44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 13, 2022 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, advertising on Facebook and advertising in community newspapers, both of which I do, has not compromised in any way my wanting to see this bill pass. The Conservatives who advertise on Facebook take the position, after a reversal, that they no longer support the government's bringing in legislation to ensure that companies like Facebook, YouTube and Google are obligated to support media here in Canada.
I wonder how members of the Conservative Party can justify flipping their position from the last general election, now telling Canadians that this bill is bad for them, when in fact the Bloc, the NDP, the Liberals and I believe the Greens—
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- Dec/13/22 5:27:44 p.m.
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The hon. member for Chilliwack—Hope.
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Madam Speaker, the fact that the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc support the bill gives me confidence that our opposing it is the right position to take. Quite frankly, the Bloc, the NDP and the Liberals supported the amendments to Bill C-21 until very recently when they started to hear from their constituents.
What I pointed out was the hypocrisy of Liberal and NDP members standing in this place and talking about this magical hoovering up. I kept hearing that the tech giants are hoovering up all of this advertising revenue when no one was forcing Liberal and NDP members of Parliament to give Facebook and Google money from their members' operating budgets to pay for advertising. That was the part I was pointing out. There is a hypocrisy in crying about that and at the same time feeding the problem.
I will take no lessons from the member on this matter. It is a position that we do not support, and we will be happy to oppose this bill.
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Madam Speaker, as a proud journalist for almost 25 years and having worked for Charles Clark newspaper in High River, I would say that journalists face, much like politicians nowadays, a lack of public trust. We saw that with the Liberal bailout of the media several years ago, and I know many of my constituents are questioning the integrity of journalists.
When there are government subsidies or government bailouts of the free press, what impact is that having on community trust when it comes to Canadian journalism?
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Madam Speaker, I cannot put it better than the Independent Online News Publishers of Canada, which said:
Any government intervention into the free press, however well-intentioned, must be carefully considered, as there is a potential to warp outcomes, stifle innovation, determine winners and losers, and compromise journalistic independence.
In its current form, Bill C-18...fails this test.
I agree.
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Madam Speaker, with the passing of the Hon. Jim Carr in mind, I would like to begin by offering my condolences to our colleague's family and friends. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all members of the House a happy holiday season.
Getting back to my colleague's speech, it is important to remember that Meta, the company that owns Facebook, generated $193 million in sales in Canada in 2021 from journalistic content. In Canada, Facebook makes between 35 and 58 times more money from the media than it pays to the media.
Facebook and Google should be forced to share those revenues, and the Conservatives know what “triple, triple, triple” means, so as to ensure that the media wins.
Would my colleague comment on that?
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Madam Speaker, as I have said, Bill C-18 would, in our view, threaten the independence of local media. It would not allow single-journalist outfits, like those I mentioned in my riding, to qualify. Therefore, we cannot support it.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
I suspect that if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to allow us to extend Government Orders to deal with this issue, if the debate has collapsed, so that we can have a vote to possibly pass it with a division.
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All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay.
It is agreed.
The House has heard the terms of the motion.
All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès): Is the House ready for the question?
Some hon. members: Question.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès): The question is on the motion.
If a member of a recognized party present in the House wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division or wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.
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- Dec/13/22 5:32:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we request a recorded division.
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Pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, the division stands deferred until Wednesday, December 14, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.
It being 5:33 p.m., the House will now proceed to the consideration of Private Members' Business as listed on today's Order Paper.
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- Dec/13/22 5:33:55 p.m.
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There being no motions at report stage, the House will now proceed, without debate, to the putting of the question on the motion to concur in the bill at report stage.
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moved that Bill C-291, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (child sexual abuse material), be read the third time and passed.
He said: Madam Speaker, I am honoured once again to rise in the House as a representative of the amazing people of North Okanagan—Shuswap to speak to my private member's bill, Bill C-291, an act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other acts.
This may be the last time this bill is debated in the House, and I am compelled to thank the many Canadians who have helped progress this important legislation forward.
