QUESTION PERIOD — Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Business of the Committee
June 14, 2023
My question is for the Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration. Madam Chair, the committee decided to end its contract with the Library of Parliament for the daily media review sent to senators. I understand that a contract has been signed with Critical Mention to have this company conduct a pilot project for the same media review service for senators.
Until now, it has been impossible to include in the media review a significant number of articles from local or community media interested in the work of the Senate and senators. In the reply I have been receiving for years, I was told, among other things, that there were technical issues related to the fact that the Library of Parliament did not have the required copyright licences.
It is important for the Senate to not rely solely on the media it has traditionally consulted and to look to new information media. Now that the Senate has taken back this responsibility, can you confirm that the committee you chair will ensure that this company will reach local and community media in all regions of Canada?
Thank you for the question, Senator Dupuis. You referred to Critical Mention, whose services are now used by the Senate’s communications service. What I can do is to take your request one step further to determine whether we can extend coverage of the media review to all regions of Canada. There was a challenge with access, but we can see how far we can go with this research, and then try to further accommodate all the senators from the regions.
I have a supplementary question. There is a list of recognized community media for every region of Quebec on the Government of Quebec site. It is possible that similar lists exist in the other provinces and territories. Will the committee follow up with the company selected to ensure the media services in order to check whether these communication tools are available elsewhere in the country?
Thank you for the supplementary question. Thank you for your suggestions. I will bring them to the attention of the communications service to ask it to expand access and check capabilities. I will then come back to you with an answer. I sincerely thank you for the question.
