Parliamentary Speeches

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I think you will find consent to adopt it on division.

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House and debate legislation. It is unfortunate that we have to do it under the guillotine of a guillotine motion whereby all stages were time limited and Canadians did not have the opportunity to fully engage on this piece of legislation. I would remind the House that this is the first major update to the Broadcasting Act in over 30 years, and…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have been shaken by reports of Hockey Canada's involvement in alleged sexual assaults and cover-ups. Hockey Canada is an organization that received $8.3 million from the federal government last year and paid no income tax, despite having a surplus of $13.2 million. What action has the government taken to ensure sports organizations receiving federal funds, grants and contrib…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, the 20 hours we proposed represent the minimum amount of time for hearing from witnesses in committee. While witnesses were appearing, we heard from cultural groups, organizations and broadcasters who had concerns about this bill and who wanted to go before the committee to be heard and provide information in that regard. The Conservatives had 20 witnesses who wanted to appear, but …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I am standing up for cultural workers. I am standing up for those digital-first creators who have found success through online means, who have found success here in Canada and around the world because they have used new technologies. We strongly believe in updating the Broadcasting Act to bring it into the 21st century, but we should not and ought not do that at the expense of those…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded division.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I heard the member talk about levelling the playing field. Would he agree that one way to level the playing field would be to eliminate class 2 licence fees?

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is one of those rare occasions, and perhaps not so rare, when the blues and the Greens are on the same page on something, and it is on section 4.2. The member mentioned in his comments the ambitious versus less ambitious amendment. I want to talk about the less ambitious amendment that would take out indirect revenue and the impact that would have on at least ensuring that those …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I want to give the member for Brampton Centre a couple of seconds to sit down and maybe collect his thoughts, because he might be reading the wrong speech from the department. It does not seem to be relevant to Bill C-11. I enjoy the walk down sports history lane, but I do not see the relevance to Bill C-11. Perhaps the department gave him the wrong speech.

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I did call out just to correct the member about the Conservatives' strong position on this matter, and its strong principles—

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his sports analogies. I am not sure how they are relevant to Bill C-11, since sports are actually not entirely captured in Bill C-11, since Canadian broadcasters use sporting commentary to fulfill their CanCon requirements, but since he is on sports, I wonder if he would join me in condemning Hockey Canada for failing to disclose, four years ago, a sexu…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, if we want to talk about the king of filibusters, it is the member for Winnipeg North. Let us be very clear. In the last election platform, the Conservative Party committed to updating the Broadcasting Act and ensuring that foreign web giants paid their fair share in Canada, but we also made the commitment that we would do so by respecting digital-first creators and by ensuring that…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals do not want to hear the truth, but the truth is that Conservatives are the ones standing up for digital-first creators. It is Conservatives who are standing up for free expression online so that new technology and new experiences can be used and explored, not only here in Canada but can find success around the globe. In the dead of night, the Liberals pushed through amend…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Canada's Conservatives will always stand up for our arts and culture sector, but in the dead of night, the Liberals rammed through dozens of amendments to Bill C-11 without debate or explanation. In fact, the Liberal chair of the committee would not even allow Canadians to know what was being voted on. Not one amendment to clearly exclude user-generated content was approved. Canadian—

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to present a petition signed by a number of constituents in my riding of Perth—Wellington, namely from the city of Stratford, on the important issue of the right to repair.

Routine Proceedings

With regard to Canadian military equipment and other government assets left behind in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in 2021: (a) what is the total estimated value of the equipment left behind; and (b) what is the breakdown of the equipment left behind, including the (i) description, (ii) volume, (iii) value of each item left behind?

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we would request a recorded division.

