Hon. Michèle Audette: Honourable senators, it is February, the love month. More importantly, it is heart month, and I rise to speak to you with an open heart. I was heartbroken when I learned that research on heart disease and stroke in women is 14 years behind — that’s my son’s age — and that two thirds of clinical studies focus on our sons, our brothers, our fathers, that is, on men. Also heartbreaking is the fact that heart disease and strokes are the leading cause of premature death in women in Canada.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, heart disease and stroke claimed the lives of 32,271 women in Canada in 2019 alone. That is one woman dying every 16 minutes. I’m sure you can understand why that resonates so strongly with me.

Colleagues, women don’t always suffer a Hollywood-style heart attack like we see on TV or in the movies. A common symptom is severe chest pain. The signs and symptoms of a heart attack often go unnoticed by half of these women.

My dear family of female senators, my dear women friends, my heart’s desire is to touch your hearts and ensure that all these women finally get the right protection. It’s their turn. I won’t get into the details of the pains and symptoms, but it can happen to us.

Don’t lose heart, because Heart and Stroke is working hard every day to close those gaps and fight heart disease and stroke to keep us healthy. We deserve it too.

I hope this heart-to-heart has meant as much to you as it did to me. Take care of your heart. I’m trying to take care of mine.

In closing, I’d like to mention a warm-hearted Innu man who was just appointed to the Heart and Stroke board: Francis Verreault-Paul. I admire this young man so much. Tshinashkumitin for getting involved.

Remember, anything is possible when your heart is in the right place.

[English]

Hon. Colin Deacon: Honourable senators, you may be surprised to learn that, despite living in Nova Scotia, my sea legs are not what I had hoped. On anything but the calmest of water, I find myself being the source of amusement versus assistance on the deck of a boat, as I spend most of my time involuntarily feeding fish.

That’s just one of the reasons why I admire the courageous and hard-working women and men who go to work on the cold, dangerous seas, delivering some $2.4 billion of seafood exports from our province to more than 60 countries every year.

I’m equally grateful for the ingenuity that makes their jobs safer and more sustainable. One such ingenious innovator is Marc d’Entremont of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Marc’s family has fished for generations. While still in his twenties, he co-owned three 65-foot trawlers and fished groundfish quotas off Pubnico. This type of fishing uses traditional trawling gear — a large scoop-shaped net that drags the ocean floor. It takes a lot of time and fuel and, in addition to the targeted species, brings in a lot of bycatch that just has to be thrown overboard. It can also often result in lost gear and ecosystem damage.

In his thirties, Marc left the family business and turned his attention to completely redesigning the methods used for ocean trawling. His new company, Katchi, has developed a flying trawl system that uses depth sounders and AI to ensure the fishing nets do not touch the seabed. Katchi is also working to herd targeted species while deterring unwanted ones. Working with partners, they’ve designed an uncrewed service vessel to scout for fish in surrounding waters, delivering the precise location of targeted species. Their innovative methods are reducing fuel consumption, ecosystem damage and the risk of lost gear in the ocean.

Katchi promises to deliver a much more cost-efficient harvest to fishers and a much more sustainable fishery. In Marc’s words, it’s all pros and no cons, and global experts agree. Katchi won the Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge prize and previously led a $3.3-million award from Canada’s Ocean Supercluster.

More than ever, we are challenged to simultaneously deliver improved economic, environmental and ecological results. Some believe that these are competing priorities. I do not — if we are willing to change how we do things: change our basic assumptions, practices and, sometimes, our rules and regulations. Achieving these improved results demands us to be highly innovative so that we can continue to deliver the conditions necessary for future generations to prosper and thrive.

Thank you, colleagues.

Hon. Rosa Galvez: Honourable senators, Canada must continue to take meaningful steps to become more resilient in the face of ever-increasing impacts of climate change. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction adopted by the United Nations in 2015 sets out a comprehensive approach to disaster risk management with a focus on reducing vulnerabilities and increasing resilience. This framework has informed work on adaptation, including our own — Canada’s — 2022 National Adaptation Strategy, which will play a critical role in ensuring that we are prepared for the challenges we are facing today.

This framework coordinates action across all levels of government to address the impacts of climate change on our economy, infrastructure, natural environments and health and well-being.

A key area where engineers play a crucial role in increasing resilience is in the design and construction of infrastructure — for example, by developing a stronger building code. Engineers are trained to consider the potential impacts of climate change on the infrastructure and to incorporate measures to reduce the risks posed by this impact. This includes designing buildings, roads and bridges to be more resistant to extreme weather events and to be more adaptable to changing conditions.

