Essay by Eric Worrall

As Bill C-11 advances towards becoming law, we ask whether the Canadian Government believes their people are so fragile they must be protected?

What Canadians are saying about Bill C-11

By Connor McDowell
February 6, 2023

Bill C-11 is inching closer to becoming the law, and Canadians are weighing in.

The legislation, if passed, will take aim at Canadians’ online feeds. One such affected feed could be their homepage on YouTube, where content would be prioritized based on goals set out by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). 

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On Monday, prominent Canadian internet and e-commerce law professor Michael Geist said trust is waning in the CRTC because it acts like an arm of the government instead of acting like an independent regulator.

“Just last week […] Rodriguez told an industry conference that he could ‘direct the CRTC on many things and in many ways,’” wrote Geist on Substack.

On Twitter, he wrote the government may have “lost the script” about Bill C-11.

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Read more: https://tnc.news/2023/02/06/bill-c-11-1/

This Canadian effort echoes President Biden’s apparent attempt last year to outlaw “disinformation”, by putting the talentless Nina Jankowicz in charge of the thankfully short lived Disinformation Governance Board.

What has gone wrong with society? Why are there such attempts to encroach on our most fundamental liberty, the right to communicate openly with our fellows? Why is the Canadian Government pushing Bill C-11? Why did Biden push his Disinformation Governance Board?

Whatever the answer to this question, I hope the next administrations, in both Canada and the USA, puts a stop to it.