OTTAWA – The Liberal government has unveiled the draft regulations that will implement its Online News Act, legislation that Google and Meta have said could lead them to permanently block news content on their platforms in Canada.
The government has said it hopes the new regulations will cause Google and Meta to reconsider those plans, but Meta remained unmoved Friday while Google said it’s still assessing whether its concerns have been addressed.
Government officials said that under the legislation Google could contribute $172 million a year and Facebook $62 million to Canadian news publishers, based on Google’s global search revenues and Meta’s Facebook global revenues. That’s about in line with previous department estimates but lower than the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s $329 million estimate last year.
But officials said those numbers could be revised up or down because the government is open to consulting with affected parties and adjusting the formula.
Since a stand-off with the tech giants began after the passage of the Online News Act (formerly known as Bill C-18), the government has been hoping Google and Meta’s issues with the law — such as the lack of a cap on how much they would have to pay news publishers — could be addressed through the regulatory process.
“As the legislation is based on the incorrect assertion that Meta benefits unfairly from the news content shared on our platforms, today’s proposed regulations will not impact our business decision to end news availability in Canada,” Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta Canada said in a statement.
Curran said “the regulatory process is not equipped to address the fundamentally flawed premise of the Online News Act.”
Google has suggested it is more open to compromise, although it has also said it plans to pull news from Google search and other products if its concerns aren’t addressed.
A Google spokesperson said Friday the company is “carefully reviewing the proposed regulations to assess whether they resolve the serious structural issues with C-18 that regrettably were not dealt with during the legislative process.”
The legislation, passed in June, would force the two tech giants to share revenues with news publishers (Postmedia, publisher of the National Post, has publicly supported the legislation). If the companies pull links to news articles from their platforms, the Online News Act will no longer apply to them.
On Friday, the government provided detail on how it would provide room in the regulations to allow Google and Meta to reach voluntary deals with publishers that could exempt the tech companies from being subject to the legislation’s mandatory bargaining and arbitration process administered by the CRTC. Those deals could include both monetary and non-monetary contributions.
That also means the total payments to news publishers could be lower than the government estimates.
To calculate the revenue-sharing payments, the government is using a formula that multiplies the platforms’ global revenue with the Canadian share of global GDP, multiplied by a contribution rate of four per cent. Exactly what the government will ultimately consider as “global revenues” was not made clear Friday — for instance, whether Meta’s revenues from its Instagram platform would be included.
The deals must also include “collectives of certain size representing independent local, Indigenous and official language minority community news businesses,” the government said in background document. Small, independent news publishers say they have been the hardest hit by Meta’s decision to start blocking news a month ago.
An official said the government is “looking forward to engaging with (Meta and Google) in a constructive manner in the weeks ahead on the proposed approach.”
Paul Deegan, CEO of publishers’ group News Media Canada, said at “first pass, the regulations appear fair and balanced to both publishers and platforms. It gives everyone a level of clarity and predictability, which we have been calling for and welcome.”
The draft regulations are now open for a 30-day consultation period before being finalized.
Human Resources Officers must be very busy these days what with the general turnover of employees in our retail and business sectors. It is hard enough to find skilled people let alone potential employees willing to be trained. Then after the training, a few weeks go by then they come to you and ask for a raise. You refuse as there simply is no excess money in the budget and away they fly to wherever they come from, trained but not willing to put in the time to achieve that wanted raise.
I have had potentials come in and we give them a test to see if they do indeed know how to weld, polish or work with wood. 2-10 we hire, and one of those is gone in a week or two. Ask that they want overtime, and their laughter leaving the building is loud and unsettling. Housing starts are doing well but way behind because those trades needed to finish a project simply don’t come to the site, with delay after delay. Some people’s attitudes are just too funny. A recent graduate from a Ivy League university came in for an interview. The position was mid-management potential, but when we told them a three month period was needed and then they would make the big bucks they disappeared as fast as they arrived.