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, there is a dull rumble in the room because everyone is so outraged about this motion that they cannot constrain themselves, given the concern they have. Folks at home might have read the newspaper over the weekend and wondered why there is a rush with this programming motion. The Minister of Canadian Heritage himself said that he was not going to force it through the Senate and that…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would ask the minister why his government is blocking the release of the policy directive that they will issue to the CRTC. We are waiting to hearing how the Liberal government will force the CRTC to implement the measures contained in Bill C-11. I note that on Friday the minister said he would not rush this through the Senate in order to allow the Senate lots of time to debate it…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, the member for South Shore—St. Margarets is absolutely right. Right there in black and white, it states that direct or indirect revenue could be captured by the CRTC. When we are talking about indirect revenue, it encompasses all of those aspects, whether it is a brand deal with a supplier, direct advertising on the video itself or indirect advertising by the site itself. That has t…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, the fact is that section 4.2 is a legislative pretzel. It is an exception to the exception. What we want to see is a clear prohibition on regulating user-generated content with respect to those digital-first creators who want to exceed and excel. Therefore, when we get to committee—and obviously the government is going to try to force that—we will be looking for clarification and fo…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, let me say what the Conservatives would have done. We would have done what we promised in our election platform. We would have updated the Broadcasting Act, while also respecting digital-first creators and those Canadians who want to excel here at home and around the world. We would have worked with the creative industry, including and especially those who are using new technologies…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, that is the question: why? Why would the government not just be open and transparent and release the policy directive? Bill C-11 would provide the CRTC with a significant of regulatory authority, but without the direction from the government, we do not know how the CRTC will interpret that regulatory authority, and we will not know until after we have already been forced to vote on …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I encourage the member to join us at the heritage committee so she could hear from different members of the creative industry and from different representatives, such as IATSE, who have strongly talked about changing the rules so that more Canadian production can occur here in Canada. We mentioned The Handmaid's Tale, but let us talk about The Umbrella Academy with the great Colm Fe…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, in fact I cannot find another example in recent memory when a bill of this magnitude and of such consequence was pushed through at committee stage, through clause-by-clause consideration, through amendments, through report stage and through third reading, all on time allocation at each and every stage. In fact, I would note that in the motion, any amendments brought by that member o…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, here we are with a closure motion on a motion to time-allocate this bill. The closure motion on Motion No. 16 is a guillotine motion on a guillotine motion. We are debating today a motion that would constrain debate at committee stage. It is a motion that would force us through clause-by-clause study and amendments without a word of debate on a bill to amend the Broadcasting Act for…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I want to open by sharing a quote, which states: We need to discuss why the government does not listen at committee stage to anything anyone says. It does not accept any amendments from anyone at all, and then it complains that the opposition refuses to allow public consultation. The quote goes on to say: We are absolutely not opposed, but we think we should listen to experts and to p…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, the NDP House leader knows full well that it was the Conservatives who originally moved the motion to hear from Hockey Canada. The record must reflect that.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the member for Northumberland—Peterborough South says there cannot be more, but there is more, unfortunately. The government has tools available to it in the House to force through legislation. On motions it can use what is called closure, and on pieces of legislation it can use time allocation. That is the traditional process. If Bill C-11 were to be reported back to the House and th…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it is shameful abuse. We as parliamentarians owe it to our constituents, our stakeholders and Canadians from coast to coast to do our due diligence, evaluate amendments, debate amendments and ensure the amendments being proposed achieve what is in the best interests of Canadian creators, Canadian viewers and Canadian consumers. Could members do that, with dozens of amendments and doze…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, my friend from South Shore—St. Margarets asks what they are afraid of. The problem is that they are afraid of Canadians. They are afraid of the viewpoints and considerations of Canadians. They are afraid of hearing more testimony from stakeholders. In the last couple of days alone, we have had requests from dozens of stakeholders, organizations, individuals and businesses that would b…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, first I want to correct the record and confirm that the Conservative Party, as of last Friday, has submitted a number of amendments to the committee clerk for the purposes of this legislation, but we are not done. We have not finalized all of our amendments because we have not finalized the review of this piece of legislation. We have made very clear publicly, and did so in a release,…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is great to see you in the Chair. You are doing a fine job. The member just asked that we vote and get this done. My question to her is this. Why is she currently filibustering this motion? The House leader of the opposition moved this motion, spoke for about four minutes and hoped that we could have a vote on it. What the government members are now doing is filibustering the motio…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I just want the record to reflect that the member for Ottawa—Vanier just introduced a guillotine motion on a guillotine motion.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point or order. I would draw your attention to paragraph 489 of Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms, sixth edition, as well as page 3760 of Debates, February 18, 1970, concerning the unparliamentary language used in this place. Immediately prior to this vote, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, in reference to the member for Windsor West, on two separate occ…

