QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Canadian Heritage
Online News Act
December 6, 2023
Welcome to the Senate, minister.
I want to follow up on the agreement you reached with Google for $100 million. Of course, this is important to the Canadian media, and it’s important to the public to have access to news on this platform.
In reaching the agreement, I would like to ask you what is left of the Online News Act. For example, what is the status of the exemption requirements that are articulated in the act, such as fair compensation to news outlets, support for non-profit and for‑profit sectors and Indigenous news outlets and so on? What is left of these requirements and these conditions? How do they apply in this environment? Given the deal you have reached with Google, what is the status of them? Does Google have to negotiate with individual organizations with these conditions in mind?
Let me begin by pointing out that what we discussed with Google was not about the agreement that will bind Google and the Canadian media collective, but rather about how we would use regulations to answer the questions and legitimate concerns that Google had.
For example, Google wanted to have some predictability relative to the amount it would have to pay the industry to meet the exemption criteria. That was one of the issues. The other was knowing exactly with whom it would have to negotiate.
When Google publicly commented on the regulations, the media said that its questions were legitimate and urged the government to find solutions through the regulations. That’s what we did.
The financial aspect, that is, the $100 million that will be indexed annually, will be included in the regulations. In addition, we authorized another way to negotiate with the media, specifically under a single collective, rather than several. These are the two accommodations we made, but the rest must be negotiated between Google and the media collective.
So there are negotiations anticipated between Google and individual organizations?
Actually, negotiations will take place through a media collective, which will have to represent all media outlets that are eligible under the act and that put their hands up to say that yes, they want an agreement with Google. The media collective will then have to negotiate, including on the additional non-financial services provided by Google for the media and on other aspects, such as the duration of the mandate, redistribution, and so on.
Honourable senators, the time for Question Period has expired. I’m certain you will join me in thanking Minister St-Onge for joining us today.
We will now resume the proceedings that were interrupted at the beginning of Question Period. Thank you, Minister.
