While Ms. Bulte has expressed a willingness to debate me on copyright issues sometime in the future, yesterday we both discussed the fundraiser issue on CBC Radio's Ontario Today.  I was interviewed first, followed by Bulte (real audio streams of interviews available at Geist, Bulte not working at the moment).  Bulte raised three points that I think merit comment (not including taking another swipe at me at the end of the interview).

First, she tried (unsuccessfully in my view) to distinguish between the hosting of a fundraiser and the sponsorship of a fundraiser.  She argued that CRIA, CMPDA, et al are merely hosting the event, rather than sponsoring it.  I don't think the argument did much for host Alan Neal as it feels like a Canadian version of "weapon of mass destruction related programs".  The problem here is holding a fundraiser directly linked to industry lobby groups four days before an election.  Whether sponsored or hosted, the concern remains the same.

Second, Bulte demonstrated the danger of drawing directly from the CRIA playbook.  She professed to represent the interests of artists in her riding, yet again made a point of raising the downloading issue.  The problem with this approach is that downloading has little to do with the interests of those same individual artists.  Fighting for Canadian artists is admirable but Bulte is seemingly using that support as a cover for advocating U.S. backed policies and organizations that contribute very little to the development of new Canadian music much less Canadian culture.

Third, Bulte made the startling claim that while artists were not well represented, Internet users have great support coming from Industry Canada.  This will be news to Industry Canada and once again does not stand up to scrutiny. Consider the hearings before Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in the spring 2004 which led to the Bulte report.  Bulte chaired that committee and certainly could have ensured that the hearings were balanced.  Unfortunately, user groups were scarcely heard from and there was no government ministry there to defend user interests.  On the other hand, the copyright industries were out in full force with the music industry and collectives represented by CRIA, SOCAN, ADISQ, CMRRA, and the CPCC among others.

In fact, there is more to this story.  According to documents obtained under an Access to Information request, as chair of the committee Ms. Bulte actively opposed the inclusion of an industry perspective in deliberations on copyright before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.  An email request from a senior Canadian Heritage official days before committee hearings in March 2004 asked whether invitations might be extended to members of the Industry Committee.  The terse response from an official says it all:

So while Ms. Bulte claims that users can rely on Industry support, the truth is that she has actively opposed inclusion of that perspective. That kind of balance is precisely why so many Canadians are troubled by the revelations involving Bulte and the financial support of some of the groups that appeared before her committee.

Update: I've just learned that Online Rights Canada, a joint initiative between EFF and CIPPIC, has launched a petition calling on all Canadian politicians to take the Copyright Pledge.  Learn more here and sign here.