Day Seven at the Heritage Committee: #C11 Filibuster Continues

June 9, 2022

Yesterday’s meeting of Heritage Committee MPs charged with reviewing the Online Streaming Act C-11 was again filibustered by the Conservative party.

Liberal MP Chris Bittle kicked off the two-hour session with a motion to commence clause by clause consideration of amendments on June 13th and, upon finishing C-11, move on to the Conservative motion to investigate whether Hockey Canada used public funds in settling a sexual assault lawsuit.

Conservative MP John Nater —-the Tories’ Committee Vice Chair— opposed the motion and, as a signal of the CPC’s intentions of indefinite filibuster, announced that he had another “twenty witnesses” he wants to call on C-11 in addition to the approximately 30 that have been questioned over the last three weeks.

NDP MP Peter Julien proposed a compromise of assigning the next two Committee days to Hockey Canada and then resuming C-11 and Hockey Canada “simultaneously.”

The Conservatives rejected that and filibustered the remainder of the afternoon without any clear path for the Committee over the remaining two weeks of the Parliamentary session.