Federal government will consider Quebec streaming bill, Senate told

Quebec’s bill on French-language services was a topic in the Senate Question Period as Parliament resumed following the election. On Wednesday, May 28, Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne of the Independent Senators Group raised the issue with government representative in the Senate Marc Gold. “Quebec is quite legitimately seeking to protect its language from English cultural invasion, and it is disappointed that the federal government is dragging its feet in this regard,” she stated. “It is true that Bill C-11, the Broadcasting Act, was passed over two years ago, but the CRTC still hasn’t taken any action to increase the discoverability of French-language content. Does Quebec have good reason to be losing hope that the federal government will take action?” “Our government is aware that the Quebec government introduced a bill on the discoverability of French-language content,” Gold replied. “It will carefully examine the bill and may have more to say on this in the coming days.” The introduction of the Quebec legislation — Bill 109, an act to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Québec and to enact the act respecting the discoverability of French-language cultural content in the digital environment — has raised the possibility of a jurisdictional dispute between Ottawa and Quebec City. Broadcasting is a federal responsibility and streamers are considered broadcasters. Miville-Dechêne wondered about that in her follow-up question. “However, isn’t there a risk of contradictions between the federal Broadcasting Act, which seeks to increase discoverability, and the upcoming Quebec law, which will impose quotas?,” she asked. “Are we not asking broadcasting platforms to do two contradictory things? What will happen then? Which law will prevail?” Gold lightheartedly looked at his pre-Senate career when responding. “As you know, I was a constitutional expert in my former life, so I won’t get into the weeds on constitutional rules around which language takes precedence in the bill,” he joked. He repeated that the government will have more to say in the future. news@thewirereport.ca

Federal government will consider Quebec streaming bill, Senate told

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By Wire Report Staff
| May 29, 2025

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Federal government will consider Quebec streaming bill, Senate told

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