Bill C-11 has moved closer to the finish line as it heads back to the Senate following the House of Commons’ vote to partially approve a series of amendments to the bill.

Also referred to as the Online Streaming Act, the bill had previously been passed by the Senate at third reading in February and sent back to the House with a list of 26 amendments. Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez (pictured) issued a motion earlier this month to approve 18 of the amendments, and reject or revise the other eight.

“I want to thank the senators for their important work on Bill C-11. This bill is essential to our culture. Our artists and creators are counting on it. We hope it will receive Royal Assent from the Senate as soon as possible,” said Minister Rodriguez in a statement to Playback Daily.

The rejected amendments included an addition to the bill to add more flexibility to the definition of Canadian content, specifically around ownership by Canadian producers or the involvement of Canadian creatives, as well as the removal of an exemption to the rule around user-generated content to allow programming that “directly or indirectly generates revenues” to be regulated.

Notably, the Senate did not pass an amendment to section 3(1)(f), which received criticism from the screen sector for having different standards for Canadian broadcasters and foreign-owned online undertakings for its use of Canadian creative talent. Industry stakeholders, including the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), the Directors Guild of Canada and ACTRA, have warned the section could lead to a two-tiered system in Canada for artists.

The WGC issued a statement on Friday (March 31) to thank the government for moving the bill forward, with president Alex Levine stating there “is still lots of work to do,” calling for a policy direction from Canadian Heritage “clarifying that foreign streamers must nevertheless make maximum use of Canadian key creative talent, including screenwriters, in the Canadian programming they commission.”

Bill C-11 was tabled in early 2022 as a modernization of the Broadcasting Act to bring foreign-owned online undertakings under CRTC regulation. It now awaits its second consideration at the Senate, which is adjourned until April 18.

“Over the past few months, Senators have conducted a rigorous analysis of the bill and made some improvements,” said Hélène Messier, co-chair of the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) and president and CEO of Quebec producers association AQPM, in a statement. “We salute their work, but invite them today to take note of the decisions of the elected officials and to move the bill in its current state towards Royal Assent as quickly as possible.”

The motion from Minister Rodriguez was the subject of hours of debate at the House before passing on Thursday evening (March 30). Its passage followed a closure motion from the government to ensure the bill would be put to vote before the House adjourned for the day.

The closure motion passed via votes from the Liberal Party and the NDP, with the Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party voting against it. Green Party leader Elizabeth May said a closure motion is “wrong,” while Bloc Québécois MP for Drummond Martin Champoux said “we are against the principle of gagging the House, but we do support the bill.”

Kevin Lamoureux, parliamentary secretary to the lead of the government and Liberal MP for Winnipeg North, said “if we did not bring in closure on the legislation, the Conservative Party would continue to debate this legislation indefinitely. We would not be able to pass it in 2023 nor in all likelihood in 2024,” in defence of the motion.

During the debate, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre described the bill as an “attack on freedom of expression” by the government in an alleged attempt to censor what Canadians can view online. A number of MPs from varying political parties alleged that Conservative MPs were spreading misinformation about the bill. “I am concerned about their desire to fundraise off of [Bill C-11] by continually bringing forward misinformation around the bill,” said NDP MP for London–Fanshawe Lindsay Mathyssen. “Furthermore, I am concerned about their use of the bill as a political tool, as opposed to debating its actual substance.”

NDP MP for Courtenay–Alberni Gord Johns emphasized the screen industry’s support of the bill during a speech in the House, including the WGC, the CMPA, and the CDCE in a call to push it toward the finish line.

“We hear Conservatives say that this bill is a disaster and everything is broken,” he said. “Some things are broken. This is something that is broken, and it needs to be fixed. We are here to fix things.”

Photo by Kristian Bogner Photography