44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2022 11:00AM
Madam Speaker, fact: We have had Conservatives in this House who obviously have not even read the bill, as they are comparing it to things like the government following people on cellphones. The disinformation has been unbelievable.
Fact: We had witnesses before the committee, including the chair of the CRTC, who were filibustered by Conservatives so they could not come to testify.
Fact: The majority of witnesses overwhelmingly want to see Bill C-11 pass, but want to see improvements. They want the committee to do its work.
Fact: As we found out last Friday, even the Conservatives have submitted amendments, and the NDP, Liberals and Bloc Québécois submitted their amendments a week and a half ago. The committee should be getting to work.
What I do not understand is that we have two block parties in this House: the Bloc Québécois and the block-everything party. The Conservatives are blocking everything that comes forward.
Why are they doing that when the vast majority of witnesses want to see this bill improved?
180 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, there are good members in the Conservative Party. The member for Perth—Wellington is somebody I respect a great deal. However, the reality is that the Conservatives have been blocking absolutely everything coming through the House, and in committee, they have turned it into bedlam.
The fact is that we could not have the CRTC chair come forward to testify when it was the allotted time for the CRTC to testify because the Conservatives blocked that, as they blocked other witnesses, such as the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
The fact is Conservatives are blocking presenting amendments, which are vitally important. That is our job. We take a bill and we make it better. We can vote it down, of course. The House has the ability to vote down legislation, but the majority of the House decided that this legislation was important. The majority of the witnesses very clearly, in an overwhelming majority, have said the same thing, so it is our job to now improve the legislation.
For the life of me I just cannot understand, and maybe my colleague can give me some enlightenment, why the Conservatives are not doing the right thing.
197 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, the motion we are speaking to here, Motion No. 16, is a limiting fact. We have had closure in the House many times on bills, but for the government to put forward Motion No. 16 for committee work is restrictive in the utmost. It is no wonder there is a majority over there with the Liberals and NDP getting together to try to push this through the way they want to.
My colleague from Saskatoon—Grasswood has made many comments here in the House about the amount of witnesses who have not been heard from yet. He made that point particularly about APTN. I think it is very unconscionable of the government to be putting this motion forward at this time when there is no rush. They have even said it will not pass the Senate before the summer recess. We could still debate this and make sure that all of the witnesses were heard.
I cannot understand it when the minister talks about raising funds. The only way that can be done is if the people of Canada are not happy with it.
187 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, as much as I enjoy his voice and how he delivers so eloquently the point he is trying to make, I do disagree with the member. He speaks of witnesses not being able to be heard in committee. I hope the member does not intend to mislead Canadians. Let me remind the member that it is actually members of his party, the Conservatives, who filibustered at committee for the past 29 hours straight and prevented witnesses such as APTN, which the member mentioned, from actually giving testimony.
Will the member let the committee do its work and stop the filibuster?
102 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I know that, as a member of the heritage committee, my colleague is doing great work there, and as he is a professional artist, I am incredibly honoured to serve with him.
That is how committees work. There is a piece of legislation, and members submit witnesses they want to hear from. The witnesses come and testify. Overwhelmingly, the artists across Canada and in the industry have said that this is important legislation and that it needs to be done. Do 100% of people say they are in support of this? No, but that is why it is at committee, and that is why, during the 20 hours of dedicated time that the committee members all agreed to, those questions and amendments could be brought forward, but that is not what is happening. If that were truly happening and they still felt they had concerns, that would be a different story and we would not be talking about Motion No. 16, but unfortunately that is not what is happening.
When I hear members across the way, during QP and Statements by Members, saying that all of a sudden people across Canada are not going to be able to upload their videos or their content, that is not correct; that is factually incorrect. Unfortunately, that is what gets people going, and then they write to us. When we correct the record, they say that now they get it.
The reality is that this is not what this bill is about; this bill is about making sure the platforms that are not currently covered under the same rules as radio and television are included. That is the purpose of this bill.
281 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, one really critical aspect about why we are debating this today is the fact that, especially when it comes to witnesses, they have not been able to get the time in committee. Much of that time has been occupied by filibusters: 29 hours.
Can the member explain to all the witnesses, particularly those who have not had an opportunity to speak to the bill, why the Conservatives continue their filibuster?
72 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
