00:00:00.000The Trudeau government has unveiled new legislation to crack down on so-called hate speech, or to be more accurate, as Pierre Polyev said, speech that Trudeau hates.
00:00:10.380All of this is being done under the guise of protecting children. We'll break it all down on the show for you today. I'm Candice Malcolm, and this is The Candice Malcolm Show.
00:00:17.380Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for tuning into the podcast today. Don't forget to like this video. Subscribe to our True North channel if you're new around here. Leave us a five-star review if you're listening to this podcast and you enjoy it. And don't forget to head on over to our website, tnc.news. Sign up for our newsletter so you never miss a story.
00:00:44.160Okay, so here it is. The government finally introduced its Online Harms Act. We've been hearing about this bill. It's been floated around. It's been discussed for several years now, and it finally came to us.
00:00:54.900It was tabled on Monday by Justice Minister Arif Varani in the House of Commons. The bill is called the Online Harms Act, also known as Bill C-63, and the bill basically has three aims that it is trying to accomplish.
00:01:10.860This is what the digital backgrounder said. It said the Online Harms Bill will, one, reduce exposure to harmful online content. How on earth are they going to do that?
00:01:21.500I mean, honestly, think about your day online, people who are very online, spend a lot of time on the internet. There's lots of things that we might see that are harmful, that we don't like, that make us feel unhappy.
00:01:32.820That's kind of what the internet is. And so the idea that somehow the government is going to make this go away and reduce exposure to harmful content, the only way that they could possibly do that is through censorship, is by trying to control and meddle with these big tech companies and these platforms,
00:01:47.940which is what they're proposing to do with the Online Harms Act, and we'll get through the details of that later in the show.
00:01:53.940So, one, reduce exposure to harmful online content. Two, better address and denounce hate propaganda and provide recourse to victims of hate.
00:02:03.940Again, how on earth are they going to address and denounce hate propaganda? We don't even know what they mean by hate propaganda.
00:02:10.940Like, what on earth is hate propaganda? Promoting hate? Lying and promoting hate? The problem is the government just doesn't define this stuff.
00:02:19.940We actually don't know what they're talking about. And that is where the fear lies, because it's all about who's imposing this,
00:02:26.940which vindictive bureaucrats, which vindictive liberal staffers, which vindictive prime minister is going to use this as a tool to basically silence opposition,
00:02:37.940silence criticism. So, that is the second component of this bill, better address and denounce hate propaganda.
00:02:43.940And that's done through amendments to the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act.
00:02:48.940And then third, which is something I think that every Canadian can get behind, is strengthening reporting of child pornography.
00:02:54.940And this is done through amendments to reporting law. This is the third one is the one that the Liberals, in their communication of this bill, really leaned in on.
00:03:04.940So, this is what they talked about. This is what they emphasized. This is what they led with.
00:03:08.940They said that, you know, this is all about protecting children. This is all about stopping child pornography, which again, is something that I believe that every Canadian agrees with.
00:03:16.940And this is where the Liberals kind of get smart. They're cute about it. They pretend that this is all just about protecting children.
00:03:22.940And then they kind of sneak in the other components, the online censorship components, the reporting components, the fines for things that Canadians potentially could have to pay up to $70,000 in fines for things that, again, loosely defined terms like hate speech and hate propaganda.
00:03:41.940So, let's go through a little more detail. New online harms act. The objectives are to reduce exposure to harmful content and empower support users, put in place special protections for children, make online services accountable for and transparent about how they are reducing exposure to harmful content.
00:03:59.940And it says services covered social media services, live stream services, and user uploaded adult content services.
00:04:06.940So, again, you notice it's not just about Pornhub. It's not just about OnlyFans. It's not just about adult content.
00:04:11.940They also include social media services and live streaming services.
00:04:16.940So, if you were just sort of reading about this bill or you heard a little bit about it, you would say, oh, okay, focus on protecting children from child porn and other sort of predatory aspects that they could get caught up in.
00:04:29.940But then Trudeau's, you know, he's sneaky, right? He's sneaky.
