The Liberal government has shut down debate on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s controversial online censorship bill, in an effort to expedite the Online Streaming Act into law.
Several Conservative MPs, along with official opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, took to social media on Thursday to express outrage over the Liberals’ decision to end debate over Bill C-11, and instead send it for its final vote. “The Liberals have just announced that they’re shutting down debate,” Poilievre exclaimed. “They’re censoring debate on their censorship bill.”
If passed, Bill C-11 would regulate digital streaming platforms by prompting them to financially contribute towards the creation and promotion of Canadian content.
Proponents of the bill argue it will essentially extend the 1968 Broadcasting Act— which regulates how much Canadian programming is played by TV and radio broadcasters— to also cover major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Spotify, putting them under the control of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
According to McMaster University’s Public Policy in Digital Society program director Vass Bednar, Bill C-11 will deliver more Canadian culture and values to viewers via digital platforms. “And instead of building a whole new vehicle to do that, we’re trying to use the one that we have already, which is the CRTC,” she said.
Opponents to the online censorship bill argue it would give the CRTC— and the federal government at an arms-length— sweeping new powers to control the internet by defining what constitutes as Canadian content, ultimately controlling the programming available to Canadians. “For Canadians, that opens the door to state-controlled media,” said policy consultant Len St-Aubin. “Broadcasting regulation has always walked a fine line when it comes to freedom of expression. C-11 crosses the line.”
The Liberals, for their part, claimed the debate closure was warranted because the House and the Senate already spent countless hours pouring over the bill. “Within this House we spent 34 hours debating that bill, plus an additional 22 hours in committees,” said Liberal MP Jean-Yves Duclos. “This is history because this is the longest ever time that the Senate took— clause by clause— looking at the bill.”
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