The American Society of Civil Engineers, the ASCE, provided the rationale for the $1.2-trillion Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA. Their ATLAS initiative for climate resilient infrastructure aligns with the goal of the United States’ IRA by promoting the integration of resilience into planning, design, construction and maintenance. Their initiative aims to lift the quality of infrastructure by creating national assessments for climate resilience and also aims to reduce climate risk, share knowledge and innovation and attract capital for a more competitive and resilient society.

The next G7 meeting, which Japan is hosting in May 2023, will provide an important opportunity for the world’s leading economies to come together and take action on issues related to climate change and resilience, including by endorsing the principles of the ATLAS initiative. Canada must use this opportunity to showcase our progress in becoming more resilient and to work with the expertise of our learning societies to develop new and innovative solutions to address the challenges we face today.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

Hon. Patrick Brazeau: Thank you, honourable senators.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Brazeau spoke in Algonquin.]

Honourable senators, on January 15, we lost a legend — an Algonquin legend; former NHLer Gino Odjick from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg reserve passed away. Born September 7, 1970, to Papa Joe and Giselle, Gino had humble beginnings like many of us. One of six children, Gino learned the importance of sharing and taking care of others, as his parents had cared for up to 32 foster kids during their lives.

He worked hard with his dad, helping to take care of the horses and working in the bush until he had the opportunity to play hockey outside of the community, first with Hawkesbury and then with Laval.

In high school, a teacher asked Gino what he was going to do with his life. Without missing a beat, Gino replied, “I’m going to be a professional hockey player,” to which the teacher’s reply was, “Yeah right. Good luck with that.”

Gino went on to play 605 NHL games with the Canucks, Islanders, Flyers and my team, the Montreal Canadiens — although he had a few more penalty minutes than 605.

[Translation]

Gino could light up a room with his presence, his friendly personality and his unwavering optimism. He had a heart of gold and a way of making everyone in his orbit feel special. His zest for life was contagious.

For Gino, life was never about accolades and achievements. He was a humble, authentic, loyal man, always ready to listen to others. He was committed to giving back to the community and First Nations.

Gino was much more than a hockey player. He was a role model who showed us what determination and a positive attitude can accomplish. He was also a loving father, very proud of his children, and a loyal friend to many.

[English]

While Gino passed into the spirit world at the young age of 52, we can take solace in the fact that he lived life to the fullest and had many unique experiences. He lived every hockey player’s dream, having the opportunity to play in the Stanley Cup finals against the New York Rangers in 1994.

In a moment of pride to all of us, he was immortalized in the BC Sports Hall of Fame, where he was pleased to be placed beside Pat Quinn, for whom he had much respect.

Colleagues, I invite you to join me and the entire Algonquin Nation in paying tribute to his spirit and to do what the fans in Vancouver used to do, and that is to chant his name so that the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg reserve, an hour and a half north of here, can hear: “Gino, Gino, Gino.”

Meegwetch.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to a dear friend of mine and also a dear friend of the Senate: Al Fleming, a man whom we paid tribute to just on Tuesday with a moment of silence.

Al was a man who left an imprint on everyone who had the privilege to know him and work with him. He was purposeful. He was genuine. He was personable. And he was loved by all.

Over the years, Al and I had a bit of a greeting game. Whenever we would cross paths, we would say, “Hello, how are you?” — and then it would become a race to say, “All the better for seeing you.” I can hear the sound of his voice as I say these words out loud, and I presume many here can also hear his distinctive voice and hold on dearly to shared memories.

Regardless of affiliation, Al was an effective adviser and a valued friend to many of us in this chamber. I believe that is because he was guided by strong values grounded in his faith.

Colleagues, I wish to share with you a timeless note from Al in hopes that these words become a beacon for me and for all of us here today. This is from January 2015, when he wrote to me:

Thank you . . . for standing up for your beliefs on behalf of Christians, those who embrace freedom, and for anyone with a sense of fairness, equality and a true respect for diversity.

Our rights and freedom were built upon a foundational belief in and acknowledgement of God and the grace He has shown this nation . . .

What you are doing REALLY matters. To me. To others. To believers in this nation. And to Canada.

Colleagues, I felt it was important to pay tribute today to a wise, yet humble, man.

Al was a committed Christian and was confident that at the end of his life, he would meet his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ face to face. When that moment came on January 7, I can picture the joy on Al’s face and imagine Jesus smiling at Al as Al said to him, “I’m all the better for seeing you.”

Colleagues, I look forward to the day when I meet Al again and I can say to Al Fleming, “I’m all the better for seeing you.”

Heaven’s gain is our loss, and I wish to offer my dearest sympathies to his loved ones: his wife Beth, his family, his friends and everyone here in the Senate.

