Western Standard - Bill C 18 WS to parliament, stop trying to help us!

00:00:00.160 Honourable Senators, thank you, Merci, for inviting me to testify before your committee today concerning Bill C-18, the Online News Act.

00:00:07.260 I come before you today representing Western Centre New Media Corporation, which includes a growing body of regional publications, including the revived Alberta Report.

00:00:15.040 We are a publication highly unlike the large corporate media that have lobbied for this bill.

00:00:20.580 As a so-called qualified Canadian journalism organization, we are eligible to receive the full suite of taxpayer subsidies that media are now entitled to in Canada.

00:00:29.200 But we refuse to accept them.

00:00:31.700 We believe that for media to be independent, we must be independent of the state.

00:00:36.160 While the legacy media in Canada cry poor and claim that they're unable to make ends meet in the challenging environment of our industry, we have thrived.

00:00:44.080 We have gone from a small group around my dining room table in 2019 to the most read online publication in Alberta.

00:00:50.440 We have a large newsroom in our Calgary headquarters, bustling with activity and breaking original stories every day.

00:00:55.740 We have bureaus in Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina and Ottawa.

00:00:59.800 And we did it all without the help of the government.

00:01:03.260 I'm here today to plead with you to help stop the government from forcing its help on us through C-18.

00:01:09.160 One of the most critical ways in which we were able to grow so quickly was the availability of platforms like Facebook to deliver our content to potential readers at no cost.

00:01:19.980 Facebook made it possible for startups like ours to get our products in front of potential customers without the need for large, costly delivery operations.

00:01:27.380 My first job was as a small town paper boy.

00:01:30.660 In the winter, I even delivered papers to a makeshift dog sled with my husky.

00:01:34.460 The local paper paid me to deliver their product to their customers.

00:01:38.780 In 2013, in 2023, Facebook is the new paper boy, albeit a very rich one.

00:01:44.660 They deliver our products to our customers, but they do it for free.

00:01:48.520 But greedy newspaper executives not content with the existing massive bailout of their failing businesses have come cap in hand to the government for even more.

00:01:56.500 What they got was Bill C-18, which would force Facebook and Google to pay them for their content, for delivering their content to their customers.

00:02:05.800 If the government had passed a law in 1995 requiring paper boys to pay the local paper for the privilege of delivering their products, I obviously would have quit.

00:02:14.700 It should come as no surprise then that that is what today's paper boys, Facebook and Google, have promised to do.

00:02:20.460 Of course, they will not pay the legacy media for helping the legacy media. 0.98

00:02:24.660 It's asinine. 0.80

00:02:25.340 There will be no free money from these tech giants. 0.94

00:02:29.320 They'll simply turn off the news in Canada.

00:02:32.140 And independent media in Canada will be collateral damage for their greed.

00:02:36.400 We never asked for this bill, and we were never consulted in it.

00:02:39.940 But we will have a massive source of our traffic turned off as Facebook and Google retaliate for this naked, rent-seeking operation.

00:02:48.080 Bill C-18 should be killed, but I understand that the Senate generally prefers to amend legislation rather than defeat it.

00:02:54.820 So here's my ask.

00:02:55.540 Please amend the bill to ensure that those of us not trying to grift our way to profitability are not collateral damage.

00:03:03.880 Please amend the bill to make it explicitly opt-in so that only media that want to partake in this shakedown are included.

00:03:10.240 Importantly, this includes removing or amending Section 51, which prohibits Facebook or Google from treating news media outlets differently.

00:03:18.780 This is important because these platforms should not be required to shut down content from media outlets like the Western Standard that are not trying to fleece them.

00:03:27.380 Let Goliath fight with Goliath, but do not require that the Davids here get caught in the crossfire of their squabble.

00:03:34.840 One of the most important principles of our common law is that the government cannot force two unwilling parties to enter into contract with one another against their will.

00:03:42.260 But that is precisely what Bill C-18 attempts to do.

00:03:45.400 A free press must be free to enter into its own contracts of its own free will.

00:03:49.740 And government's only role whatsoever must be in upholding those contracts in court.

00:03:53.380 More subsidies, direct and indirect, from taxpayers or other industries will not save the legacy media.

00:03:59.700 Competition, adaptability, and innovation will, if anything, can.

00:04:03.920 All these lifelines thrown to big media do is to stifle the ability of start-up new media to compete.

00:04:09.800 Parliament has no place in regulating the media.

00:04:12.820 The state has no place in the newsrooms of the nation.

00:04:16.100 I thank you for taking the time to hear me out.

00:04:18.020 And I beg of you, let the remaining free press remain free.

00:04:22.760 And please, for the love of God, stop trying to help us.

00:04:27.380 A first question, it's a short question for you, Mr. Derek Fildebrandt.

00:04:32.200 You said you wanted an opt-in clause.

00:04:37.000 How about, you know, other media have talked to me about this.

00:04:40.760 How about an opt-out clause in Section 27?

00:04:44.020 Because I understand that the CRTC can decide at any point who's in.

00:04:51.380 So, would you be satisfied with an opt-out clause for a media like yours?

