Wednesday, December 14, 2022

The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications has the honour to present its

THIRD REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, has, in obedience to the order of reference of October 25, 2022, examined the said bill and now reports the same with the following amendments:

1.Clause 2, pages 2 and 4:

(a)On page 2,

(i)replace lines 21 to 27 with the following:

“community element includes the participation of members of the community, through volunteers and a community board selected by members, in the content production of community media in the language of their choice, as well as in the day-to-day operations and administration of not-for-profit community media entities responding to the needs of the community they serve; (élément communautaire)”, and

(ii)replace lines 31 and 32 with the following:

“decision includes a determination made by the Commission in any form; (décision)”; and

(b)on page 4, replace lines 5 and 6 with the following:

“broadcasting undertakings and creators;

(b) the right to privacy of individuals; and

(c) the commitment of the Government of Canada to”.

2.Clause 3, pages 5 to 9:

(a)On page 5,

(i)replace line 1 with the following:

“(3) Subparagraphs 3(1)(d)(iii) and (iv) of the Act are re-”,

(ii)replace line 6 with the following:

“Canadians from Black or other racialized communities and Cana-”,

(iii)replace line 14 with the following:

“ples and languages within that society,”, and

(iv) replace line 46 with the following:

“Black and other racialized communities and the diversity of the”;

(b)on page 6,

(i)replace line 3 with the following:

“carried on by Canadians from Black or other racialized communi-”,

(ii)replace line 6 with the following:

“Black or other racialized communities and diverse ethnocultural”, and

(iii) add the following after line 8:

“(iv) promote innovation and be readily adaptable to scientific and technological change,

(v) reflect and be responsive to the preferences and interests of various audiences, and

(vi) ensure freedom of expression and journalistic independence;”;

(c)on page 7,

(i)replace line 21 with the following:

“of Canadians from Black or other racialized communities and di-”,

(ii)add the following after line 22:

“(ii.2) reflect the importance of Indigenous language revitalization by supporting the production and broadcasting of Indigenous language programming, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action,”, and

(iii)delete lines 30 to 35;

(d)on page 8,

(i)replace line 16 with the following:

“broadcasting system in order to serve Indigenous peoples where they live;” and

(ii)add the following after line 46:

“(r.1) online undertakings shall implement methods such as age-verification methods to prevent children from accessing programs on the Internet that are devoted to depicting, for a sexual purpose, explicit sexual activity;”; and

(e)on page 9, replace lines 18 and 19 with the following:

“the democratic process and support local journalism, and”.

3.Clause 4, page 10: Replace lines 15 to 26 with the following:

“(a) the extent to which a program contains a sound recording that has been assigned a unique identifier under an international standards system;

(b) the fact that the program has been uploaded to an online undertaking that provides a social media service by the owner or the exclusive licensee of the copyright in the sound recording, or an agent of the owner; and

(c) the fact that the program or a significant part of it has been broadcast by a broadcasting undertaking that

(i) is required to be carried on under a licence, or

(ii) is required to be registered with the Commission but does not provide a social media service.”.

4.Clause 5, page 11:

(a)Add the following after line 22:

“(1.1) Paragraph 5(2)(c) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(c) promotes innovation and is readily adaptable to scientific and technological change;”; and

(b)replace lines 36 to 38 with the following:

“ing out “and” at the end of paragraph (f) and by adding the following after paragraph (g):

(g.1) protects the privacy of individuals who are members of the audience for programs broadcast by broadcasting undertakings; and”.

5.Delete clause 7, page 12.

6.Clause 10, page 14: Delete lines 23 to 25.

7.Clause 11, pages 18 and 19:

(a)On page 18, replace lines 29 to 32 with the following:

“(a) whether Canadians, including independent producers, have a right or interest in relation to a program, including copyright, that allows them to control and benefit in a fair”; and

(b)on page 19,

(i)replace lines 4 and 5 with the following:

“right in musical works or in sound recordings; and”, and

(ii)add the following after line 7:

“(1.11) No factor set out in paragraphs (1.1)(a) to (e) is to be determinative of any matter provided for by a regulation made under paragraph (1)(b).”.

8.Clause 14, pages 21 and 22:

(a)On page 21,

(i)replace line 30 with the following:

“ing by broadcasting undertakings;

(b.1) supporting broadcasting undertakings offering programming services that, in the Commission’s opinion, are of exceptional importance to the achievement of the objectives of the broadcasting policy set out in subsection 3(1);”, and

(ii)replace line 34 with the following:

“Act; or

(d) supporting the development of initiatives — including tools — that, in the Commission’s opinion, are efficient and necessary for the achievement of the objectives of the broadcasting policy set out in subsection 3(1).”; and

(b)on page 22,

(i)replace line 2 with the following:

“out in paragraphs (1)(a) to (d).”, and

(ii)replace line 6 with the following:

“cated to Canadian original French language programs in the case of”.

9.Clause 16, page 23:

(a)Replace line 18 with the following:

“16 (1) Paragraph 18(1)(c) of the Act is replaced by”; and

(b)add the following after line 22:

“(2) Subsection 18(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) The Commission shall also hold a public hearing in connection with the following matters unless it is satisfied that such a hearing is not required in the public interest:

(a) the amendment or renewal of a licence;

(b) the making of an order under subsection 9.1(1) or 11.1(2); and

(c) the making of any regulation under this Act.

(2.1) A hearing in connection with a matter referred to in paragraph (2)(b) or (c) shall be held after the proposed order or regulation in question is published.”.

10.Clause 26, page 30: Add the following after line 13:

“(3) The Minister shall cause a copy of all reports published under subsections (1) and (2) to be tabled before each House of Parliament.”.

11.Clause 30, page 40: Add the following after line 20:

“(1.1) Despite subsection (1), the Corporation may not enter into any contract, arrangement or agreement that results in the broadcasting or development of an advertisement or announcement on behalf of an advertiser that is designed to resemble journalistic programming.”.

12.Clause 31.1, page 41: Replace lines 23 to 28 with the following:

“31.1 Subparagraph 6(2)(a)(ii) of the Status of the Artist Act is replaced by the following:

(ii) broadcasting undertakings, regulated under the Broadcasting Act, that are federal works, undertakings or businesses, as defined in section 2 of the Canada Labour Code, or that are corporations established to perform any function or duty on behalf of the Government of Canada;”.

Your committee has also made certain observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

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