00:04:32.940And he just adds in social media services and live streaming services as well.
00:04:36.940So, it captures not just things related to child pornography, but also, to quote Pierre Polyev, things that Trudeau hates.
00:04:45.940So, journalism that Trudeau hates, content that he hates, stories that he hates.
00:04:49.940I mean, we don't know exactly what's going to be included in this.
00:04:53.940But this is the major concern that they included that social media services and live streaming.
00:04:58.940And so, back to this briefing document, it says seven categories of harmful content.
00:05:03.940And you can see how sneaky they are in adding, in just expanding what this thing is all about.
00:05:10.940So, you can see the first one there, content that sexually victimizes a child.
00:05:13.940Again, every Canadian can get behind that. Every Canadian agrees.
00:05:17.940Content used to bully a child, well, that's getting a little bit more murky, but okay, fine.
00:05:22.940We know you don't want children, frankly, children shouldn't even be on the internet.
00:05:27.940But the idea that, okay, you can somehow have legislation to protect children from bullying.
00:05:33.940And then content that induces a child to harm themselves.
00:05:37.940So, now we're getting into, like, totally subjective measures.
00:05:40.940So, you know, you are somehow responsible if you post something that could lead someone to harm themselves.
00:05:47.940I don't even know how that would possibly work and connect.
00:05:50.940And then, when it comes to hate and violent extremism.
00:05:54.940So, again, there's two parts. One, protecting children.
00:05:56.940And the second one, when it comes to so-called hate speech.
00:05:59.940So, one of the categories here is content that incites violent extremism or terrorism.
00:07:34.940And if the commission decides that what someone has posted online is hate speech, you could be responsible for up to $70,000.
00:07:43.940So, it says, if found guilty, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal can order those found to violate the government's definition of hatred with fines up to $70,000 and take down order for content.
00:07:53.940According to the text of the bill, the tribunal has the power to order payments of $20,000 for victims of so-called online hate,
00:08:01.940as well as an order to pay the government $50,000 if the member panel considers it appropriate.
00:08:18.940Like, you could just go after everybody.
00:08:20.940You could sit online all day every day looking up tweets, looking up Facebook posts that you find offensive or that you believe is hate.
00:08:28.940And you could potentially get huge payouts.
00:08:31.940You could potentially make a lot of money by just shaking down people whom you hate.
00:08:37.940This kind of, from my perspective, just creates a scenario where Canadians will just go after each other.
00:08:42.940You know, you'll have Jewish Canadians reporting all kinds of Hamas supporters.
00:08:47.940You'll have trans people reporting all kinds of conservatives.
00:08:51.940You'll have maybe potentially First Nations people reporting all kinds of, what, historians and people talking about residential schools in ways that they don't like.
00:09:01.940Like, this just opens up a minefield in Canadian society that pits different groups against each other.
00:09:06.940And it really could lead us to some dark places.
00:09:11.940I think that there is just so much grounds for abuse, for people to claim that they are the victim of hate speech, for people to take someone else's words and twist them.
00:09:20.940And really just to create widespread litigation throughout our society where, again, people are trying to shake down other people basically for $20,000.
00:09:32.940My second critique about this is that the government, again, emphasized that this is all about protecting kids from porn.
00:09:38.940But the reality is because of the platforms that it applies to, it's going to be much broader than that.
00:09:45.940Because it says the Online Harms Act would set out applications for online platforms, including livestream and adult content services like Facebook, Twitch and Pornhub.
00:09:54.940Okay, so that doesn't make sense that adult services like Facebook and Twitch, but the fact that it is covering more than just Pornhub should raise eyebrows.
00:10:03.940I think that all Canadians should, of course, oppose this affront on internet freedom.
00:10:09.940I think we saw several independent journalists speaking out against it and saying that this is not a correct course.
00:10:19.940In which we had Ezra Levant, who himself has lived through this kind of a tribunal back before the Harper government, there was a similar type of legislation on the books.
00:11:01.940He said, the liberal online hate bill, C63, empowers a Canadian human rights tribunal to hide the identity of accusers and can even compel gag orders on people who are subject of online hate complaints.
