The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says there is no time for delay in enacting the Online Streaming Act.
The Globe's Marie Woolf quotes Ms. St-Onge saying, "We want to make sure that we still have creators and a system to save." The federal government on Tuesday is set to publish its final policy direction to the CRTC, the regulator in charge of implementing the act. That direction, which lets the CRTC know how the government wants the legislation to be interpreted, includes emphasizing the need to support French programming.
The Online Streaming Act, also known as Bill C-11, modernizes Canada's broadcasting laws and would make foreign-owned platforms such as Spotify, Netflix and YouTube promote Canadian films, music and programs and financially support their creation, including in French.
In a recent submission to the CRTC, broadcasters such as BCE's Bell Media called for it to implement urgently the Online Streaming Act, which obtained royal assent in June.
Ms. St-Onge blamed the Conservatives for delaying the bill's passage into law by using parliamentary manoeuvres, something she calls "games and the obstruction that the Conservatives played in the House."
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