43rd Parliament289Closed upon dissolutionAugust 15, 2021e-2418e-2418 (Media and telecommunications)MarkJeftovicHon.MichaelChongWellington—Halton HillsConservativeONFebruary 6, 2020, at 4:13 p.m. (EDT)June 5, 2020, at 4:13 p.m. (EDT)June 5, 2020Petition to the <Addressee type="3" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">Government of Canada</Addressee>Whereas:Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication, are fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the foundation of a free and democratic society;On January 29, 2020, the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel (BTLR) submitted its final Report, Canada’s communications future: Time to act, to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, and the Minister of Heritage, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, that contains 97 recommendations “on modernizing the legislation governing Canada’s communications sector”;Many of the recommendations propose that the Government of Canada regulate free speech, free expression and the free press on the internet;Many of the recommendations propose that the Government of Canada regulate all media content on the internet, both domestic and foreign, including audio, audiovisual and news content; broadcasters and streaming services such as Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime; content aggregators such as Yahoo News; and sharing platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and others; andThese recommendations, if adopted by the Government of Canada, could lead to the largest regulation, and restriction, of free speech, free expression and the free press in Canadian history.We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to Reject the recommendations regarding the legislation and regulation of free speech, free expression and the free press made by the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel’s final Report, Canada’s communications future: Time to act.Freedom of speechFreedom of the pressMedia and the press43rd Parliament223Government response tabledSeptember 24, 2020e-2464e-2464 (Media and telecommunications)MargaretOrmrodHon.HedyFryVancouver CentreLiberalBCMarch 18, 2020, at 3:36 p.m. (EDT)April 17, 2020, at 3:36 p.m. (EDT)June 17, 2020September 24, 2020April 21, 2020Petition to the <Addressee type="2" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">House of Commons in Parliament assembled</Addressee>Whereas:Canada’s largest newspaper chain is owned mostly by U.S. hedge funds which did a legal end run around our foreign ownership limits;They were then allowed to take over our second-largest chain;Postmedia Network thus owns 15 of Canada’s 21 largest dailies, including eight of the nine largest in our three westernmost provinces;Federal enquiries going back 50 years warned Canadians about the dangers of growing media ownership concentration, including Reports of the Special Senate Committee on Mass Media (1970), the Royal Commission on Newspapers (1981), the Senate Committee on News Media (2006), and the Heritage Committee on Media and Local Communities (2017); All these reports urged measures to check concentration and then newspaper-television “convergence,” but few were taken;By 2010, convergence left our news media in ruins; we are now bailing out big media; As Marc Edge noted in his recent book "The News We Deserve", their pages have been stripped of local news and filled instead with corporate and political propaganda;In 2015, Postmedia merged the newsrooms of its duopoly dailies in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa despite promising not to; and Assistance to news media outlets of $595 million was provided in the 2019 federal budget.We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to use our tax dollars to foster a more pluralistic Canadian news media by providing subsidies only to Canadian-owned publications, as a free and diverse press is essential to a healthy democracy.
Response by the Minister of Canadian Heritage Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Julie DabrusinThe Government would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their concerns regarding federal support for Canadian news media organizations. A robust, independent news sector that consists of a plurality of voices is a foundational pillar of our democracy.   Financial pressures facing news media in Canada, and indeed globally, have been mounting for years.  In an online world where free content is readily available and advertisers have an abundance of options, monetizing original content is an unprecedented challenge.  Since 2008 for example, advertising in the newspaper industry has decreased from $3.9 billion to $1.6 billion: a 59% decline.  The result of these pressures has been layoffs, closures and consolidation, all in an effort to both manage costs and remain competitive against much larger digital organizations. According to the Local News Research Project, 279 local media outlets have closed since 2008 and an additional 144 have either merged, reduced frequency or reduced service. Despite these challenges, newspapers continue to produce a substantial proportion of original reporting, content that is later reproduced or discussed by other news organizations. In light of this, the Government has developed a number of measures to aid Canadian news media.  For example, the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) is a program that provides direct support to Canadian paid print magazines, print non-daily newspapers and digital periodicals to enable them to overcome market disadvantages and continue to provide Canadian readers with the content they choose to read.  Each year, the CPF provides over $15 million to over 300 non-daily newspapers. In Budget 2018, the Government announced the creation of the Local Journalism Initiative, a program that is providing $50 million over five years to support the hiring of journalists so that they may produce original reporting for underserved communities across the country.  Budget 2019 went further still by announcing three additional actions to support Canadian journalism: enabling news organizations to become qualified donees and issue tax receipts; introducing a refundable labour tax credit on journalist salaries; and, establishing a temporary tax credit for subscriptions to Canadian digital media. These measures; which are estimated to cost $595 million over five years, will foster a sustainable, pluralistic media ecosystem. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges that span the global economy and Canadian news outlets are not insulated from this pressure; in this context, support is perhaps more important now than ever. To this end, the Government has announced an additional $500 million in emergency support funding for heritage, cultural and sport organizations. In recognition of the vital role non-daily newspapers and periodicals serve for communities across the country, approximately $63.7 million has been earmarked for the Canada Periodical Fund to provide emergency relief support to Canadian magazines and community newspapers. The Government recognizes the Canadian news media’s essential role in maintaining a healthy democracy, especially in this time where information is vital to all Canadians. As the news media landscape continues to evolve, the Government will continue to provide support while safeguarding the fundamental principal of press independence thus ensuring Canadians have access to reliable information from diverse, trustworthy sources.   
Canadian companiesGovernment assistanceMedia and the press
43rd Parliament229Not certifiedApril 2, 2020e-2335e-2335 (Media and telecommunications)AaronGrimArnoldViersenPeace River—WestlockConservativeABFebruary 24, 2020, at 3:36 p.m. (EDT)March 25, 2020, at 3:36 p.m. (EDT)April 2, 2020Petition to the <Addressee type="2" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">House of Commons in Parliament assembled</Addressee>Whereas:The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is paid approximately $1.2 billion of taxpayer money annually and had a loss of 14.5% in 2018-2019, while the Government of Canada has spent $15 billion per year more than promised in 2015, and while 50% of Canadian families are $200 away from insolvency;The CBC is vulnerable to lawsuits, such as the $2.5 million paid to Dr. Leenan in 2000, especially after attempting to sue the Conservative Party in 2019, for which the taxpayer is liable;The CBC does not reflect the identity and consciousness of its national audience, nor does the CBC adequately promote Canadian content, as in its mandate;The CBC is politically biased and was proven so during the 2019 federal election when the CBC sued the Conservative Party of Canada for using media approved for use by government policies; Ralf Kiefel, a former CBC director, quoted “If left unchecked, [the CBC] can develop biases”; andThe Liberal government promised $600 million to fund only select media companies right before the 2019 federal election, which could only lead to political bias and was motivated by the fact that it would create a political advantage for the Liberal Party of Canada.We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to listen to the request of the people that all funding of media companies in Canada, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, immediately be stopped, and that media companies be given no further public funding whatsoever.Canadian Broadcasting CorporationGovernment assistanceMedia and the press