00:05:00.700 And we've talked before, so I understand your question.

00:05:03.340 Thank you, Mr. Derek, it would be an improvement over the current bill.

00:05:08.920 But my concern is, in my discussions with Meta and Google, that their retaliation is...

00:05:18.340 I really hate that I have to sit here and defend two companies I really don't like.

00:05:22.820 But I'm not here to defend them.

00:05:24.700 They're just the least bad guy in this.

00:05:26.340 But they're going to retaliate for this, as they have a right to do and as I would expect them to do.

00:05:32.040 And they're probably not going to go through a list of the thousands of Alberta publications.

00:05:37.660 I know some of the senators here have sub-stack pages.

00:05:40.980 Those could very plausibly be considered news, to some extent.

00:05:46.080 Or at least opinion on news and caught within media and then blocked on these platforms.

00:05:51.140 And in my discussions with Meta and Google, they're not going to hire a whole team of people to crawl through every little page and say,

00:06:01.160 OK, well, these guys have opted out.

00:06:03.260 These guys are in.

00:06:03.860 They're just going to blanket ban it. 0.99

00:06:05.780 Which is why, if we make the bill opt-in, it makes it possible for us to contain this fight between the Goliaths to those who want to have the fight.

00:06:16.480 I don't want to have the fight and I shouldn't have to enter the ring and say, I shouldn't be by default in the ring.

00:06:22.640 I should not have to walk into it if I don't want to walk into it.

00:06:26.260 I suppose another interesting alternative would be to take the advice of one of the previous witnesses.

00:06:32.340 And I will voluntarily have us labeled as a hate group if that will get us out of this bill.

00:06:39.520 OK, thank you for this short answer.

00:06:41.940 Mr. Phil de Brandt, you were in the room when we heard the last witnesses talking about what they felt to be a need for a code of ethics.

00:06:52.860 As you well know, because back when I was a journalist and you were a politician,

00:06:58.340 we've changed roles here.

00:07:06.620 It's really important that the press be free to report without fear or favor.

00:07:15.040 And I realize I'm putting you in an awkward position since you have stated very plainly here that you do not wish the help of C-18. 0.99

00:07:22.340 But what challenges do you perceive in your new role as journalist with the idea of the CRTC deciding who's legitimate and who is not?

00:07:35.040 Thank you, Senator.

00:07:37.900 We already have so-called Canadian qualified journalism organization status.

00:07:43.020 I applied for it as a joke just to see what would happen.

00:07:46.020 I had no intention of accepting the subsidies, but we did get it.

00:07:49.700 And the kind lady from CRTC asked me if I would like any help.

00:07:52.720 And now filling out the forms for the different subsidies.

00:07:55.120 And I just said, no, it was all a gag.

00:07:57.700 And I thank the CRTC for it.

00:08:00.460 But there are challenges.

00:08:04.440 It's the CRA, right?

00:08:06.060 Sorry, I meant CRA, not CRTC.

00:08:07.960 Yeah, forgive me.

00:08:10.720 There are challenges.

00:08:12.580 Advertising is tough.

00:08:13.460 I've got you off, Mr. Chilibrant, but I have the unenviable task of being the gatekeeper today.

00:08:19.100 Cut off press and former politicians.

00:08:20.380 So freedom has its limits in the Senate.

00:08:24.180 I have a question for Mr. Chilibrant.

00:08:27.880 You explained your funding model.

00:08:33.460 As I have just said, how do you assess that?

00:08:45.020 How do you assess the revenues that you get in terms of advertisement?

00:08:51.600 And how much do you get from subscriptions?

00:08:54.400 I want to know exactly how do you evaluate the amount of money you get from publicities?

00:09:01.640 And how from the abonnements, how do you say abonnements?

00:09:06.400 Subscriptions.

00:09:06.820 Subscriptions.

00:09:08.680 We receive, our revenue is split.

00:09:11.320 It varies month to month.

00:09:12.780 But on average, we're roughly 50% subscriptions, 50% advertising.

00:09:17.720 It's fluctuated over time.

00:09:19.500 You know, it's taken us a long time to build up our capacity to sell a lot of advertising.

00:09:26.320 I mean, I'm not entirely without sympathy for media that have talked about the collapse

00:09:31.340 of the advertising model.

00:09:33.460 Google has come in.

00:09:34.500 Like, when we first started the Western Standard, we tried building Google ads, you know, that

00:09:38.780 auto-populate from Google and, and they just paid pennies on the dollar.

00:09:42.560 It wasn't worth it.

00:09:43.260 It just made the website look ugly and gave virtually no money.

00:09:45.760 So we took them out, but we had to painstakingly over a few years, build our ability to directly

00:09:52.140 sell ads to customers.

00:09:53.660 And that's very difficult work.

00:09:55.440 I hate it.

00:09:56.400 It's really hard to find people who are good at that.

00:09:59.760 But it is necessary to do for the media if they want to have any advertising side of it.

00:10:05.160 But conversely, we absolutely need subscriptions.

00:10:07.400 That's roughly 50% of our revenue.

