For the last four years, the Guild has worked with government to modernize the rules for our broadcasting system – bringing global streaming services into the fold and bringing massive new investment in original Canadian programming with them.

After all our efforts, legislation to overhaul the Broadcasting Act (“C-10”) is now getting closer to the finish line and the Guild fully supports this, but those who oppose public support for the cultural sector are making a last ditch effort to attack C-10 using false and deeply misleading arguments. Media outlets like the National Post, The Sun and former Harper-era appointee to the CRTC Peter Menzies have claimed this legislation is an attack on free speech.

I want to reassure you that this is absolutely not the case – and, as excellent articles in Playback and Le Devoir spelled out in detail this week, both the history and text of the Bill make this perfectly clear.

A brief explanation of that history:

The original draft of Bill C-10 contained a clause (“4.1”) exempting social media and user-generated content platforms from the scope of the law altogether. Leaders in the Canadian music industry pointed out this could be problematic. Many platforms, like YouTube, are hybrids offering both user-generated content and commercial content such as music videos – and paying substandard royalties to artists for the use of that content.

To resolve this issue, the Heritage Committee in charge of reviewing the Bill voted to remove this clause while leaving in place other protections for user-generated content and free speech. Opponents of the Bill seized on this change, making wild claims that this meant the government would now step in to regulate every post made on the internet. But that argument ignores several key facts.

First, the CRTC and the Federal government are both subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, having no power to make regulations that violate free speech rights, and neither the CRTC, nor the government, has given any indication they want to use this Bill to get into the business of content moderation. That’s simply not the government’s intent.

Second, Bill C-10 contains a second clause (“2.1”) explicitly exempting user-generated content. In other words, under the new Act, the platforms themselves may be required to invest in Canadian programming, but content posted by users is exempt from the law entirely.

Third, the entire Broadcasting Act only applies to a service when that service is engaged in broadcasting – those cases where a platform is commissioning and posting commercial content produced by either themselves or one of their agents or partners. Since the Act only applies to these platforms when they are acting as broadcasters, the law could never be used to force platforms to regulate content from individual users.

As if all these protections weren’t enough, the government has announced they will now bring forward yet another amendment clarifying this language further. Bottom line, it’s simply not the intent of this Bill to regulate free speech and the Guild is happy to work with our industry partners to make that irrefutably clear.

For four years now, we have all worked to ensure the future of Canadian storytelling is secured as we journey into a new digital and global era for our industry, artists, creators and craftspeople. Liberal, NDP and Bloc Members of Parliament remain committed to passing Bill C-10 and doing just that. Your Guild and our staff remain vigilant in ensuring your voice is heard in this process.

As always, I thank you all for your confidence and support as we push ahead.

Warren P. Sonoda
DGC National President