1 Unifor’s Bill C18 Amendments Unifor lauds the government’s initiative to support Canadian news media and to acknowledge and address the pressures and challenges facing the Canadian news industry. Our proposals and position on a bargaining code continue to include three main principles: 1. Inclusivity, no eligible news outlets should be left behind, 2. Accountability, the money operators give news outlets should be spent on news creation, and 3. Transparency, all deals and monies should be publicly disclosed. With these three principles in mind, Unifor proposes the following amendments to bill C18: 1.

Definitions 1: 2(1) news content means content — in any format, including an audio or audiovisual format — that reports on, investigates or explains current issues or events of public interest and is primarily inclusive of original news content. This included language is exactly the language in 31 (2) and should be included in the definition of ‘news content’. The idea of original news content is included in the QCJO Income tax requirements and is obviously important so news is not recycled.

Exemption: 2. 11(1)(a)(ii) they ensure that an appropriate portion of the compensation will be used by the news businesses to support the production of local, regional and national news content, and is primarily inclusive of original news content. Eligible News Business Designation: 3. 27(1)(

b) produces news content that is primarily inclusive of original news content and primarily focused on matters of general interest and reports of current events, including coverage of democratic institutions and processes, and Because of the inclusion of this language in 31 (2) its absence can be concerning in the remaining clauses that do not include the language, hence the updating of 11(1)(a)(ii) and 27(1)(b) 1 Original News (noting that the eligibility criteria for QCJO Income Tax Act referenced in section 27(1)(

a) of the Bill include original news): https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue- agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/corporations/business-tax-credits/canadian- journalism-labour-tax-credit/guidance.html#orignws 2 4. Exemptions: S. 11(1)(a)(

v) they ensure a significant portion of independent local news businesses, and in any event all eligible news businesses, benefit from them, they contribute to the sustainability of those businesses and they encourage innovative business models in the Canadian news marketplace, and Platforms are encouraged to apply for exemption by bargaining with news businesses.

These news businesses may be QCJO eligible already, but they may be a broadcaster (they’re currently not exempt businesses) or other legitimate, but not currently exempt businesses) Therefore, if for example, a platform ignores a legitimate broadcaster, they could be left out because they might be deemed ‘insignificant’, but that could trigger them to apply to the CRTC for eligibility. If they receive that eligibility, with this amendment, the platform would be forced to bargain with them and they would not be left behind. If they did not become ‘eligible’ then they could be rightly excluded.

Arbitration (covering issues of transparency and proportionality): 5. 36 The Commission may, at the request of an arbitration panel, provide administrative and technical assistance to the panel and provide on any confidential information in the possession of the Commission on terms deemed suitable by the Commission. Unifor believes that arbitrators should have access to the value of these deals and any other confidential information or their decisions will be ill informed. 6. 38 Factors An arbitration panel must take the following factors into account in making its decision: (

a) the value added, monetary and otherwise, to the news content in question by each party, as assessed in terms of their investments, expenditures and other actions in relation to that content; and (

b) the benefits, monetary and otherwise, that each party receives from the content being made available by the digital news intermediary in question; and (

c) comparable value and benefits in other agreements and arbitration decisions. 7. 43 An arbitration panel must provide written reasons for its decision to the parties and the Commission and the Commission shall make the agreement public in a database of covered agreements. Although we believe that the these deals should be made public, there may be time limitations on this information, but we suggest arbitrators should have vip access, when requested. 3 Code of Conduct: 8. 49(3)(

d) respecting the information, including confidential information, that the parties require to make informed business decisions. Submitted Respectfully, Randy Kitt Director, Unifor Media/ Directeur du secteur des médias, Unifor M : 416-806-2331| @uniformedia Gordon Baker Road, Toronto, ON, M2H 0A8 Unifor.org