At the outset, I must thank the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, who was central to the conception and drafting of this bill. The hon. member possesses a keen sense of how we can and should improve Canada's laws. I thank the member for his work on the bill.
I must also thank the member for Kelowna—Lake Country, who has worked with us to move Bill C-291 through the process. I know that she strongly supports increased protection of children and support for victims of crime, and I thank her for assisting in today's debate.
It was only 26 days ago that the House debated this bill at second reading, and I thank all members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights for their timely and thoughtful examination and support of this bill. I thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada for proposing amendments to the bill to ensure that it captured exploitation and aligned with the definition in the Criminal Code. I also thank members of the justice committee and Department of Justice officials for their examinations of the bill at committee.
I would further like to thank the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, Ratanak International and the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation for supporting this bill. I thank them for the difficult but essential work they do every day to fight abuse and exploitation of children.
I thank the hundreds of Canadians who signed e-petition 4154 calling on the House to pass this bill.
I believe we also owe thanks to the staff and officials who allow our work and debates to occur. I send my thanks to the office of the law clerk and parliamentary counsel, the Private Members' Business office, journals branch, Parliamentary interpretation and the interpretation bureau, and all of the House of Commons and parliamentary personnel who work with us every day.
I also extend my thanks to law enforcement and judicial personnel who deal with child sexual abuse exploitation in their daily roles and hope that this bill will help in their work of increasing safety for children. I thank them all.
As I stated in previous debates, child sexual abuse material is a growing problem in Canada, and Canadians look to us, their elected representatives, to take the steps, big and small, that are required to deal with problems like the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. This bill is a meaningful step that we are taking together, and I thank hon. members from all parties in supporting it. Together, we are serving Canadians.
There has been discussion between all parties and to my knowledge there was agreement to allow the debate to collapse today by keeping our speeches short so that Bill C-291 can be voted on tomorrow, moving it one step closer to calling child sexual abuse and exploitation material what it really is.
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moved that Bill C-291, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (child sexual abuse and exploitation material), as amended, be concurred in.
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Madam Speaker, whenever a member comes up with a private member's bill, it is always encouraging to see it get through to third reading.
I understand that there still are a number of members who would like to speak to the legislation. At the end of the day, there will be a great deal of sympathy towards seeing the change that is being proposed in the legislation before us. Could the member provide his thoughts in terms of recognizing members who have been very supportive of the name change itself?
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Madam Speaker, the support has truly been across all parties.
There has been discussion that members would limit their speaking time today so that we could move this bill as swiftly as possible to the Senate for its consideration, so that we can hopefully, very quickly, have this bill receive royal assent and move into legislation so that it can start to do the work that it is meant to do as proposed by my fellow member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.
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Madam Speaker, I really would like to thank the member for putting the bill forward. Ensuring that our children are safe is probably the number one priority for all Canadians and for members in the House.
I recall the work we did on Bill C-233, which was called “Keira's Law”, and the importance of getting it through, because all parties recognized the importance of the bill. At committee, at all stages, we ensured that we allowed debate to collapse so that it could move forward. I really do hope that we will be able to get this bill through immediately so that we make a change to the Criminal Code and ensure that our children are safe.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London for all of her advocacy on women's rights, children's rights and victims' rights. She has been an incredible advocate on behalf of victims.
This bill is so important, as all parties have seen. There is no opposition to the bill. I would really hope that debate could be allowed to collapse today, so we could move forward to get it through to a vote and through the House as soon as possible.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the speech he made today.
As a member of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, I will also add my voice to that of my chair. This type of non-partisan bill that addresses the safety of our young women and our young girls is essential. As my colleague mentioned, we worked together on Bill C‑233. I will not elaborate on this, but I just wanted to say that, to me, it is essential to finish the year on this note, with no partisanship, to ensure the safety of our women and girls.
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Madam Speaker, there is really no debate on this bill. Everyone is in support of it. To see it move forward as quickly as possible through the debate stage today, to allow the debate to collapse so it could go to a vote tomorrow and move on to the next stage, would be in the best interest of the children who have been or who could become victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation material.
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