Branden Leslie

Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 27 wordsI will start by saying that there are many ways to describe the latest CRTC ruling on streaming services, but I will start with the obvious one: ProcedurePositioning · 10 wordsThis is wild. However, it is not all that surprising.Positioning Claims · 25 wordsConservatives warned that this would happen. We warned that the Online Streaming Act was never just about making Netflix and others pay their fair share. Positioning · 7 wordsThe real issue was always much bigger.Positioning Claims · 25 wordsThe government handed the CRTC broad new authority over the Internet and then asked Canadians to trust that the regulator would not go too far, Procedure · 4 wordsbut here we are.Procedure Claims · 46 wordsThe CRTC has decided that streaming services such as Netflix, Disney, Amazon and others must spend or contribute 15% of their Canadian broadcasting revenues towards Canadian programming.¹ That includes the 5% payment already imposed in 2024, ²which several major streaming companies are still fighting in court.³ Reasoning · 24 wordsIf the government believes , like the Conservatives do, that this ruling has perhaps gone too far, it does have options at its disposal. Claims · 24 wordsIt can direct the CRTC to change course. It can bring forward legislation to narrow or repeal the powers that it gave the CRTC. Positioning · 35 wordsIt can stop pretending this is someone else’s problem. However, what it cannot do is hand the CRTC a blank cheque over streaming and then deny responsibility when the bill is passed on to Canadians.Positioning Procedure · 8 wordsLet us be clear about what is happening.ProcedureUnearned certainty Claims · 46 wordsThe government is taking the old Canadian broadcast model built for cable boxes, rabbit ears, licences and cable packages and is trying to stretch it out over the entirety of the Internet. The CRTC says this is going to create far more money for Canadian content.⁴ Positioning · 18 wordsOn the surface, that sounds absolutely wonderful. Why would we not want more money flowing to Canadian content?Positioning Claims · 33 wordsNo member of the House, including me, is against Canadian stories, artists, actors, writers, directors, musicians and all the people behind the scenes who make the industry work. We all support Canadian creators, Procedure · 6 wordsbut this is not the debate.Procedure Reasoning · 22 wordsThe question is whether supporting Canadian creators requires another unnecessary and costly tax while Canadian consumers are paying more for their services. Procedure · 3 wordsMake no mistake.Procedure Claims · 22 wordsAs much as the government likes to claim it, this is not just free money becoming available. Streaming companies are not charities. Reasoning · 54 wordsWhen the government makes it more expensive to operate in Canada, there are only a few places the money can come from. It can come, which is most likely, from higher subscription services and prices. It can come from fewer services, less choice or reduced investment in Canada. The money will come from somewhere. Positioning · 44 wordsThat is the part that defenders of this scheme always seem to skip. They talk as if the government had discovered a new cultural oil well: Lower the bucket, haul up the cash and sprinkle it around, and everything is going to be fantastic.Positioning Claims · 37 wordsWhat they have really done is impose a new cost on platforms that Canadians already pay for and then pretend that the cost is never going to show up on anyone’s bill any time in the future. Positioning · 111 wordsThis is the loony-tune type of rhetoric the government likes to project on taxpayers. Costs are never costs, and taxes are never taxes. It is always a framework, a contribution, a modernization or a flexible approach, but flexible for whom? It is flexible for the lobbyists who know how to work the system at the expense of citizens. It is flexible for the established players who know how to fill out the forms, meet the specific definitions, hire the right consultants and navigate the maze that is the CRTC. However, for a family watching the cost of its monthly subscriptions go up yet again, it is not that flexible at all.Positioning Claims · 39 wordsPeople are leaving and have left cable for a reason. They wanted choice. They wanted control over what they consume. They wanted a service that could bring a little bit of joy at the end of their busy days. Positioning · 13 wordsThe Internet is not cable with Wi-Fi. It is a completely different world.Positioning Claims · 20 wordsThe old broadcasting system was built around scarcity. There were only so many frequencies, channels, licences and time slots available. Reasoning · 21 wordsThat is why the old system was built around quotas, licences, mandatory contributions and rules about what had to be shown. Claims · 101 wordsThe Internet functions entirely differently, as we all know.Unearned certainty It is built around abundance: endless shelf space, choice and competition, with millions of creators reaching audiences directly without needing permission from a broadcaster or a regulator. A small creator in Winkler with a camera can reach an audience. A musician in Portage can create a song and put it online. A podcaster in Morden can speak directly to listeners anywhere in the world. They do not need to wait for a broadcaster to discover them. That is not a loophole in Canadian culture. That is Canadian culture in the modern world, Procedure · 7 wordsand it does not stop at money.Procedure Claims · 10 wordsThe CRTC is also getting involved in something called “discoverability”. Procedure · 4 wordsDiscoverability might sound harmless, ProcedurePositioning · 7 wordsbut on the Internet, discoverability is everything.Positioning Claims · 33 wordsIt is about what appears on someone’s home page, what gets recommended to them, what shows up in their search, what gets suggested next, what becomes easy to find and what gets buried. Reasoning · 17 wordsWhen the government starts saying that certain content must be made more discoverable, the question becomes simple: Positioning · 23 wordsIs something more discoverable because viewers asked for it, or is it more discoverable because the regulator nudged the platform into pushing it?Positioning Procedure · 5 wordsThis is no small question.Procedure Positioning · 29 wordsOn streaming platforms, the recommendation system is the store. It is the shelf. It is the front window. It is the clerk saying, “Hey, you may also like this.”Positioning Reasoning · 32 wordsWhen government starts directing how content should be presented, promoted, searched and surfaced, it is no longer just funding Canadian creators. It is getting involved in what Canadians are nudged to watch. Positioning · 5 wordsThat should make people uncomfortable, PositioningReasoning · 10 wordsbecause that should not be the job of the government. Claims · 21 wordsThe Liberal government has already pushed through enough censorship legislation and has advocated for more control in the lives of Canadians.Partly on point Positioning · 18 wordsNobody wants the government to further interfere in what they watch at home alone or with their family.Positioning Reasoning · 51 wordsI believe that culture is strongest when people choose it freely. It is definitely not when the government puts its thumb on the scale and then congratulates itself for creating demand. The more government regulates online culture, the more it starts deciding what counts as Canadian culture in the first place. Claims · 66 wordsA show is treated as Canadian not simply because Canadians like it or because it is a Canadian story. It has to pass through a maze of ownership rules, spending rules, rights rules and points for approved jobs behind the scenes. The entire purpose of streaming was for people to watch what they wanted, when they wanted it, and definitely without the government’s interfering in it. Reasoning · 8 wordsThe government will say it is about fairness: Claims · 11 wordsCanadian broadcasters have had to contribute to the system for decades, ⁹Reasoning · 6 wordsso foreign streamers should contribute too. Positioning · 6 wordsThat is, frankly, the strongest argument.Positioning Claims · 139 wordsHowever, Netflix, Disney and Spotify did not break Canadian broadcasting. The Internet changed, as did its its viewers, its advertising and its technologies. People got used to choosing what they wanted instead of paying for a bundle of things they did not want to watch. There is also, of course, a serious trade issue with this. Companies such as Apple, Amazon and Spotify have already challenged the 5% ruling from the CRTC, ⁵and it is still before the courts. The United States has raised trade concerns regarding the decision.⁶ The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has criticized the CRTC’s move, arguing that the rules target American streaming services and interfere with platform operations.⁷ These are not some fringe organizations on the sidelines. This is the organized voice of major American businesses looking at the Canadian regulatory system and raising concerns. Reasoning · 10 wordsThis lands, of course, at the worst possible time, because, Claims · 50 wordsas we know, we are heading into a CUSMA review.⁸Unearned certainty Our economy depends heavily on keeping access to the American market stable and predictable. At a time when our trade relationship with the United States is already uncertain, the CRTC has handed the American negotiators a fresh grievance to use. Positioning · 33 wordsWhy are we making Canada look more complicated, more expensive and more hostile to digital investment? The Liberal government should be trying to attract investment instead of giving reasons to scare it away.Positioning Reasoning · 15 wordsThe defenders of this scheme will say it helps Canadian creators, which is partially true. Claims · 21 wordsSome established producers will benefit: the people who already know how to navigate the system and exactly where to line up. Positioning · 79 wordsHowever, what about the independent Canadian creator building an audience on YouTube, Spotify, Patreon, TikTok or a podcast? What about the Canadian filmmaker who gets global backing but does not fit neatly into the CRTC’s preferred category? What about the next generation of Canadian creators who do not want to wait at the gate? They want to build, they want to publish, they want to stream, they want to sell, they want to perform, and they want to compete.Positioning The ask · 47 wordsThere is a much easier way to support Canadian creators: Make it easier to produce content here, attract more investment, keep our taxes competitive, remove barriers, and open markets. We need to let Canadian stories reach audiences in their living room, at home and around the world. Reasoning · 14 wordsWe cannot build a cultural industry by giving government more power over the Internet. Positioning · 27 wordsI strongly support Canadian content, and we should absolutely celebrate it, but Canadians are not children. They do not need the government hovering over the remote control.Positioning Reasoning · 16 wordsCanadian culture and Canadian wallets would be better served if government got out of the way.