Liberals' online streaming Bill C-11 passes Parliament
CTV
After years of political pushback and considerable parliamentary scrutiny, the federal Liberal government's Online Streaming Act known as Bill C-11 passed the Senate and has become law.
After years of political pushback and considerable parliamentary scrutiny, the federal Liberal government's Online Streaming Act known as Bill C-11 passed the Senate and has become law.
Thursday evening, Bill C-11 cleared its final legislative hurdle in the Senate, seeing senators agree to bill sponsor Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez's take-some-and-leave-some approach to amendments made by the upper chamber.
This clears the path for the contentious bill, focused on substantively reforming the Broadcasting Act for the first time since 1991 to take into consideration online content, to come into effect.
Senators voting 52 to 16 on a motion informing the House of Commons that the Senate agreed with the version of Bill C-11 the majority of MPs passed last month, made passing the bill possible. The House was then informed of the Senate's decision, and royal assent was granted by 6:55 p.m. ET.
Bill C-11 is aimed at ensuring increasingly popular and profitable social media platforms and streaming services such as Netflix, Crave, Spotify, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and YouTube are subjected to Canadian content requirements and regulations comparable to traditional broadcasters. The policy change comes with a requirement for these platforms to spend millions investing in Canadian content and creators.
While the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, as well as many in the "CanCon" music, film, and television industries, have backed Bill C-11, alarms have been sounded by critics that the Liberal proposal could have knock-on effects for content creators and what everyday users see online, due to provisions that would require platforms to promote Canadian content.
In their efforts to lobby against this bill, some of the tech companies have gone to great lengths, such as YouTube, which ran an online campaign warning users who earn money from making videos about how the legislation could impact their livelihoods. The Conservatives, arguing that the legislation will have the impact of censoring what Canadians see online, led the charge against Bill C-11 inside Parliament.
