Question Period Notes
About this information
In accordance with the Access to Information Act, the government proactively publishes the package of question period notes that were prepared by a government institution for the minister and that were in use on the last sitting day in June and December.
The question period notes may be partially or fully redacted in accordance with the legislation; for example, if the notes contain information related to national security or personal information. (Learn more about exemptions and exclusions.)
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Process of what is being done to assess whether it will be safe to have to Olympic & Paralympic games in Tokyo in summer 2021. What is being done to help prepare Canadian athletes to participate?
The postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games to 2021, on the same dates as those initially set for the next Games of La Francophonie, led to their postponement to 2022. After the Government of New Brunswick’s decision to withdraw from hosting the 2021 Games of La Francophonie, the International Organisation of La Francophonie officially awarded the Games to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the only candidate that submitted a bid.
The Athlete Assistance Program provides direct financial support to over 1800 Canadian high performance (carded) athletes, across more than 94 sport disciplines. The Government of Canada has allocated $5 million in Emergency Support Funding to this grant program.
The Sport Support Program supports the provision of opportunities for all Canadians to participate in sport and the development of the Canadian sport system. The Government of Canada has allocated $72 million in Emergency Support Funding to this contribution program.
The Canadian Heritage Portfolio contains 163 positions, including 10 vacant positions.
On August 26, 2020, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) released a consultant’s report called “The Crisis in Canadian Media and the Future of Local Broadcasting”. The report highlights structural issues in the system that have been emphasized by the effects of COVID-19. It is estimated that there will be a decline in advertising revenue for private radio and TV stations of $1.065 billion total in the three broadcast years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The authors of the report call on the Government to provide additional
COVID-19 relief to local stations.
With the release of the final report of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel in January 2020, and with a CRTC public hearing set to begin in January 2021 on CBC/Radio-Canada’s application to renew its broadcasting licences, questions about the future role of the national public broadcaster will likely receive considerable public attention in the coming months, particularly in light of the economic impacts of COVID-19 on ad-dependent media.
As part of the $500 million temporary Emergency Support Fund to Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations, the Government announced an investment of $3.5M in citizen focused activities to counter disinformation related to COVID-19. To date, the Government has approved $3.26 million in projects that were submitted by ten civil society organizations. An open call for proposals that closed on July 31, 2020 will result in additional funded projects. This funding will help combat false and misleading COVID-19 information as well as the racism and stigmatization that are often the result.
In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the Government announced, on March 25, 2020, a simplified process for processing the files submitted through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) to accelerate the attribution of funds awarded to recipients.
The modernization of the CPF will be implemented April 1, 2021, to allow for an orderly transition. In the meantime, the CPF will continue to apply the existing criteria on a status-quo basis in 2020-2021.
Canadian news publishers continue to struggle. The current COVID-19 pandemic has now dramatically amplified revenue shortfalls which jeopardizes an already fragile industry.