(Ottawa) The Conservative Party urges the Trudeau government to refer Bill C-11, which aims to modernize the Broadcasting Act, to parliamentary committee in order to examine Quebec’s request to include a mandatory consultation mechanism of the province to ensure that the CRTC protects Quebec’s cultural specificity.
The Press revealed on Monday that Quebec’s Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, sent a three-page letter about the matter to Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez just as elected officials in Ottawa are essentially undertaking the final stages of the study. of Bill C-11.
In this letter dated February 4, Minister Lacombe argued that there are serious flaws in the current version of the bill. First and foremost, the absence of a formal consultation mechanism from the Quebec government before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) adopts regulations affecting digital platforms.
“It is essential, both in Bill C-11 and during its implementation by the CRTC, that the cultural specificity of Quebec and the specific reality of the French-language market be adequately considered. In this regard, I reiterate our demand that a mandatory and official consultation mechanism of the Government of Quebec be provided for in the Act for this purpose,” Minister Lacombe wrote.
In addition to modernizing the Broadcasting Act, Bill C-11 aims to update Canada’s broadcasting rules to incorporate the market presence of online streaming giants such as YouTube, Netflix and Spotify. This reform would require them to contribute Canadian content and make it available to users in the country – under penalty of heavy penalties.
In the Commons on Tuesday, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus and his colleague Gérard Deltell in turn questioned Minister Rodriguez on this subject, urging him to study “the legitimate request” of Quebec.
“The government of Quebec urges the Liberal government to include in Bill C-11 a mandatory consultation mechanism with Quebec to ensure the protection of Quebec culture. […] Do the Prime Minister and the Bloc agree with Minister Lacombe regarding Quebec culture and that the government should send the bill to parliamentary committee? asked MP Pierre Paul-Hus.
“We collaborate extremely well with the Government of Quebec on the cultural file and on many other files elsewhere. The Bloc Québécois, the NDP and the Liberal Party understand the importance of culture. They understand the importance of asking streaming services, like Netflix and Disney, which we love so much, to contribute to Canadian culture,” replied the Minister of Heritage.
“There is a party that has decided to abandon the culture sector, that has decided to abandon our actors, our creators, our producers and our directors. He decided for a moment to abandon all those who produce the best in the world. That party is the Conservatives,” he added.
” How does a member from Quebec, a minister from Quebec refuse to listen to the demands of the Government of Quebec? I understand that Bill C-11 is a centralizing bill that gives more power to the federal government in Ottawa. This is happening with the complicity of the Bloc Québécois, which I should now call the centralizing bloc,” railed MP Gérard Deltell.
Mr. Rodriguez accused the Conservative Party of wanting to delay the passage of the bill again. He indicated that he will meet Minister Lacombe this weekend.
In Quebec, meanwhile, the National Assembly passed a unanimous motion demanding the creation of this consultation mechanism. Failing this, Quebec “will continue to apply, in its fields of jurisdiction, the laws democratically passed by the National Assembly” and “will use all the tools at its disposal to continue to protect its language, its culture and its identify. »
In his letter, Minister Lacombe argued that Quebec “must always have a say before instructions are given to the CRTC to guide its action under this law when its interventions are likely to affect companies offering services to the Quebec or to have an impact on the Quebec market. We consider it essential to have a say in these instructions, since Quebec is the home of the French language and of the French-speaking culture in America,” he argued.
Minister Lacombe also expressed concern about the scope of an amendment to the bill passed by the Senate. According to him, this amendment does not ensure that online businesses are subject to Quebec laws regarding the status of the artist. This amendment absolutely needs to be clarified.