Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you so much for the question. That's actually a wonderful question and we're really glad to be sitting here today at the table with you. We wish we could have been at the table months and months ago. The answer to your question is that without community consultation, decisions will be made that don't adequately reflect the needs, priorities and the challenges of the communities that this bill and this committee is hoping to serve.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. It's a great question. I think the best way to do it is to support the three asks we have just asked for, and I believe the groundwork for these asks is already starting to take place in the amendments that are proposed in the bill, in the fact that the bill starts to recognize racialized communities.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm happy to answer that. Thank you for your question. We believe that the industry needs to be tasked with that monitoring, so that needs to happen at the CRTC level, even if they are burdened with many other tasks. We believe that to be so, because as we mentioned, for the last 30 years or so, equity has been part of the Broadcasting Act.

Canadian Heritage committee  It would look like senior staff who sit at the highest levels of power making sure that all the major funders, such as Telefilm and the Canada Media Fund and all of the broadcasters, are actually commissioning content, broadcasting content, exhibiting content and hiring representatives from the BIPOC community within their ranks.

Canadian Heritage committee  First, we request the mandatory collection of race-based data by broadcasters and funders. Over the last year the REMC has consulted with every major Canadian funder and broadcaster to ask who received funding, who is commissioned and who owns the IP of production. The answer across the board has been “we don't know”.

Canadian Heritage committee  Finally, we are calling for equity oversight through the appointment of senior equity officers both at the CRTC and at the Department of Canadian Heritage. The REMC knows well the power of data, but we also know that data is only a tool. In order for that data to truly make a difference, we need senior officers to ensure that the equity objectives of the bill are being met.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Mr. Simms. Thank you, members of the committee. My name is Sherien Barsoum and I am a producer and board member of the Racial Equity Media Collective, also known as the REMC. I am sharing my time with fellow board member and producer Amar Wala. We are grateful to have been invited to speak to this committee and to give voice to the needs and concerns of Black, indigenous and people of colour creators with respect to the Broadcasting Act proposed amendments.