Canada seeks deeper ties with Indo-Pacific as Trudeau attends ASEAN summit in Laos

Global hitmaker Bryan Adams is adding his voice to opposition over new federal regulations on streaming.

The “Cuts Like a Knife” and “All For Love” singer released a video on social media saying elements of the Online Streaming Act would make it harder for Canadian musicians to break through globally.

The video echoes points raised by a national campaign by the Digital Media Association, which represents the world’s leading music streaming companies including Amazon, Apple Music, Feed.FM, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube.

The group says Ottawa’s requirement that big foreign streamers financially contribute to Canadian content could result in them raising subscription prices, and thereby make those services less affordable.

Federal Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says she’s glad Adams jumped into the debate but disputes his description of the rule as “a streaming tax.”

She says the changes are meant to help emerging Canadian artists, many of whom complain about the difficulty of finding an audience on global digital platforms.

“If you talk to them, they’re going to tell you that online streaming platforms don’t pay them enough and also that it’s hard for them to be discovered on these streaming platforms,” St-Onge said Wednesday in Ottawa.

“This is what the legislation that we passed is intended for — it’s to help local Canadian artists both get better pay and also get discovered on these streaming platforms.”

The Online Streaming Act is currently in the hands of the CRTC, which said in June that foreign streamers must contribute five per cent of their annual Canadian revenues to funds devoted to producing Canadian content, including local TV and radio news, as well as Indigenous and French-language content.

The CRTC said the rule would apply to companies that make at least $25 million in Canadian revenue and are unaffiliated with a Canadian broadcaster. The contributions are expected to bring in about $200 million per year.

Adams has been a longtime critic of Ottawa’s approach to the Canadian music industry. The singer spoke out earlier this year about how Canadian content is defined, and in the early ‘90s complained about CanCon.

St-Onge described the call for streamers to help fund Canada’s creative ecosystem “a base contribution” that homegrown companies have been making for years.

“It was the right thing to do a few decades ago and it’s still the right thing to do today.”

– With files from Alessia Passafiume in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

HALIFAX – A 14-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy near a Halifax mall earlier this year.

A spokeswoman for the provincial Public Prosecution Service confirms the girl appeared in Halifax Youth Court on Monday, when she also pleaded guilty to a charge of violating the release conditions of her bail.

Melissa Foshay says the Crown is no longer seeking an adult sentence for the girl, who was initially charged with second-degree murder.

The teen is scheduled to return to court Oct. 30 when facts will be entered and a publication ban will also be considered to protect the right to a fair trial for the others accused in the case.

Two boys now aged 17 and another boy who is 15 were also charged with second-degree murder.

The victim was found badly injured in April in a parking garage next to the Halifax Shopping Centre and he died later in hospital.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

TORONTO – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the federal government is moving ahead with guidelines around sustainable investing and corporate climate disclosures, but details on the plans are scarce.

A wide range of investors, asset managers and environmental groups have been pushing the government to roll out such guidelines, also known as green taxonomies, to attract more investment for emissions-reducing projects.

Frustration has been mounting as efforts to create such guidelines have been in the works for years in Canada, with multiple groups tasked with creating recommendations but still nothing in place.

Those looking for answers will, however, have to wait longer, as the government says it plans to have a third-party organization develop the taxonomy, with the first guidelines issued within a year of the organization beginning its work.

On the potential inclusion of fossil fuels — a key area of contention — the government says it doesn’t anticipate new natural gas production would qualify, but that drafters could consider existing natural gas for its potential to displace more polluting fuels internationally.

For company disclosures, the government says it will launch a regulatory process to figure out what information, and what size of private federal corporations, will be included.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.