New Heritage Minister ‘Open’ to Talks With Big Tech, Takes Harder Line in Media Interview

Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge takes the oath of office as Prime Minister Justin Trdueau looks on, during a cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on July 26, 2023. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

New Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says her “door is always open” for talks with big tech amid the fight over the Online News Act. However, she took a harder line when speaking with the Globe Mail afterward, saying her government was “going to keep standing our ground.”

The former sports minister told reporters outside Rideau Hall after the cabinet shuffle ceremony on July 26 that she would follow in her predecessor’s footsteps and remain open to discussions, but Canadian culture and media protection remains the focus.

“The idea is to protect our cultural sector and our media sector to make sure that our cultural artists or creators, and also our journalists and our newsrooms, are thriving and that they can continue doing their job in making democracy alive and well,” said Ms. St-Onge.

In a major shuffle, Ms. St-Onge replaced Pablo Rodriguez who took over the transport portfolio from Omar Alghabra.

Mr. Rodriguez was asked during a post-shuffle media scrum whether he thought he was being moved out of Heritage because of his “failure.”

“You call passing those two bills C-11 and C-18 a failure?” he said. “There’s enormous work that’s been done and I have confidence in Pascale to continue this important work,” he added in French.

Bill C-11, which revamped the Broadcasting Act and put online “undertakings,” described as “the transmission or retransmission of programs over the Internet,” under the regulatory control of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, became law in April.

Bill C-18, the Online News Act, became law in late June and compels social media companies to pay media outlets for the display of news links on their platforms.

The government wants to sustain media companies with big tech money, as the companies have seen their ad revenues steadily decline while the web giants’ share increased.

The legislation is supported by legacy media, with some having taken a public stance on their position.

“CBC/Radio-Canada’s corporate position is that the Online News Act will help level the playing field and contribute to a healthy news ecosystem in Canada,” the public broadcaster wrote in a news article on the controversy.

The new law so far has had the complete opposite intended effect, with web giants Meta and Google refusing to pay and poised to block the display of news links for Canadian users. The increased web traffic media outlets were receiving free of charge through the platforms is now in jeopardy.

The Liberal government says what the companies are doing is undermining Canada’s political system, citing the need for healthy journalism to keep them accountable.

“This is not just a dispute over advertising, it’s also a dispute over democracy,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on July 5.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, a former journalist, said on July 21 there’s a “real challenge” when media outlets receive funding from the government, hence “the resources do have to come from the tech companies.”

Meta says the legislation is “fundamentally flawed” and “ignores the realities of how our platforms work, the preferences of the people who use them, and the value we provide news publishers.”

Google told The Washington Post in July it continues to have “significant concerns” about structural issues within the legislation and doubts those can be addressed through regulations.