Department of Canadian Heritage

• Three events have recently marked a powerful inflection point in Canadian journalism.
• First, Google and Meta announced they will no longer share Canadian news links on their platforms in response to the new Online News Act, Bill C-18, designed to make them pay for their use of Canadian journalism.

What’s at stake?

• At stake is the nature of the country’s communications ecosystem, affecting how Canadians get news and information that matters to them.
• As former journalists, researchers and co-founders of The Conversation Canada, a national not-for-profit news organization dedicated to sharing insights from academics, we support the emergence of the best possible journalism ecosystem given the conditions.

The role of Google and Meta

• For now, Canadians won’t notice anything different as Google says the changes will take place when the law comes into effect over the coming months.
• Similarly, Meta plans to phase out news by the end of the year.
• Google also announced that it would close down its Google News Showcase program, launched in 2021.

Act expected to take six months to be in place

• These moves by Google and Meta were precipitated by the Online News Act, which became law on June 22.
• It is likely to take six months to come into force as the Department of Canadian Heritage works out the details on how to enforce it.

How we got here

• The main focus of Google’s activities has involved funding individual organizations through direct payment deals for content on Showcase.
• The company has also provided funding for digital innovation and training, oriented within their own proprietary systems, and boot camps for startup entrepreneurs.
• For example, in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Google provided $1.5 million to 230 Canadian newsrooms.

Why now?

• This is separate to its support of the CBC, the country’s public broadcaster.
• And this is where the proposed moves by media giants Postmedia, Nordstar (publisher of the Toronto Star) and Bell come in.
• The larger questions for Canadians are about the nature, amount and quality of journalism and who controls its communications infrastructures.

Impact of Postmedia-Nordstar merger

• Examples such as the proposed merger of Postmedia and Nordstar illustrate one of the trade-offs under consideration about the amount of journalism content and who is doing it, in addition to journalist economic conditions.
• The last time the two companies made a deal to swap papers in 2017 resulted in 291 job losses and continuing centralization of content.
• How we understand what is happening now and how we got here is necessary to make sound policy decisions moving forward.

• Today, Chandra Arya, federal Member of Parliament (Nepean), announced $700,000 in funding to the Province of Ontario for the construction of a French-language public primary school and daycare service for in Barrhaven and Manotick.
• This project involves the construction of a new public primary school to serve the French-speaking community of Barrhaven and Manotick, south of Ottawa.
• The new school will be able to accommodate up to 475 students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 and will offer daycare services for 49 children.
• "We are pleased to begin construction of the Barrhaven-Manotick public elementary school, which will include a daycare centre.

• Through this trade mission, Canadian Heritage strives to deepen commercial ties and create export opportunities for Canadian small and mid-size enterprises in the interactive digital media, performing arts, music and book publishing subsectors of the creative industries.
• The trade mission will help to support Canada’s creative industries’ presence and expansion into the Indo-Pacific region.
• “Magmic is honoured to be invited to participate in the Canadian Creative Industries Trade Mission.
• This will be the first Canadian creative industries trade mission in the Oceania region.

• He made the announcement on behalf of the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
• The Government of Canada is providing $829,000 over two years for this project, while the Government of Ontario is investing $856,500 over three years.
• I am proud to announce this important investment for the redevelopment of certain spaces at École de la Rivière-des-Français."
• Over the years, École de la Rivière-des-Français has become not only a renowned educational institution, but also an essential gathering place in this community.