John,
After it was finally passed by the Senate without
further amendments, the Liberals’ Bill C-11 became law at the end of
last week.
This bill is a first step in creating a
wall around the Canadian internet like the Chinese government does in
China.
In the first place, there is absolutely no
need for the government and the CRTC to tell platforms to modify their
algorithms to promote Canadian content. Canadians can decide what they
want for themselves without the government holding their hands.
But the bill is also very dangerous because of the
uncertainty about the possibility that it will be used to regulate
user content, whether made by independent creators, or by people like
you and me posting videos on YouTube.
The Senate has
no democratic legitimacy to reject a bill that the government clearly
wants to adopt, but it has a crucial role to play in our parliamentary
system in making sure all bills are constitutional, are clear and
consistent, and do not violate Canadians’ basic rights and freedoms.
In the case of Bill C-11, it’s unfortunate that the majority
of Senators caved in and voted for the bill even after the government
had rejected a crucial amendment proposed by senators Julie
Miville-Dechêne and Paula Simons.
This amendment was
meant to clarify that the law would not be used to regulate
independent creators on YouTube and other platforms, which would be a
clear violation of free expression.
Minister Pablo
Rodriguez has said he will issue a policy direction to the CRTC next
month on how to interpret the law that will clarify that content by
independent creators will not be captured by it.
Then
why not make it clear in the bill itself after so many people demanded
it?
Do the Liberals want to keep this option on the
table for the future?
Is this a way to incrementally increase
the government’s censorship powers?
Given how
authoritarian the Trudeau government has become, this is likely the
case.
The PPC will continue to oppose this law until
it is repealed.
John, if you care about
freedom of expression, please donate $10 today to help us continue this
fight!
Thank you,
-Max
P.S. If you have trouble finding where you can donate, you
can just click this link! https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/donate