Question Period Note: News Content Licensing

The Minister of Canadian Heritage’s Mandate Letter, published on December 13, 2019, contained a commitment for the Minister to work with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to introduce legislation by the end of 2020, ensuring that all content providers support Canadian content. The external panel charged with reviewing the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act released its final report including its 97 recommendations on January 29, 2020. The panel recommended that the existing licensing regime in the Broadcasting Act be accompanied by a registration regime that would require a person carrying on a media content undertaking by means of the Internet to register unless otherwise exempt.

• A healthy news sector is central to any democracy. We take this responsibility seriously, which is why our Government has invested in news in underserved regions and journalism more broadly.
• Preserving a free and independent news sector is critical. This principle will continue to guide our actions moving forward. The press will not need a license to operate in Canada.

• The external panel charged with reviewing the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act released its final report entitled Canada’s Communications Future: Time to Act on January 29, 2020.
• ‘News’ appears 257 times in the report, while ‘news content’ appears 66 times. Most news-related recommendations are in Chapter 3: Creation, Production and Discoverability of Canadian Content.
• Historically, news content was only regulated by the CRTC if it was delivered through licensees such as radio and television stations, and specialty news services. The panel has recommended that the scope of the Broadcasting Act extend beyond audio and audiovisual content to include alphanumeric news content made available to the public by means of telecommunications, collectively known as media content.
• The panel also recommended that the existing licensing regime in the Broadcasting Act be accompanied by a registration regime. This would require a person carrying on a media content undertaking by means of the Internet to register unless otherwise exempt. Those carrying on a media content undertaking by means other than the Internet would continue to require a licence unless otherwise exempt.
• This recommendation has gained negative attention in the media and in Question Period. On February 3, 2020, the Prime Minister indicated that the Government will not impose licencing on press agencies or regulate their content.
• The panel also recommended that:
o All media companies that benefit from the Canadian media communications sector should contribute in an equitable manner.
o The labour-based tax credit for journalism organizations announced in 2018 should be expanded to all Canadian news services (e.g. broadcasters).
o The CRTC consider that some or all of the levies on aggregation or sharing platforms contribute to the production of news content.
o The relationship between social media platforms that share news content and the news content creators be regulated to ensure that news producers are treated fairly where there is an imbalance in negotiating power.
o The CRTC impose requirements to promote the discoverability of Canadian news content.

None