Thank you, colleagues.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate) tabled the reply to Question No. 34, dated November 23, 2021, appearing on the Order Paper and Notice Paper in the name of the Honourable Senator Plett, regarding the Canada Revenue Agency — shelters.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate) tabled the reply to Question No. 51, dated November 23, 2021, appearing on the Order Paper and Notice Paper in the name of the Honourable Senator Plett, regarding human trafficking — Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate) tabled the reply to Question No. 51, dated November 23, 2021, appearing on the Order Paper and Notice Paper in the name of the Honourable Senator Plett, regarding human trafficking — Public Safety Canada.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate) tabled the reply to Question No. 105, dated November 25, 2021, appearing on the Order Paper and Notice Paper in the name of the Honourable Senator Downe, regarding the Canada Child Benefit.

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate) tabled the reply to Question No. 107, dated November 25, 2021, appearing on the Order Paper and Notice Paper in the name of the Honourable Senator Downe, regarding the write-off of debts.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this bill be read the second time?

(On motion of Senator Gagné, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading two days hence.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Dawson, seconded by the Honourable Senator Bovey, for the third reading of Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, as amended.

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Dear colleagues, allow me to explain why I support Bill C-11.

I should point out that I don’t intend to comment on each clause of this bill or on the proposed amendments.

I also won’t be commenting on the important role that the Broadcasting Act has played in supporting and developing Canadian culture, whether in French, English or Indigenous languages or in languages other than the official and Indigenous languages. Others who spoke before me did so enthusiastically, including our new colleague, Senator Cardozo, and one of our longest-serving members, Senator Dawson.

I will only speak to one issue, which I consider to be at the heart of this bill, and that is the discoverability of Quebec and Canadian cultural products on the most well-known platforms.

First, I would like to make it clear that I do not believe that there is a vast conspiracy among platforms to make English the universal language and promote certain American values.

A 2009 UNESCO report entitled “Twelve years of measuring linguistic diversity in the Internet: balance and perspectives” noted that the presence of English on the internet had fallen from 75% in 1998 to 45% in 2005.

More recently, the Observatory of the Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in the Internet, an organization that is part of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, reported that in 2021, the share of English as an overall percentage of all pages available on the web was no more than 26.5%.

This shows that web content is becoming more and more diverse. The virtual warehouse, so to speak, is getting bigger and bigger and contains more and more products in different languages.

Another important statistic that stuck with me has to do with internet penetration. According to 2020 figures from internet World Stats, only 35.2% of French speakers worldwide have access to the internet, while 77.5% of English speakers, 70.4% of Spanish speakers and 53% of Arabic speakers do.

The reason for the lack of internet access among French speakers is the low internet connection rate in French-speaking Africa, which is currently just 41%. It is estimated, however, that by 2060, internet penetration will be 85% among African French speakers. As Senator Gerba already pointed out, Africa is vital to the future of the Francophonie. There is no doubt that gradually connecting hundreds of millions of francophone Africans will create a need to produce many French-language cultural and other products, which will increase the amount of francophone content on the internet. I am delighted about that.

Of course, the existence of French-language online content is a prerequisite for the consumption of French-language cultural products. If none is available, if there is nothing on the shelves, then nothing will be consumed.

It should be noted that although English-language content no longer represents the majority of the content available — far from it — that is not the case when we look at content viewed. In fact, 61.1% of the most visited sites are in English, according to the September 2022 edition of the W³Techs Web Technology Survey.

Another study found that 85% of streams on Spotify are from 0.7% of the catalogue. There are several factors that may explain the over-consumption of certain products, including cultural products in English.

One of those factors is the smaller number of French-language platforms. That is why the member countries of the Francophonie, including Canada, launched the platform TV5MONDEplus in September 2020 to showcase French-language products. This free platform is like Netflix for the Francophonie. It enhances the online presence of television shows and movies produced in French, helps to promote the international Francophonie’s creations, and increases the discoverability of French-language content on the internet. TV5MONDEplus’s French-language productions are currently available in 196 countries.

However, another similar factor seems to account for the low consumption of French-language cultural products, and that is what are known as the platform’s suggestions.

A study found that 70% to 80% of the content watched on YouTube is based on recommendations. Users visit one page, and then they are given other recommendations and end up spending a lot of time watching.

As you know, these recommendations are made based on algorithms.

No outside experts, in either Europe or North America, have access to the details of the programming parameters of these algorithms, since the platforms consider them to be trade secrets. Europe is actually preparing regulations on this issue.

In light of this situation, researchers have begun measuring the discoverability of Quebec’s French-language cultural content on the main platforms.