00:10:10.160 We, we've referred to as memberships, but it's same thing, subscriptions.

00:10:12.840 And it's like 10, not to make this a commercial, but it's $10 a month.

00:10:16.960 And we have to, we have a limited paywall mechanism in place so that we're able to, between

00:10:23.700 those two sources, fund our operations.

00:10:25.340 Okay, so what I see from the advertising income that you get, you have reached independence.

00:10:39.660 That even if United Conservatives take out ads, you are nonetheless journalistically independent.

00:10:50.080 You're not affected by that ad that is on your site.

00:10:56.520 If they're willing to pay our, our posted rate, we've offered to sell ads to the Alberta New

00:11:02.940 Democratic Party, other smaller political parties.

00:11:06.640 We have private businesses that advertise, not-for-profit organizations.

00:11:11.420 Now, the independence, you know, Senator Simons, others here who have been around the business

00:11:19.460 know that you have to do your very best to try and have a firewall in place between your

00:11:25.240 advertisers and your newsrooms.

00:11:28.920 And most journalists will also know, especially, but particularly in smaller publications where

00:11:32.840 it's not a, you know, hundreds of people in a building where you can physically separate

00:11:37.940 each other.

00:11:38.220 Back in, you know, the 90s, maybe, the advertising department would never meet the news department.

00:11:43.140 But you have to try your very best to have a firewall in place.

00:11:46.420 But it is impossible to 100% separate it.

00:11:50.600 Any publisher who tells you otherwise is probably lying, which is one reason that direct government

00:11:56.080 funding of the media is so dangerous.

00:11:57.780 And now the proposal in C-18 to bring in tech giants funding the media is dangerous because

00:12:03.900 then we'll have these, I mean, no one advertiser for us makes up a critical portion of our

00:12:09.320 revenue.

00:12:10.200 But the government is making up 33% now.

00:12:12.860 I don't want you to be cut by the chair.

00:12:14.780 So I want to thank you for your, for your, your answer.

00:12:17.320 Merci pour, merci pour the, merci pour the, I guess the question I have with the couple

00:12:23.540 of minutes that are left is a, is has to do with CBC, which of course gets over a billion

00:12:28.200 dollars a year in government funding.

00:12:29.880 And simultaneously they compete in the same marketplace that your magazines and your local

00:12:35.660 newspapers are competing for advertising dollar.

00:12:38.140 And now we have a bill, which we are going to be giving them additional funding from digital

00:12:43.980 giants in order to continue to compete.

00:12:46.040 And of course, I'd like, I'd like to know what your views are on that sort of a follow

00:12:57.740 up to the question I didn't get to complete from Senator Simons about what are the challenges

00:13:02.700 we're facing.

00:13:03.380 The biggest challenge by far we face at the Western standard, at least is that our competitors

00:13:10.980 are subsidized with our own tax dollars.

00:13:13.820 We are a relatively small company paying taxes to Ottawa that are then redistributed

00:13:20.060 to our competitors.

00:13:22.060 So for instance, CBC, um, I'm not going to get to whatever anyone thinks about them, but

00:13:27.580 they're clearly a competitor.

00:13:29.140 And while they're technically a broadcaster, the distinctions between what is a broadcaster,

00:13:34.140 a magazine, a newspaper, they're irrelevant today.

00:13:37.300 I fought with the workers' compensation board about if the Western standard was a magazine

00:13:40.980 or a newspaper.

00:13:41.880 Well, we're in kind of neither.

00:13:42.800 We used to be a magazine at one point, but we had a fight over it because that determined

00:13:46.700 what our premiums were.

00:13:47.960 They're all the same thing.

00:13:49.100 We're all online.

00:13:50.140 Some have a physical manifestation with our CRTC license.

00:13:53.300 Some might have a physical print product, but you can't tell the difference with them

00:13:57.020 anymore.

00:13:57.620 So the CBC is not just competing with CTV and global.

00:14:00.880 They're competing with the Edmonton Journal, the Western Standard, the Toronto Star.

00:14:06.820 Um, but then post media, uh, you know, the Heralds, the journals, the Suns, they're competing

00:14:11.580 with us as well.

00:14:12.260 And they're doing so with our tax dollars against us.

00:14:14.560 Uh, C18 wouldn't necessarily be our tax dollars against us, but still giving a leg up to our

00:14:20.960 competitors over us.

00:14:22.900 Theoretically, if the money's actually there, I'm, I'm very skeptical that the money will

00:14:26.680 actually be there.

00:14:27.440 And just that we're going to be collateral damage in their fight between them.

00:14:31.260 But if there really is anything that Ottawa can do to help independent publishers, the

00:14:37.380 innovative ones, the guys who are selling light bulbs, not candles is to stop funding

00:14:42.920 the candle industry.

00:14:44.340 Stop trying to advantage our competitors over us with our own tax dollars and, and let nature,

00:14:51.100 let the market sort it out.

00:14:57.440 You can become a Western Standard member for just $10 a month or $99 a year for unlimited

00:15:02.200 access.

Western Standard - May 09, 2023

Bill C 18 WS to parliament, stop trying to help us!

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