And of course, the NDP voted along with the government.
Bill C-18 – the Online News Act – will no longer be debated.
The Liberals – along with the support of the NDP – voted to end debate on the legislation.
As noted by Michael Geist, this means that the Liberal heritage minister – in charge of pushing the legislation – spent more time debating the end of debate on C-18 than he did debating the legislation itself:
“Total minutes Heritage Minister @pablorodriguez has spent in the House debating C-18: 0
Total minutes Heritage Minister @pablorodriguez has spent in the House debating cutting off C-18 debate: 30
The motion to end debate on Online News Act just passed with support of the NDP.”
Total minutes Heritage Minister @pablorodriguez has spent in the House debating C-18: 0
Total minutes Heritage Minister @pablorodriguez has spent in the House debating cutting off C-18 debate: 30
The motion to end debate on Online News Act just passed with support of the NDP.
— Michael Geist (@mgeist) May 30, 2022
More government control
During their time in office, the Liberals have steadily moved in one direction:
More state control over the media.
And Bill C-18 is another example of that.
Here’s how the government describes it:
“Bill C-18 would require tech giants to make fair commercial deals with outlets for the news and information that is shared on their platforms. The deals would need to provide fair compensation, respect journalistic independence and invest in a diversity of Canadian news outlets, including independent local businesses, among other criteria. The bill allows media outlets, big and small, to bargain collectively. This is fundamentally fairer for Canadian news media, which will be able to negotiate on more equal terms with the tech giants. If deals are made between digital platforms and news media within certain timelines that meet specific criteria, digital platforms can seek an exemption from a requirement to enter into a negotiation process that could lead to final offer arbitration.”
The legislation has led to some platforms stating they may end up ceasing the provision of their services all together, rather than go along with the legislation.
As many have noted, social media companies don’t take away revenue from media institutions. Rather they provide – free of charge – access to a much larger audience than the media institution could get on its own.
To demand that social media companies provide that service and then on top of that give money to the media is illogical.
Government registration of media outlets
Of course, we know that the real goal of this legislation is to expand state control over what Canadians see and hear.
To that end, the government states the following:
“In the months following the Online News Act coming into force, the CRTC would publish guidelines for news organizations to apply for eligibility status in the regime.”
The government will decide who is eligible and who isn’t.
This creates yet another incentive – on top of all the other media bailouts – for media companies to be friendly to the government and promote the actions of the government.
Meanwhile, those who think in an independent way, and those who advocate for more freedom rather than to expand government power, will almost certainly be rejected.
In effect, the government has decided that Canadians have ‘chosen wrong’ in their media consumption habits, and are using state power to ‘correct’ that.
It’s incredibly arrogant, and deeply authoritarian for the government to impose it’s own preferences on the population rather than respect the free market choices Canadians have made.
And by shutting down debate on C-18, the Liberals (and NDP) once again show that their desire for power and control overrides everything else.
Spencer Fernando
***
The Liberal-NDP Coalition is damaging Canada, and we need strong Independent Media to push back. If you support my independent voice, you can make a contribution through PayPal, or directly through Stripe below.
[simpay id=”28904″]