In a March 2021 report entitled Être ou ne pas être découvrable?, the Université du Québec à Montréal’s research lab on discoverability and the transformation of cultural industries in the e-commerce era proposes the following definition of discoverability:

The system of “discoverability” is a set of processes that structure and determine the possibility and ability of audiences to discover cultural products online, i.e. to locate this content or have it presented to them, without necessarily searching for it in a vast database of content organized by prescription- and recommendation-based systems.

This definition emphasizes the multiple complex processes and dynamics that occur between an online consumer and a platform, as well as the impact these processes have on an audience’s propensity to discover products.

What I am about to say is an oversimplification, but basically, this complex and dynamic process is somewhat akin to product placement at your local supermarket. Often, the product that sells the best gets the spotlight. That product is strategically positioned, so there may be four or five competing products in close proximity to the featured product, but they are placed on the top or bottom shelf, where most consumers are unlikely to see them.

Sure, consumers have free choice because they’re the ones choosing the most visible, ideally positioned product, but we all know that positioning is the supermarket’s decision, whether it’s because the product’s profit margin is bigger or because the supplier paid for advantageous in-store product placement.

If the government chooses to intervene and require equitable positioning of all products, no one can seriously suggest that would impinge on consumers’ freedom of choice. One could actually argue that it gives them greater choice.

For products in an online platform’s warehouse, the shelves become algorithms. Without algorithms, these platforms would be more like massive libraries with no filing system.

These algorithms are growing increasingly sophisticated thanks to artificial intelligence. They can recognize each consumer, remember everything they’ve viewed for the past few weeks, months or even years, know how much they’re willing to pay when they make a purchase, and more. The algorithm is designed to anticipate the consumer’s latest needs and present content for their consideration.

In some cases, this is an entirely neutral operation that produces the result the consumer wants, even if the algorithm’s parameters aren’t verifiable.

As a result, according to them, interfering with the algorithm or even obtaining the details of these parameters is tantamount to threatening freedom of choice. That is what I have heard in several speeches over the past few days.

That assumes that the algorithm and its artificial intelligence are completely neutral and are capable of anticipating users’ needs in an impartial manner. That assumes that there is no possible cultural bias in the algorithm’s very complex programming.

That also assumes, of course, that there is no programming designed to boost clicks, watch time or the associated revenues.

Unfortunately, now and then, various investigations and revelations, particularly before the U.S. Congress, have proven these assumptions to be false. That is why the European Union and many other countries have decided to regulate the products offered by platforms in order to protect their country’s cultural specificity.

The scientific report published on March 8, 2021, by the research lab on discoverability that I spoke about a few moments ago shows that Canada needs to do the same for French-language cultural products. That report found that there are barriers to discoverability and pointed out the following problems.

First, there is no “Quebec category” on Netflix, iTunes, YouTube and the like.

Second, the presence of Quebec audiovisual content is very low, which explains why the algorithms do not find any or offer any. For example, none of the 29 Quebec films produced in 2016 are on Netflix. As for the 29 new films that were made during the study, 10 are on iTunes and 19 are on YouTube’s for-pay platform.

Third, there were hardly any Quebec films and shows available to stream on transnational platforms.

Fourth, new platforms such as Disney+, Amazon Prime and Apple TV contain little or no Quebec audiovisual content.

Fifth, lists of the latest Quebec songs can be found on most platforms, but they are not very visible and are rarely recommended. The situation is even worse for older hits.

Sixth, when it comes to streaming music, tests done from March to August 2019 showed that none of the “premium” streaming services met the very specific expectations of the example listener used for testing purposes.

Seventh, the platforms do not provide any details on the content consumed in Quebec or the consumption of Quebec content.

In conclusion, both the content of the platforms and the reference algorithms led to poor results for Quebec cultural products.

In this context, it only makes sense to regulate Quebec and Canadian content on these platforms, as well as the discoverability of the Quebec and Canadian products stored on them. What I said about French-language cultural tools also applies to Indigenous- and English-language Canadian cultural tools.

That’s why I support Bill C-11, which will promote Canadian content and ensure that algorithms will also present these products and make them discoverable.

Thank you for your attention. Meegwetch.

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker: All those in favour of the motion will please say “yea.”

The Hon. the Speaker: All those opposed please say “nay.”

The Hon. the Speaker: In my opinion, the “nays” have it.

And two honourable senators having risen:

The Hon. the Speaker: Do we have agreement on a bell? One hour? The vote will take place at 4:34. Call in the senators.

Motion in amendment of the Honourable Senator Plett negatived on the following division:

The Hon. the Speaker: Are senators ready for the question?

The Hon. the Acting Speaker: Is it agreed, honourable senators?

The Hon. the Acting Speaker: Senator Housakos, your time has expired, are you asking for five more minutes?