Senator Dupuis: If I understood correctly, I have 20 seconds to ask my question.

Senator Plett: I find that strange: “Don’t ask me the question; ask somebody else.”

Every day, it seems there are new revelations about foreign interference by Beijing and what the Prime Minister knew. The Prime Minister has always said there is a wall between him and the Trudeau Foundation. Last week, La Presse reported that one of the senior staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office reached out to the Trudeau Foundation in November 2016 regarding the “Chinese donation.” That’s a pretty thin wall, leader. A former board member told La Presse last week that the so-called political polarization reason the foundation and the Prime Minister gave for the resignations was — wait for this — “a bunch of lies.”

Leader, Canadians deserve the truth. There has to be a public inquiry. Clearly, the Prime Minister doesn’t agree or he would have called one by now.

But what excuse does his cabinet have? Why can’t they see that a full public inquiry is the only right thing to do at this point? Finally, leader, what do you call someone who spews a bunch of lies? What kind of language would you consider that to be?

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. I’m going to be brief because I know others may want to ask questions. As long as my legs hold up, I will be happy to take questions.

That is precisely right, Senator Cardozo. First of all, this is not a framework agreement; let’s be clear. The Broadcasting Act is very detailed. Bill C-11 is a very technical, detailed act. So we are talking about an act that sets out very clear criteria. As you pointed out very helpfully and in greater detail than I did, the act is clear that it doesn’t apply to digital creators but only to the platforms. The legislation is clear. It sets out clear criteria and principles to guide the CRTC.

Yes, you are 100% right, as I’ve tried to explain. The level of policy directive development, the process around that and, of course, the process of regulation allows stakeholders — and that includes YouTubers and all the folks who will continue to have questions, indeed, or concerns or both — to have input and to be heard. This is the proper way to modernize a long-overdue and long-out-of-date Broadcasting Act. So, yes, I think this is the right way.

I did want to remind colleagues that this is not just a framework where we tell the CRTC to do what they want. It’s very clear about what it’s supposed to do. Anyone who has been involved in the regulatory process knows you need a certain amount of flexibility within the regime in order to do the work. There are 30,000 pieces of YouTube content uploaded if not every minute, every day. It’s mind-boggling. Triage will have to be done at the regulatory process. Guidance is being provided in law and further guidance in policy directives and, whether mind-numbing or otherwise, further detailed guidance in the regulations.