Senate showdown ahead? Minister rejects some Bill C-11 amendments

After taking weeks to consider the Senate’s changes to the Liberals’ contentious online streaming legislation known as Bill C-11, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has confirmed he’s rejecting several of the amendments made.

While the Liberals are poised to accept the majority of legislative adjustments made in the upper chamber during its longest-ever study of a piece of government legislation, they are turning down a few of the Senate’s more consequential changes and suggesting further tweaks to others.

This means Bill C-11 may be heading for a legislative showdown.

The long-languishing legislation is aimed at substantively updating Canada’s Broadcasting Act regime for the first time since 1991, to ensure social media and streaming giants like TikTok and Netflix are subjected to Canadian content requirements and regulations comparable to traditional broadcasters.

While many in the “CanCon” music, film and television industries are backing the proposal, Bill C-11 has been the subject of heavy scrutiny from industry stakeholders, content creators and opposition MPs who fear it will result in censoring what content gets seen online.

In a message sent to the Senate, Rodriguez outlined which of the 26 amendments to 12 clauses the Liberals will be allowing. The federal government’s response is set to be debated by MPs in the House of Commons later on Wednesday.

If the take-some-and-leave-some approach is accepted, Bill C-11 will pass and soon become law, allowing the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to get to work on implementing the coinciding regulatory changes granting that body new powers.

But, should the Senate seek to stand its ground on certain changes, the amendments may become subject of procedural ping-pong between the two chambers.

“I want to thank the senators for all their work on this very important bill,” Rodriguez told reporters on Wednesday. “This is a bill that spent the most time in the Senate in the history of Canada… There’s been lots of debate.”

“And we’re accepting a vast majority of the Senate amendments but some that could create a loophole, we’re not accepting,” the minister said.

Among the Senate changes being turned down—or “respectfully” disagreed with, per the official notice provided to Parliament—is the attempt from senators to impose age-verification methods on certain content, to prevent children from accessing material online that is “devoted to depicting, for a sexual purpose, explicit sexual activity.”

Rodriguez said this proposal is being passed over because it “seeks to legislate matters in the broadcasting system that are beyond the policy intent of the bill.”

This was also the reason given for turning down a Senate amendment seeking to change the way the CBC handles advertising content, an issue the minister said requires “further study… on how best to position our national public broadcaster to meet the needs and expectations of Canadians.”

Another amendment hitting the cutting room floor was aimed at further instilling protections for user-generated content.

This change was brought forward by senators after numerous witnesses expressed concerns that the new Canadian content requirements would have knock-on effects for content posted on platforms such as YouTube by individual creators, something the Liberals continue to deny.

This change is being declined, Rodriguez said, because it would impact the government’s ability to “publicly consult on, and issue, a policy direction to the CRTC to appropriately scope the regulation of social media services.”

Other amendments are being rejected due to Liberal concerns that they would cause “interpretative issues,” or could impact the CRTC’s ability to impose conditions around the diversity of programming and what is considered Canadian content.

As for what changes the House is willing to accept, the Liberals are backing efforts from the Senate to ensure platforms are mindful of promoting and reflecting diversity, including Indigenous languages, and instilling protections around the new category of online broadcasts referred to in the bill as “undertakings.” 

Asked whether he’s bracing for the federal government’s response to the Senate changes to spark a stand-off, Government House Leader Mark Holland said no, because the Liberals’ approach has the backing of the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP, and because there’s been productive dialogue with the Senate.

“We’re dedicated to passing this legislation, so I think you’ll see very broad support from the elected House on this legislation… And I’m very confident that the Senate will accept our verdict.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh affirmed his party’s support for Bill C-11 on Wednesday, suggesting the Conservatives are siding with tech giants who are trying to get out of paying their fair share.

“Web giants don’t contribute to Canadian culture, don’t pay into a fund to support local Canadian artists, musicians, movies, films, culture in general. And we think that’s unfair… and we stand by our position that they should they should also be contributing their fair share,” he told reporters on Parliament Hill. 

The Official Opposition Conservatives remain adamantly opposed to Bill C-11. In anticipation that the legislation is near passage, Conservative MPs have been ramping up their social media campaigns imploring supporters to call their MPs and tell them to “kill Bill C-11.”

In presenting the amendments made by the Senate Transport and Communications Committee, chair and Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos said the changes made all improved Bill C-11 but “there remained many concerns.”

He echoed this in his initial reaction to Rodriguez’ rejections in a tweet on Wednesday, pointing to analysis by Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa law professor and the Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law who said the Liberals’ approach “reveals its true intent: retain power to regulate user content.”

“Bang on,” Housakos said. 

Reacting to Rodriguez’ mixed response to the Senate changes, advocacy group for Canadian content creators Digital First Canada called it a “slap in the face to the creators who spoke up and participated in this process, and to the senators who recognized these creators as the future of Canada’s digital economy.”

In a statement, Digital First Canada director Scott Benzie called for MPs to push back and save the Senate amendment regarding user-generated content to protect digital creators’ businesses.

“It’s shocking that the Senate’s sober second thought was dismissed, and that the government continues to act as though digital creators are not legitimate artists and entrepreneurs. But the voices of creators and their communities will not be ignored. We aren’t going anywhere – and this government and legacy media are just going to have to get used to it,” he said. 

Looks like the Gov’t response to Bill C-11 online streaming Senate amendments will be debated in HoC today. As anticipated the Libs taking some but not all of the upper chamber’s changes. Here’s the changes made: and here’s how the Libs are responding. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/NAMlqGtUsv

— Rachel Aiello (@rachaiello) March 8, 2023