Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. As has been reported publicly, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has met with Google and Facebook, among other stakeholders, since she became minister. This continues ongoing discussions between the government and tech giants, news organizations, experts and Canadians throughout the initial consultations and the parliamentary process and then leading into the regulatory process that has not yet been finalized. I’m advised this dialogue has been under way throughout.

Colleagues, I also understand that Google has stated in the media that they have submitted comments as part of this regulatory process, and the government looks forward to reviewing the submissions made while working collaboratively with the tech platforms, news organizations and Canadians before finalizing the regulations.