Wednesday, June 14, 2023

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

SIXTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-18, An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada, has, in obedience to the order of reference of April 18, 2023, examined the said bill and now reports the same with the following amendments:

1.Clause 2, page 2:

(a)Replace lines 8 and 9 with the following:

“distinct part of an undertaking whose primary purpose is to produce news”;

(b)replace line 28 with the following:

“news outlet makes available”;

(c)replace lines 32 to 34 with the following:

“of an undertaking whose primary purpose is to produce news content and includes an Indigenous news outlet or an official language minority community news outlet. (média d’informa-”; and

(d)add the following after line 35:

“official language minority community means English-speaking communities in Quebec and French-speaking communities outside Quebec. (communauté de langue officielle en situation minoritaire)

official language minority community news outlet means an undertaking or any distinct part of an undertaking whose primary purpose is to produce news content and that produces news content primarily for an official language minority community. (média d’information de communauté de langue officielle en situation minoritaire)”.

2.Clause 11, page 5:

(a)Replace lines 34 to 36 with the following:

“ry, anglophone and francophone communities, and Black and other racialized communities,”; and

(b)replace line 41 with the following:

“Indigenous peoples, and

(viii) they ensure a significant portion of official language minority community news outlets benefit from them and they contribute to the sustainability of those outlets in a way that supports the provision of news content by and for official language minority communities;”.

3.Clause 12, page 6: Replace line 34 with the following:

“out in subparagraphs 11(1)(a)(i) to (viii); and”.

4.Clause 18, page 8: Replace line 20 with the following:

“18 In sections 18.1 to 44, party means, as applicable, an”.

5.New clause 18.1, page 8: Add the following after line 22:

“18.1 The purpose of the bargaining process set out in sections 18 to 44 is to determine the value that each party derives from the news content of an eligible news business being made available by a digital news intermediary and to determine the portion of that value that will be transferred to the eligible news business.”.

6.Clause 27, page 11: Delete lines 31 and 32.

7.Clause 36, page 15:

(a)Replace line 11 with the following:

“36 (1) The Commission may, at the request of an arbitration”; and

(b)replace lines 14 to 22 with the following:

“considers necessary, disclose to the panel any information, including confidential information, in the Commission’s possession that, in the Commission’s opinion, is necessary for a balanced and informed decision-making process, on the condition that the Commission ensures that the arbitration panel or each individual arbitrator that presides over the final offer arbitration does not further disclose any confidential information other than during the arbitration, including by imposing any further terms that the Commission considers necessary.

(2) Each individual arbitrator must take all reasonably necessary measures to ensure that confidential information disclosed to them under subsection (1) is not disclosed other than during the arbitration.

(3) Every individual who contravenes subsection (2) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction,

(a) for a first offence, to a fine of not more than $5,000; and

(b) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not more than $10,000.”.

8.Clause 84, page 35: Replace line 20 with the following:

“subparagraphs 11(1)(a)(i) to (viii);”.

9.Clause 86, page 36: Add the following after line 30:

“(c.01) information relating to the impact of this Act on news outlets that produce news content primarily for diverse populations, including local and regional markets in every province and territory, anglophone and francophone communities and Black and other racialized communities;

(c.02) information relating to the total number of those agreements that involve Indigenous news outlets and to the portion of the commercial value of those agreements that benefits these news outlets;

(c.03) information relating to the total number of those agreements that involve official language minority community news outlets and to the portion of the commercial value of those agreements that benefits these news outlets;”.

10.Clause 93, page 39: Add the following after line 26:

“(6) Despite subsections (1) to (5), any provision of this Act that does not come into force by order before the 180th day following the day on which this Act receives royal assent comes into force 180 days after the day on which this Act receives royal assent.”.

Respectfully submitted,