Cabinet confirmed Canadian government regulators might draft a pre-election code of conduct for newsrooms, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “The CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) may regulate the following areas: ‘Creation of a code of conduct [and] a complaint process pertaining to how groups of eligible news businesses are to be structured and their conduct under the Act,’” said Canadian Heritage in a regulatory impact analysis statement. Under Bill C-18, Canadian Heritage said newsrooms are subject to CRTC guidance on ethics. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge dismissed any suggestion of political interference at the CRTC. “They are independent, but the legislation is pretty clear,” said St-Onge. Parliament passed Bill C-18 in June, which compels Google to pay Canadian newsrooms $100 million from yearly ad revenues generated by linked revenues. Bill C-18 took effect on December 19, but it will require several months to implement. The Canadian government published the final regulations for Bill C-18 on December 15. READ MORE: Feds publish C-18 regs, give big carve-out to Google — without naming itThe rules outline what is and what is not considered a news outlet, who gets what and who has to pay. They outline the exemptions entities are not entitled to. The one exemption granted was for Google. Clause 27.1.b.iv of Bill C-18 states newsrooms applying for Google money must demonstrate compliance with a code of ethics. Canada has no nationally recognized code of ethics. “We will have to get precise on that,” said CRTC Executive Director of Broadcasting Policy Scott Shortliffe. “It puts frankly a bit of an onus on us to define that.” Shortliffe said there should be clear definitions. He added they should be neutral in how they apply. “They should not be written in such a way they either include or exclude a particular kind of news organization as long as that news organization can show it is a credible news organization,” said Shortliffe. Canadian Senators Group Sen. Pamela Wallin (Saskatchewan), who is a former national television journalist, questioned claims of political independence by the CRTC. “I am told by sources close to the matter there is almost daily contact between the leadership of the CRTC and the Minister’s office,” said Wallin. Independent Senators Group Sen. Paula Simons (Alberta), who is a former Edmonton Journal columnist, called the CRTC defining newsroom codes of conduct “anathema to a lot of print journalists who do not believe the government, the state, the Crown, should in any way be regulating the ethics of newspapers.”Advocacy groups have proposed any CRTC code include mandatory corrections of stories deemed inaccurate. The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said in a submission to the Senate Transport and Communications Committee in May current practies are insufficient. “The current approach of having media regulate themselves has just not been working as effectively as it should be,” said NCCM officer Rizwan Mohammad.“It has led to spikes, especially during election cycles, of targeting ethnic and religious minorities.”