Mr. Speaker, in response to your ruling, I will take your advice. By unanimous consent, I seek that notwithstanding any standing order, a question to the spokesperson for the Board of Internal Economy may be raised during the proceedings, pursuant to Standing Order 38, and a spokesperson for the board who is not a minister of the Crown or a parliamentary secretary may give the response during thos…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, what Conservatives know is that we will always stand up for our creative industries and fight on their behalf, so we can see Canadian creators succeed here at home and around the globe. Yesterday at committee, communications expert Monica Auer said, “gaps in Bill C-11 will make current serious problems with the CRTC's transparency, accountability and timing even worse” and “court chal…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives care about Canadian creators, but the Liberals continue to ignore the negative impacts of Bill C-11. This morning, digital creator and 47-year-old skateboarding mom Oorbee Roy told this to the committee: “not only does this bill not help me; it hurts me and actively undermines my needs.... I literally have never gotten a seat at the table, except now. As a digital cr…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I am disappointed because my colleagues and I were looking forward to debating this piece of legislation. So far, the only Conservative member to speak to it has been me, which is unfortunate. To my colleague, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, it is obviously a forgone conclusion that this bill will be passed and time allocation will be guillotined on this bill. I want a clear comm…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I rise today on a question of privilege concerning the refusal of my request for Adjournment Proceedings, or a late show, concerning my question pursuant to Standing Order 37(2) to a spokesperson for the Board of Internal Economy during the May 16 question period. On the afternoon of May 16, I followed the provisions of Standing Order 37(3), which states, “A member who is not satisf…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, we can support the cultural sector by taking user-generated content out of this bill and letting Canadian creators thrive here at home and internationally. The Liberals claim that user-generated content will not be included in Bill C-11, yet the chair of the CRTC contradicted the government and said that it would and that it could regulate user-generated content. We still have not see…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, last week, Morghan Fortier, creator of Canada's most-watched YouTube channel, appeared before the heritage committee, and had this to say about Bill C-11: It's been written by those who don't understand the industry they're attempting to regulate....worst of all, section 4.2 hands sweeping power to the CRTC to regulate the Internet use of everyday Canadians and small businesses. This …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we request a recorded division.

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, for the record, in response to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, as the shadow minister responsible for Bill C-18, I was not consulted on time allocation for this bill.

Routine Proceedings

moved for leave to introduce Bill S-227, An Act to establish Food Day in Canada. Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House today to introduce at first reading Bill S-227, an act to establish food day in Canada. I am very proud to sponsor this initiative, which would formally establish food day in Canada on the Saturday before the first Monday in August, making it fall on a Saturday on whic…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 37(2), my question is for the spokesperson for the Board of Internal Economy: the member for Red Deer—Lacombe. Last fall, a question of privilege was raised in the House about troubling allegations of Liberal partisanship by the Clerk of the House, benefiting the government with insider tips and helpful arrangements. The Chair ruled that the Board of Interna…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I think the preference of our side would have been to draft our own piece of legislation if we were in government, but that is not the case. The next best scenario is this type of amendment. As the member ought to know, as she has been in the House a long time, there are very few amendments that are acceptable at second reading debate. This particular amendment is one of the few that …

Government Orders

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for clarifying her point, because I do worry that the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan is now just going to stand in his place for the entirety of today's debate. I just worry that his legs are going to get sore from standing that long.

Statements By Members

Mr. Speaker, there are those in our country who measure their days in acres rather than hours. With the spring planting season upon us, farmers in Perth—Wellington and across Canada are on the land, growing the food that will quite literally feed our country. Agriculture is always an unpredictable business, with so many variables that all impact a farmer’s bottom line and their hopes to be in the …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it certainly is an honour to rise in the House today to debate Bill C-18, the online news act. I did not get a chance to ask the parliamentary secretary for Canadian heritage a question. He spoke a lot in his speech about the online tech giants, the Facebooks and Googles of the world, gobbling up advertising revenue and leaving small local newspapers without the same access to revenue…