House Votes to End Debate on Bill C-11 as Tories Object

The logos for streaming services Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and Sling TV are pictured on a remote control in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 13, 2020. Jenny Kane/AP

MPs voted on March 30 to close debate on the Senate’s proposed amendments for Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act.

The closure motion was moved by Government House Leader Mark Holland and passed by a vote of 173–145, with both the Liberals and NDP voting in favour and the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voting against it.

According to House rules, a motion for closure can be used by the government to prevent further debate on any matter—regardless of whether all members are finished speaking on it—so long as a majority of the House votes in favour of doing so.

Bill C-11 would give the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) authority to regulate digital streaming platforms such as Netflix and YouTube, requiring them to contribute to the creation and promotion of Canadian content.

The bill passed the House in June 2022 and the Senate in early February. Senators conducted a lengthy assessment of the bill and proposed a number of amendments to it—many of which the Liberal government rejected.

The House began debating the Senate’s amendments to Bill C-11 on March 29 and continued on March 30 before the Liberal government moved the motion for closure on debate.

Liberal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said that debate on the matter was dragging out the bill’s passage.

“It’s either we do nothing or we move forward,” he said in the House. “And doing nothing would be unacceptable in the context of the 21st century.”

“Why are you shutting down debate and not allowing this to go to committee so that you can hear from Canadians?” asked Conservative MP Tracy Gray.

Duclos replied, “We have spent and are spending enormous amounts of time with this bill.” He said talk on Bill C-11 has taken 66 hours in the House and 83 hours in the Senate. He said Conservative MPs have given “60 different speeches” on the matter.

After the motion for closure passed, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre took to Twitter to voice his disagreement.

“Trudeau’s team moments ago moved to shut down debate and ram through his online censorship bill,” he wrote, adding that his party is “still fighting” against the bill’s passage.

Conservative MP Rachael Thomas introduced a separate motion on March 27 to scrap Bill C-11 entirely, which the House began debating after the vote on closure.

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.