Government agencies are really no help, sending us people unsuited or unwilling to carry out the jobs we offer. Handing money over to staffing firms whose referrals are weak and ineffectual. Perhaps with the Fall and Winter upon us, these folks will have to find work and stop playing on the golf course or cottaging away. Tried to hire new arrivals in Canada but it is truly difficult to find someone who has a real identity card and is approved to live and work here. Who do we hire? Several years ago my father’s firm was rocking and rolling with all sorts of work. It was a summer day when the immigration officers arrived and 30+ employees hit the bricks almost immediately. The investigation that followed had threats of fines thrown at us by the officials. Good thing we kept excellent records, photos and digital copies. We had to prove the illegal documents given to us were as good as the real McCoy.
Restauranteurs, builders, manufacturers, finishers, trades-based firms, and warehousing are all suspect in hiring illegals, yet that becomes secondary as Toronto increases its minimum wage again bringing our payroll up another $120,000. Survival in Canada’s financial and business sectors is questionable for many. Good luck Chuck!. at least your carbon tax refund check should be arriving soon.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
skaszab@yahoo.ca
NORMAN WELLS, N.W.T. – Imperial Oil says it will temporarily reduce its fuel prices in a Northwest Territories community that has seen costs skyrocket due to low water on the Mackenzie River forcing the cancellation of the summer barge resupply season.
Imperial says in a Facebook post it will cut the air transportation portion that’s included in its wholesale price in Norman Wells for diesel fuel, or heating oil, from $3.38 per litre to $1.69 per litre, starting Tuesday.
The air transportation increase, it further states, will be implemented over a longer period.
It says Imperial is closely monitoring how much fuel needs to be airlifted to the Norman Wells area to prevent runouts until the winter road season begins and supplies can be replenished.
Gasoline and heating fuel prices approached $5 a litre at the start of this month.
Norman Wells’ town council declared a local emergency on humanitarian grounds last week as some of its 700 residents said they were facing monthly fuel bills coming to more than $5,000.
“The wholesale price increase that Imperial has applied is strictly to cover the air transportation costs. There is no Imperial profit margin included on the wholesale price. Imperial does not set prices at the retail level,” Imperial’s statement on Monday said.
The statement further said Imperial is working closely with the Northwest Territories government on ways to help residents in the near term.
“Imperial Oil’s decision to lower the price of home heating fuel offers immediate relief to residents facing financial pressures. This step reflects a swift response by Imperial Oil to discussions with the GNWT and will help ease short-term financial burdens on residents,” Caroline Wawzonek, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Infrastructure, said in a news release Monday.
Wawzonek also noted the Territories government has supported the community with implementation of a fund supporting businesses and communities impacted by barge cancellations. She said there have also been increases to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy in Norman Wells, and continued support for heating costs for eligible Income Assistance recipients.
Additionally, she said the government has donated $150,000 to the Norman Wells food bank.
In its declaration of a state of emergency, the town said the mayor and council recognized the recent hike in fuel prices has strained household budgets, raised transportation costs, and affected local businesses.
It added that for the next three months, water and sewer service fees will be waived for all residents and businesses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – A new report says many Canadian business leaders are worried about economic uncertainties related to the looming U.S. election.
The survey by KPMG in Canada of 735 small- and medium-sized businesses says 87 per cent fear the Canadian economy could become “collateral damage” from American protectionist policies that lead to less favourable trade deals and increased tariffs
It says that due to those concerns, 85 per cent of business leaders in Canada polled are reviewing their business strategies to prepare for a change in leadership.
The concerns are primarily being felt by larger Canadian companies and sectors that are highly integrated with the U.S. economy, such as manufacturing, automotive, transportation and warehousing, energy and natural resources, as well as technology, media and telecommunications.
Shaira Nanji, a KPMG Law partner in its tax practice, says the prospect of further changes to economic and trade policies in the U.S. means some Canadian firms will need to look for ways to mitigate added costs and take advantage of potential trade relief provisions to remain competitive.
Both presidential candidates have campaigned on protectionist policies that could cause uncertainty for Canadian trade, and whoever takes the White House will be in charge during the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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