(Ottawa) Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have cut time for debate on Bill C-11 to modernize the Broadcasting Act to integrate internet broadcasting platforms such as YouTube and Spotify.
Updated yesterday at 9:47 p.m.
With the support of the New Democrats, they passed a motion on Monday evening that forced the Heritage Committee to tight deadlines to proceed with the clause-by-clause study of Bill C-11. The motion also calls for a quick vote by all MPs to pass the bill at third reading — the final stage of the legislative process in the House.
The Trudeau government has repeatedly signaled over the past few days that it wants to see the legislative piece move through more quickly than is currently the case, before the summer parliamentary break scheduled to begin on June 23. He accused the Conservatives – through the mouths of Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, among others – of obstructing this file, which is considered a priority.
“The Conservatives are in bad faith on Bill C-11. A deputy even said that the “bill must die a thousand times”, once again supported Mr. Rodriguez on Monday in a written statement sent by his office.
The Minister is referring to comments made by the elected Rachael Thomas because she believes, like her Conservative colleagues, that the bill would hinder platform users in the content they can share.
The Liberals claim that this is “misinformation” and that the Conservatives have refused to really consider amendments to improve the bill. They argue that the official opposition instead played tactics to make the C-11 stand still in committee.
The motion adopted Monday evening to end the “filibuster” states that the Heritage Committee should begin its clause-by-clause study “no later than June 14, 2022 at 11:59 a.m.” and complete it by a deadline falling the same day, at 21h.
“If the Committee has not completed its study […]all remaining amendments submitted to the Committee (shall) be deemed moved and the Chair shall put(s) to the vote immediately and successively, without further debate, all remaining clauses and amendments submitted, together with any questions necessary to dispose of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill,” reads the text of the motion.
The motion also includes provisions for prompt C-11 to be voted on by the full House, the final step in getting the bill to the Senate.
The Liberals’ offensive angered the Conservatives. In particular, they expressed their indignation when, on Monday afternoon, Justin Trudeau’s troops succeeded in cutting short the debate on the hated motion, thus taking a first step towards their objective.
“Even if I tried, I could not invent (such a thing) and yet this is what the government is doing,” protested John Nater, who is vice-chairman of the Heritage Committee.
In his opinion, Canadians do not understand the rush of the Liberals. “(This motion) will force, clause by clause, changes to the Broadcasting Act for the first time in three decades without a word of debate,” he continued.
The liberal Randy Boissonnault rather launched that it was necessary “to return to see the figures”. “(There were) 15 hours of debate at second reading, 21 hours of debate in committee and seven where the Conservatives made filibusting “, he said.
The New Democrats also believe that the Conservatives have blocked this file. Their house leader, Peter Julian, accused them of blocking amendments to Bill C-11. “It’s vitally important. This is our job: we take bills and make them better,” he insisted.
The Bloc, who opposed the use of a “gag order”, believe for their part that the Liberals have also slowed down the debate on the subject of the modernization of the Broadcasting Act and cannot claim to be white as snow. Their deputy parliamentary leader, Christine Normandin, recalled that the previous version of C-11, C-10, died on the order paper when the Liberals asked for the dissolution of the House to embark on an election campaign.
“If we hadn’t had the House closed because of an election, we probably would have managed to settle (the question) and get (the bill) through the Senate and get it passed. So all the time we lost from June to February is a lot more than the time the Conservatives made us lose in the House, ”she pleaded.
Moreover, she argued that imposing the “gag” for C-11 does not allow its adoption by the Upper House before next fall. “The file will not come out of the Senate in time since there will only be a few days left in the Senate to sit. »
Asked whether the Liberals would pressure senators to give their stamp of approval at full speed, Mr. Rodriguez assured in his written statement that this was not the case. “I have been meeting and listening to senators for months, and they want a full study of the bill. The Senate must be able to take the time it needs to study it,” he concluded.