00:11:15.940This is a kangaroo court system, full stop, dangerous territory.
00:12:39.940And what she's talking about, she's sounding super excited about, like she's planning her kid's birthday party or something like that.
00:12:44.940You know, what she's talking about, creating a new government office with the euphemistic title, sort of the Orwellian title, the safety commissioner, whose job it is to take complaints from Canadians and swiftly remove content online.
00:13:02.940This is the government watching your every move online and taking action against it.
00:13:07.940And here we have this woman just so excited about it.
00:13:11.940She really, she really, really wants to see a commissioner.
00:13:14.940She just really wants to see the government start regulating the internet and having a person whose job it is, you know, under the name of safety, of course, it's always under the name of safety with the authoritarian left, who is there to censor your speech.
00:13:28.940And to put a chill on free speech to put the fear in everybody watching this video and everyone online that if you say the wrong thing and you upset someone and it makes its way up to the safety commissioner, you could have to pay $70,000.
00:13:43.940You could have your life ruined, your life destroyed, just because of something that you posted that went against whatever the rules were of the day.
00:13:52.940Okay, let's continue this tech expert, Avery Shorts.
00:13:56.940Fines and punishment for those that are not falling into compliance and also that they would have sort of like ombudsman like capabilities where it's a place that you could go and issue complaints.
00:14:09.940Because, you know, if something happens online, if you see online harm, especially around children, there's really not much you can do about it right now in Canada.
00:14:17.940You can report it to the platform where you see it, but who knows if that's really going anywhere.
00:14:22.940If we have a digital safety commissioner who can field complaints, field concerns from the general public, that is something that I'm really keen to see.
00:14:31.940Okay, so you can just see her get excited, repeating Justin Trudeau's talking points, almost verbatim.
00:14:37.940What she says there isn't even true, that if you see something happening online, you have no recourse.
00:14:42.940You can flag it with the social media platforms.
00:14:44.940They take this stuff down almost instantly.
00:14:47.940If it gets into the category, into the terrain of a child being put in harm, of course, there's already laws in the books in Canada to protect children.
00:14:58.940We're creating an added level of government, an added layer of government, a new portfolio, a new job to protect our safety, to make us all feel safe and warm.
00:15:09.940But really, this is just a friendly, smiley face of leftist authoritarianism coming to Canada.
00:15:16.940And of course, you know, the idea that she was really excited about the digital safety commissioner.
00:15:36.940They still have time to put together a response.
00:15:39.940But I will note that last week we had our own Andrew Lawton was out in Kitchener and he went to a Pierre Polyev press conference and Andrew knew that this bill was coming.
00:15:50.940And so he asked Pierre Polyev about it.
00:15:53.940And I think that that is the best response from the Conservative Party that we've had so far as to what they think about this bill.
00:16:10.940Morning, Mr. Polyev, Andrew Lawton, True North.
00:16:13.940The federal government has said that its online harms bill is imminent.
00:16:18.940They've said this bill will include, among other things, a ban on so-called online hate speech.
00:16:23.940As you know, the conservatives a decade ago repealed Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which the Liberals have talked about reintroducing and tried in the last parliamentary term.
00:16:33.940Will the conservatives oppose the reintroduction of these provisions and the Liberals' approach to so-called online hate speech?
00:16:41.940Yes, we will oppose Justin Trudeau's latest attack on freedom of expression.
00:16:49.940And I want to ask, what does Justin Trudeau mean when he says the word hate speech?
00:18:20.940So anyone who thinks that speech they don't like is going to be criminalized and therefore the bill should be supported, go through that.
00:18:30.940Those people should go through the list of their own thoughts that Justin Trudeau considers to be unacceptable views.
00:18:37.940And you can assume that he will ban all of that as well.
00:18:41.940And finally, I point out the irony that someone who spent the first half of his adult life as a practicing racist who dressed up in hideous racist costumes so many times,
00:18:58.940he says he can't remember them all, should then be the arbiter on what constitutes hate.
