UPDATED: Senate passes C-11; Rodriguez expects C-11 to become law next week

OTTAWA – The Senate officially adopted the Online Streaming Act, a year to the day since it was first introduced in the House of Commons. The vote passed Thursday evening, 43 to 16. Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez said he expects the Online Streaming Act to become law next week despite the fact that 25 amendments passed in the Senate still need House approval. Thursday, Rodriguez sat down with CTV News’ Vassy Kapelos at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s (CMPA) Prime Time 2023 conference to discuss Bill C-11. The House will have to decide whether to approve the amendments passed through the Senate. Kapelos noted to Rodriguez that it took months for the two chambers to agree on the Senate’s proposed amendments to Canada’s assisted dying act. Rodriguez said he was not worried about history repeating itself. “We had so many meetings and witnesses, both in the House and Senate. We are in a good spot and this should become reality in a few days,” he said. “It probably will.” Rodriguez spoke before the Senate’s sitting on Thursday evening. He did note that he would not accept any amendments that run contrary to supporting Canadian culture. “There are things that cannot change, that will not change, that I will not accept. This bill is there to support Canadian culture, our creators, our film producers, directors, actors, and our musicians. If an amendment comes to change that then the answer is ‘no,’” he said. Rodriguez did not specify if there were any specific amendments he was referring to. “We’ll see when the bill comes back,” he said. Kapelos asked Rodriguez to respond to Senator David Richards’ Senate speech on Tuesday. Richards, who was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opposes the bill stated: “We have filled the world with our talent, but not because of the Minister of Heritage. We have spread our books and movies across the world, but it is not because of some formula… This law will be one of scapegoating all those who do not fit into what our bureaucrats think Canada should be. Stalin, again, will be looking over our shoulder when we write.” Rodriguez responded that a lot of concerns raised over the Online Streaming Act, such as freedom of speech concerns, have nothing to with the bill. “You will see once C-11 passes that you will go there and watch whatever you want at the time that you want. Hopefully, you watch Canadian content. Your call,” Rodriguez said. The bill is the longest study the Red Chamber has ever conducted, according to the Senate clerk. The Senate’s Transportation and Communications committee spent a total of 65 hours over the course of 31 meetings studying the bill. “It’s the longest bill. It took a while. It’s not over but we’ll make it," Rodriguez said. The House will have to decide whether to adopt the 25 amendments passed by the Senate committee during the clause-by-clause review. No amendments were adopted during the Senate’s third reading of the bill this week, although four were presented. Thursday, Senator Leo Housakos proposed a two part amendment related to discoverability. First he sought to change language so that online platforms are encouraged to make Canadian content available, rather than forced. His amendment did not remove the reference of discoverability but rather sought to replace “ensure the discoverability of Canadian programming” with “allow.” “In order to give flexibility to the platform's so they can avoid algorithm manipulation,” he said. Housakos argued that some platforms might be forced to manipulate algorithms – despite former CRTC chair Ian Scott’s assurances to the contrary – because they do not have enough screen real estate to accomplish the outcomes outlined in the bill without algorithmic manipulation. The second part was an attempt to remove the CRTC’s obligation to make regulations regarding the discoverability and showcasing of Canadian content. “I have faith in Canadians to make the choices that they want. I believe in choice,” he said. “It's an argument in favor of consumer choice and having confidence in Canadians to promote what they think is worthy of promoting.” The amendment failed 42 to 13 with three abstentions. Earlier in the evening Senator Donald Neil Plett brought forward an amendment to address the uncertainty regarding whether user generated content is excluded from the parameters of the bill. He proposed to strike the “exemption to the exemption” on user generated content in the Online Streaming Act. “We cannot allow this issue to be left unresolved, in a cloud of ambiguity,” he said. The amendment failed 44 to 16 with one abstention. Tuesday, Senator Fabian Manning attempted to amend the bill so that it would exempt digital content creators that generate annual revenues of less than $10 million. His amendment was shot down 52 to 16 with one abstention. “We need to have a threshold. Is it $10 million? …We started at $150 million. We went to $100, $50, $25 — now we are down to $10. Now do we go down to a $20 bill before we agree on something? I don’t know. The bottom line is, without any threshold, there is no limit,” Manning said. Housakos, who opposes the bill in its entirety, had said the bill needs amendments “with some teeth” to protect small, independent, content creators. He said the $10-million threshold would provide some protection in a concrete way “so that the CRTC has no maneuverability to avoid accepting that reality.” “At the end of the day and with all due respect, I just don’t believe it when the government says that, ‘platforms are in, and independent digital content producers are out,’” he said. Both the House of Commons committee and the Senate committee responsible for studying the bill during its earlier phases brought forward various ideas to exempt creators that fall short of a certain financial or subscriber threshold. Those ideas were ultimately shot down when Canadian Heritage staff noted that it is hard to predict how services might be affected by thresholds in the future. Wednesday, Senator Percy Downe then brought forward a two-part amendment with the purpose of adding accountability and transparency at the CBC/Radio-Canada. The first part would allow the CRTC to impose a $2 million fine per day on CBC should it fail to meet its local and regional broadcasting requirements. Downe said the public broadcaster needs to be held accountable for canceling essential programming. He noted that CBC canceled its local CBC TV News program in Prince Edward Island at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic without advance notice. “We found out after the fact that the CRTC had no way to hold CBC accountable for their decisions.” The second part of his amendment would have forced the CBC to disclose the salaries of its senior management and on-air personnel. Senator Dennis Dawson said that the issues highlighted by Downe are best addressed by the CRTC through its own proceedings. He also noted the government intends to address the modernization of CBC “in a more holistic manner, not in a piecemeal fashion.” Downe’s amendment was shot down 46 to 20 with two abstentions. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca.

UPDATED: Senate passes C-11; Rodriguez expects C-11 to become law next week

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UPDATED: Senate passes C-11; Rodriguez expects C-11 to become law next week

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