill C-18 that would ensure that the CRTC can hold public consultations regarding exemptions from mandatory bargaining and other regulations under the bill, for digital news intermediaries (such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google) and that an exemption order can only be in effect for a period of not more than maximum five years with the possibility of renewal. NDP MP Peter Julian brought the motion forward as the House of Commons Canadian Heritage committee continues its clause-by-clause review of Bill C-18. The bill, as currently drafted, states that the CRTC “must make an exemption order in relation to a digital news intermediary if its operator requests the exemption,” and several criteria are met. Part of that criteria includes provisions that digital intermediaries “provide for fair compensation to the news businesses for the news content;” that “they ensure that an appropriate portion of the compensation will be used by the news businesses to support the production of local, regional and national news content;” and that they “do not allow corporate influence to undermine the freedom of expression and journalistic independence enjoyed by news outlets.” Some smaller news outlets felt that the exemption order would only incentivize the digital intermediaries to negotiate with larger news outlets and leave the smaller players out. The government has repeatedly responded to the criticisms by encouraging collective bargaining. The NDP and the Conservatives tried to ease those concerns by bringing forward similar amendments that stipulated it would require intermediaries to come to an agreement with all eligible news outlets before getting an exemption order. Canadian Heritage associate assistant deputy minister for cultural affairs Thomas Owen Ripley said that if passed, the amendment would constitute a major departure from the way the bill is drafted. It is currently modeled off of Australia’s news compensation bill, which uses exemptions as incentives for bargaining. Ripley told the committee that the intent of the exemption order is to put in incentives to help both parties get to voluntary agreements and leave it to the free market to arrive at that outcome. Forcing digital news intermediaries to enter into an agreement with “all” eligible news outlets might result in forced negotiations and arbitration, which the bill, as drafted, sets out to limit. “The goal is not to actually rely on the back-end of this bill in terms of mandatory bargaining and final offer arbitration,” he said. “At the end of the day, the CRTC does have to assess whether enough has been in relation to these criteria,” Ripley added, noting that the exemption order criteria has stipulations to support the production of local news content. Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who said the intent of the amendments was well placed, argued that forcing intermediaries to negotiate with all eligible news businesses could result in one bad actor preventing everyone from completing the deals. The Liberals and Bloc Québécois voted down the amendments. All parties unanimously voted in favour of Julian’s amendment to include language in the exemption order criteria that highlighted Indigenous peoples and Indigenous news outlets. A Conservative motion to include language stating that different ideologies and opinions must also be represented was shot down. The NDP and Liberal MPs accused the Tories of being hypocritical after they repeatedly criticized the government for empowering the CRTC to regulate content with the bill as well as Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act. Housefather argued that criteria such as language, Indigenous communities, local news, and racialized groups were all objective. Adding language around opinion and ideology would put the commission in a position to evaluate news content, he said. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

Consultation will be held for exemption under Bill C-18, committee votes down amendment to force negotiation with all outlets

Broadcast | November 25, 2022

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Consultation will be held for exemption under Bill C-18, committee votes down amendment to force negotiation with all outlets

Broadcast | November 25, 2022

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