Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has said, once again, that the federal government plans to develop policies that will help level the playing field between digital giants, such as Facebook and Google, and ensure news publishers are compensated for the use of their content.
According to the Canadian Press story, Rodriguez acknowledges that the news industry is facing a “critical situation”.
“In the last 15 years about 450 news outlets have closed,” Rodriguez is quoted as saying. “If you only go back to February 2020, 63 of those outlets have closed so we have to act. I would say there is a crisis in the Canadian news system.”
NDP MP Peter Julian said in the story that swift action on this issue is needed. Julian supports the so-called Australian model to ensure digital giants pay for news.
Rodriguez added there was a “general consensus” that the Australian legislation was “fair” and that “there will be things that will be specifically Canadian” in the bill he plans to bring forward.
