Ottawa, ON – John Nater, Conservative Shadow Minister for Canadian Heritage, released the following statement regarding the passage of Bill C-11:

“The Online Streaming Act is a deeply flawed bill that was forced through the House of Commons through an undemocratic process.

“Bill C-11 does not modernize the Broadcasting Act, it simply takes a 31-year-old regulatory framework and applies it to modern technology it is not compatible with.

“Bill C-11 is a backwards-looking bill. Once implemented, it will provide barriers to innovation and global competitiveness that will hold back our broadcasting industry.

“Conservatives were clear that the provisions that enable the inclusion of User Generated Content need to be removed from this bill. Unfortunately, at every attempt, the Liberals and their partners in the NDP rejected this common-sense amendment.

“With the support of the NDP, the Liberal Government shut-down debate at every step of the legislative process.

“The Government’s approach was both heavy-handed and irresponsible.

“In order to pass this bill, they shut down debate in the House of Commons, ended witness testimony while dozens of voices were yet to be heard, and forced votes on over 100 amendments without any discussion or explanation. 

“Most concerning, when confronted with criticisms, the Government ignored the evidence provided by those who work in the industry and accused anyone who shared legitimate concerns of spreading misinformation.

“The truth is, the Liberals and NDP have been repeating falsehoods about the contents of the bill and the undemocratic processes they have been supporting to get this bill through the House of Commons to meet an arbitrary deadline.

“With the passage of Bill C-11, the future of Canadian creators is far less clear.”