00:19:05.940Why doesn't he what he should actually do is look into his own heart and ask himself why he was such a hateful racist for despite his enormous personal privileges of a multimillion dollar trust fund being the son of a prime minister,
00:19:21.940growing up in mansions, traveling the world, why he had so much hate in his art that he was such an awful racist.
00:19:29.940And what he should do is actually explain where that ugliness came from.
00:19:33.940And maybe in that way, rather than through coercion, he could help us all in the fight against real hate.
00:19:40.940So Pierre Polyev rightly explains and describes this bill at the time, potential bill, but now it is a real bill that has been tabled as not hate speech, but just speech that Trudeau hates.
00:19:52.940And I think that there's plenty of reasons for Canadians to agree with that.
00:19:55.940We have seen this man over the course of his time as prime minister of Canada focus on dividing Canadians, focus on pinning Canadians against one another,
00:20:04.940taking groups of people that Trudeau personally doesn't like and vilifying them and demonizing them and saying that they hold unacceptable views or that they are a small fringe minority.
00:20:15.940We remember that during the lockdowns, that's what he called the protesters, anyone protesting his government held unacceptable views and that it wasn't something that Canadians should agree with.
00:20:26.940When he was talking about unvaccinated Canadians, he asked whether it was something that Canadians should tolerate.
00:20:31.940Should we even tolerate people who would not take a jab in the name of COVID?
00:20:38.940Even recently, when it came to parents, concerned parents, moms and dads protesting against far left content and material in schools, including many Muslim families, I should note, Justin Trudeau attacked them as well.
00:20:55.940Pierre Polyev mentioned this when he talked about Muslim parents.
00:20:58.940This is what Justin Trudeau tweeted back in September of 2023.
00:21:02.940He said, let me make one thing very clear.
00:21:05.940Transphobia, homophobia, biphobia have no place in this country.
00:21:10.940We strongly condemn this hate and its manifestations.
00:21:13.940We stand united in support of 2SLGBTQI plus Canadians across the country who are valid.
00:21:39.940Is it really about stopping the abuse of children online?
00:21:43.940Or does perhaps Justin Trudeau have an ulterior motive?
00:21:47.940Well, remember this clip from last week.
00:21:49.940Justin Trudeau was on a radio show in Alberta called Real Talk with Ryan Jesperson.
00:21:55.940And he kind of let the cat out of the bag when he talked about what was going on on social media and why he didn't like what was happening on social media.
00:22:05.940So let's play this clip of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
00:22:08.940There is out there a deliberate undermining of mainstream media.
00:22:16.940There are the social media drivers who are trying to do everything they can to keep people in their little filter bubbles,
00:22:23.940to prevent people from actually agreeing on a common set of facts the way, you know, the CBC and CTV when they were our only sources of news, you know, used to used to and global used to project across the country, at least a common understanding of things.
00:22:37.940So there you go. Justin Trudeau is angry at what he calls conspiracy theorists and social media drivers.
00:22:45.940I assume that in that bubble of people that he's talking about, he's talking about independent media groups like True North and like Rebel.
00:22:54.940But he says that we are to blame for the decline in trust in legacy media.
00:22:58.940The client trust in legacy media, guys, has nothing to do with fake news reporting over legacy media, nothing to do with their bias, their blatant pro liberal agenda, their use of liberal talking points.
00:23:09.940Anytime that Justin Trudeau does anything, they're offensive.
00:23:12.940No, no, it has nothing to do with any of that.
00:23:14.940It's all because of conspiracy theorists.
00:23:16.940It's all because of social media drivers.
00:23:19.940And interesting how Trudeau then opines sort of, you know, he's nostalgic for the days when there were just two TV stations.
00:24:40.940So Trudeau wants to control the Internet just like he controls the media.
00:24:46.940If the Internet and free speech are undermining his control of the media and so-called conspiracy theorists are to blame for that declining trust in the media,
00:24:55.940then that is Justin Trudeau's justification for censoring things so that he can continue to have that control.
00:25:02.940And that is what we are seeing with the Online Harbs Act.