Bringing old regulatory models to the new digital age is “unnecessary” and could stifle innovation, argued representatives from Google Canada at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) continued market dynamic hearings in Gatineau, Que.

“Google urges the Commission to exercise caution and restraint,” said Google Canada senior counsel Arun Krishnamurti (pictured) on Wednesday (June 25). “There is simply no rationale for transposing these regulatory tools onto online undertakings. It would be highly inappropriate for open platforms, YouTube in particular. Such top-down rules would interfere with the organic success Canadians have already found.”

He added that a “flexible and adaptive regulatory framework” in line with the Broadcasting Act and the CRTC’s policy directions would “minimize undue regulatory burden, respect audience choice and promote competition and innovation.”

Commissioners questioned Krishnamurti on YouTube’s various business models, seeking clarity on how the platform could be subject to certain regulations outside of its user-generated content, including its audio platform and transactional video on demand services.

Krishnamurti said many of the concerns raised in the proceeding – such as access to performance and advertising data – aren’t relevant to YouTube’s model. Neither are concerns around gatekeeping, since YouTube doesn’t support paid preferred placement on its platform, he said. He added that any data outside what is already being shared with creators and artists would be commercially sensitive.

In Canada, innovating online can be difficult when the majority of revenues remain in linear broadcast, representatives of Indigenous broadcaster APTN told commissioners. APTN CEO Monika Ille said about 2.5% of revenues are directed to digital, and while its streaming service APTN lumi has brought in some subscriber revenue, the streamer is not yet profitable.

Mike Omelus, APTN’s executive director of content and strategy, said the broadcaster is in talks to launch new FAST channels, as well as add APTN programming to in-flight entertainment.

In addition to seeking rules to ensure 9.1(1)(h) services like APTN are required for online undertakings, APTN echoed the call from the Independent Broadcast Group for a dedicated fund for services of exceptional importance. She said the fund is needed as revenue from wholesale rates continue to decline.

“The Canadian media industry needs to work together as a whole, we need to support one another, and I don’t feel that’s happening right now,” said Ille. “I was at the Banff World Media Festival and Canadian media leaders said ‘we need to work more in collaboration, we need to create a Canadian star system because we feel the pressure and the impact of foreign distributors.’ But I don’t feel that.”

Ille pointed to submissions from broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) which have argued against supporting 9.1(1)(h) services like APTN, referencing them as a “financial burden.”

“For me, the word ‘burden’ has a very strong connotation. Historically, Indigenous people in Canada have been perceived as a burden … we were in the way. We needed to be assimilated, removed. We were an economic burden,” said Ille. “To see that word again is very disheartening.”

Executives at WildBrain called for more regulatory support for the children’s industry, building on prior testimony from organizations such as the Shaw Rocket Fund and the Youth Media Alliance about a crisis in children’s content due to lower production and commissioning.

WildBrain’s VP and general manager Brian Cuff warned that the kids industry is the “canary in the coal mine” for the Canadian film and TV sector as reduced regulatory obligations have seen a decreased investment in children’s programming.

Cuff said WildBrain specifically is facing severe challenges, worsened by Bell’s decision to remove WildBrain’s channels from its service earlier this year. The move forced WildBrain to enter renegotiations with IoM Media to sell its WildBrain TV assets.

In a bid to support the children’s industry, WildBrain proposed that the CRTC require BDUs to carry children’s television services for at least a three-year period and designate them for priority distribution in online platforms.

“As much as it pains me to say it, we’re in an existential crisis at this point,” said Cuff. “Our priority is to maintain and obtain carriage and to sort the rest out as we go.”

Apple Canada, TVO and Telus Communications are among the organizations set to appear at the hearing on Thursday (June 26).