Liberals say opponents of their internet regulation bill are ＂extremist＂
Episode Stats
Words per minute
174.23041
Summary
Justin Trudeau s Liberals continue to move forward Bill C-10, a bill that would monumentally transform the internet by putting virtually every aspect of online content under government regulation. Concerns about this have been raised by civil liberties advocates, by privacy experts, by professors, and by people across the spectrum. Yet the Liberals insist there's no problem. And just this week, a Conservative member of Parliament, Rachel Harder, raised concerns directly to Heritage Minister Stephen Gilbeau. She asked how the government can do this when this is exactly what would happen in a totalitarian country?
Transcript
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Justin Trudeau's Liberals continue to move forward Bill C-10,
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a bill that would monumentally transform the internet
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by putting virtually every aspect of online content under government regulation.
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Concerns about this have been raised by civil liberties advocates,
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by privacy experts, by professors, by people across the spectrum.
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Yet the Liberals insist there's no problem at all.
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And just this week, as a matter of fact, a Conservative member of Parliament,
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Rachel Harder, raised these concerns directly to Heritage Minister Stephen Gilbeau.
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She asked how the government can do this when this is exactly what would happen
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in a totalitarian country, government regulation of speech on the internet.
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We are seeing this government mimic behavior that is consistent with a basic dictatorship.
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With their transformational edit that they just made to Bill C-10,
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the Liberals are trying to give themselves the power to control what Canadians can read online,
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what they post on social media, and the videos that they watch on YouTube.
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Well, Mr. Speaker, that press release was issued yesterday.
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I think what we're seeing now is, you know, these are big, powerful, in fact,
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some of the wealthiest corporations on the planet.
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And clearly, the member opposite and her party are just afraid to stand up to them.
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And again, it seems that the Conservative Party is listening to the most extremist element of their party,
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as they have on very important issues, such as climate change or women's rights to choose, Mr. Speaker.
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When faced with a very realistic criticism, the Liberals have only one response.
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Just an accusation that the Conservatives are being big, old, mean, scary extremists,
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just like they are when it comes to abortion or climate change.
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Those are the only two issues the Liberals are capable of pivoting to,
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rather than accept that they are putting forward a policy that will send a chilling effect
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And the other part of this is incredibly disingenuous.
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Minister Gilboa said this is just about regulating some of the richest and most powerful corporations in the world.
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The Googles, the Apples, the Amazons, and so on.
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And while those companies will, of course, be regulated,
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the whole nature of platforms is that they have to be platforms for something.
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that is published by companies large and small and by individuals in Canada.
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And remember, it was the Liberals on the Heritage Committee
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that pushed an amendment on Bill C-10 that would ensure it encompassed user-generated content.
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That means this very video that you're watching now.
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It means anything that you post as an individual will all of a sudden be regulated by government,
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the ability to strike things from the internet,
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This is not just an egregious bill that violates the very fundamental freedoms
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we all enjoy in our lives and our ability to use the internet,
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but it's also egregious that the Liberals' defense of this bill
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involves just calling anyone who criticizes it an extremist.
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There should be more political opposition to this,
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and it's a shame that so far the only real opposition
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is coming from just one party, and the Conservatives.
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The whole point of what the Liberals are trying to do here
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is to put government in the driver's seat on what acceptable online speech is.
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This doesn't just mean what you can tweet or post to Facebook,
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Remember, True North did a roundup just last week
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of 10 different occasions on which the Liberals have accused things
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that were true of being disinformation or conspiracy theories.
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The Liberals have a very self-serving view of what valid content is,
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so no one should ever trust this Liberal government
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to be the arbiters of what is allowed to be said online,
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They have already revealed that they don't think anything critical of them
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is true at all, and this is just one further example of that.