Trudeau Government Rejects Senate Compromise on Broadcasting Bill
The Trudeau government persists and signs: there is no question of specifying that only professional music on YouTube is covered by its broadcasting bill (C-11). He refutes a compromise reached by the Senate to calm critics.
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez placed a message to the Senate on Tuesday night: there is no question of limiting too strictly in law the power of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) with respect to social networks.
The Minister "respectfully rejects amendment 3" because it would limit the CRTC's power to regulate the distribution of commercial programming on social media, and "prevent the broadcasting system from adapting to technological changes over time,"
the government response states.
That music, according to the SenateThe government is rejecting one of the upper chamber's main amendments to Bill C-11, and insisting on adopting the original version of section 4. 2 of the text. This article also aims to subject to the law content uploaded by users on social networks, such as YouTube, in the same way as professional content from Netflix, Disney+ or Spotify.
According to the law, these platforms must contribute financially to Canadian culture and highlight Canadian content, in order to make it more easily accessible, or "discoverable". Even though the minister assured Le Devoir that the government only covers movies, television series and music, and not YouTubers and other amateur videographers. This clarification must be sent to the CRTC in a future regulation.
The Conservative Party of Canada, as well as large corporations such as Google, which owns YouTube, have publicly opposed Bill C-11. While the Conservatives have gone so far as to accuse the government of wanting to censor their Twitter page, multinational platforms have said they are already doing enough for Quebec culture.
In order to find a compromise between the government and the many critics of the bill, Senators Julie Miville-Dechêne and Paula Simons proposed amending the text of the law to reduce the scope of content to be regulated by the CRTC, limiting it to professional music. Essentially, the amendment would have ensured that only songs that can be played on radio and are
on platforms like YouTube would be affected by the legislation.
Senator Miville-Dechêne wrote on Twitter that she was "disappointed" by the government's rejection of this clarification to the bill. Conservative elected officials took the opportunity to reiterate on social media their demand to abandon, or "kill," Bill C-11. Their leader, Pierre Poilievre, repeated in the House on Wednesday the accusation that the government's project is to "censor the Internet".
On the contrary, the Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque (ADISQ) is pleased with the turn of events. "This is exactly what we were asking for," explains its general manager, Eve Paré, to Le Devoir.
"The issue of the social media amendment, clause 4.2, was the one that concerned us the most because, unfortunately, the Senate's proposal had the effect of excluding the consumption of music videos. While we know that YouTube, not to name it, is a major player in the consumption and discovery of music, especially among young people. »
Other amendments rejectedMinister Rodriguez also announced that he did not accept the amendment that would add to the law an obligation for websites to verify the age of Internet users before submitting pornographic material. "The amendment seeks to legislate on matters relating to the broadcasting system that go beyond the political intent of the bill," it reads.
Similarly, the government rejects with equal respect the idea of banning Radio-Canada from broadcasting commercials "designed to resemble journalistic programming," a formal attack by the Senate on the Crown corporation's controversial Tandem advertising service.
The minister had already admitted to Le Devoir that he found this amendment irrelevant in December. At the same time, he promised that a government response on the amendments would be provided quickly, after discussions with the other parties.
That answer came only three months later.
Meanwhile, the Government of Quebec sent a letter in February complaining about certain aspects of Bill C-11. The Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, wants to ensure that Quebec is consulted when setting CRTC rules, which is a normal practice, but not enshrined in law. Quebec also wants its laws on the status of the artist to apply to the online businesses concerned.
It is midnight minus one, since the text of C-11 must now be debated at third reading in the Commons on Wednesday, which is normally the last step for elected officials to amend the text. The government says it is too late to respond to Quebec's requests, and nothing about that is included in the Senate response.
The Liberals accept other amendments proposed by senators. Accepted additions less significantly alter the original intent of the legislation. In order to become a law of Canada, a bill must be passed identically by the House of Commons and the Senate. This means that the Senate can insist on maintaining its amendments, and send another version of the bill back to the House.
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez placed a message to the Senate on Tuesday night: there is no question of limiting too strictly in law the power of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) with respect to social networks.
The Minister "respectfully rejects amendment 3" because it would limit the CRTC's power to regulate the distribution of commercial programming on social media, and "prevent the broadcasting system from adapting to technological changes over time,"
the government response states.
That music, according to the SenateThe government is rejecting one of the upper chamber's main amendments to Bill C-11, and insisting on adopting the original version of section 4. 2 of the text. This article also aims to subject to the law content uploaded by users on social networks, such as YouTube, in the same way as professional content from Netflix, Disney+ or Spotify.
According to the law, these platforms must contribute financially to Canadian culture and highlight Canadian content, in order to make it more easily accessible, or "discoverable". Even though the minister assured Le Devoir that the government only covers movies, television series and music, and not YouTubers and other amateur videographers. This clarification must be sent to the CRTC in a future regulation.
The Conservative Party of Canada, as well as large corporations such as Google, which owns YouTube, have publicly opposed Bill C-11. While the Conservatives have gone so far as to accuse the government of wanting to censor their Twitter page, multinational platforms have said they are already doing enough for Quebec culture.
In order to find a compromise between the government and the many critics of the bill, Senators Julie Miville-Dechêne and Paula Simons proposed amending the text of the law to reduce the scope of content to be regulated by the CRTC, limiting it to professional music. Essentially, the amendment would have ensured that only songs that can be played on radio and are
on platforms like YouTube would be affected by the legislation.
Senator Miville-Dechêne wrote on Twitter that she was "disappointed" by the government's rejection of this clarification to the bill. Conservative elected officials took the opportunity to reiterate on social media their demand to abandon, or "kill," Bill C-11. Their leader, Pierre Poilievre, repeated in the House on Wednesday the accusation that the government's project is to "censor the Internet".
On the contrary, the Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque (ADISQ) is pleased with the turn of events. "This is exactly what we were asking for," explains its general manager, Eve Paré, to Le Devoir.
"The issue of the social media amendment, clause 4.2, was the one that concerned us the most because, unfortunately, the Senate's proposal had the effect of excluding the consumption of music videos. While we know that YouTube, not to name it, is a major player in the consumption and discovery of music, especially among young people. »
Other amendments rejectedMinister Rodriguez also announced that he did not accept the amendment that would add to the law an obligation for websites to verify the age of Internet users before submitting pornographic material. "The amendment seeks to legislate on matters relating to the broadcasting system that go beyond the political intent of the bill," it reads.
Similarly, the government rejects with equal respect the idea of banning Radio-Canada from broadcasting commercials "designed to resemble journalistic programming," a formal attack by the Senate on the Crown corporation's controversial Tandem advertising service.
The minister had already admitted to Le Devoir that he found this amendment irrelevant in December. At the same time, he promised that a government response on the amendments would be provided quickly, after discussions with the other parties.
That answer came only three months later.
Meanwhile, the Government of Quebec sent a letter in February complaining about certain aspects of Bill C-11. The Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, wants to ensure that Quebec is consulted when setting CRTC rules, which is a normal practice, but not enshrined in law. Quebec also wants its laws on the status of the artist to apply to the online businesses concerned.
It is midnight minus one, since the text of C-11 must now be debated at third reading in the Commons on Wednesday, which is normally the last step for elected officials to amend the text. The government says it is too late to respond to Quebec's requests, and nothing about that is included in the Senate response.
The Liberals accept other amendments proposed by senators. Accepted additions less significantly alter the original intent of the legislation. In order to become a law of Canada, a bill must be passed identically by the House of Commons and the Senate. This means that the Senate can insist on maintaining its amendments, and send another version of the bill back to the House.
