C-354 – An Act to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act (Quebec’s cultural distinctiveness and French-speaking communities) – makes it so the CRTC needs to consult with Quebec before making any regulations that relate to its “cultural distinctiveness”. It also needs to consult with other provincial governments when such regulations would impact their French-speaking communities.
I’m fuzzy on just what type of regulations would be affected by this, and have reached out to M. Beaulieu for more info on just what this would do.
Why does C-354 matter?
The Bloc Québécois are pushing this Bill out of concern that the CRTC is no longer working with Quebec to protect its interests in French-language media. They call out that there’s no formal system for Quebec to require the CRTC consult them on issues that affect them, and are concerned that the tradition of alternating between francophones and anglophones for chair of the CRTC has now been broken. They say that C-354 is important to protect French culture in Canada.
The Liberals argue that Quebec already has ways to speak to the CRTC during consultations. They point out that the requirements for consultations often include meeting with language minorities that are affected by the decision, as well as open consultations which Quebec could use to make its case for or against whatever’s being discussed.
Progress
C-354 went up for its Second Reading vote and passed with 167 in favour and 150 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 148 | 4 |
| Conservative | 111 | 0 | 3 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 31 | 0 | 1 |
| NDP | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 |
C-354 will now be sent to the Committee on Canadian Heritage.