Free Speech and Bill C-10
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Summary
Bill C-10 is a piece of legislation that would give the government the power to restrict the freedom of speech on the internet by limiting access to hate speech. In this episode, Conservative columnist Spencer Fernando joins us to discuss the implications of this legislation, and how it could have a negative impact on freedom of expression.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your
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host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton, for the likes Brock. Thank you once
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again for joining us with new content every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time. With this
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content, we ask that you like, subscribe, share this program, even comment. Help us push back
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against the ever-moving Liberal agenda because we know there's someone in your social media network
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that might be open to hearing the Conservative message. This is your way to do that and your
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way to help ensure that Erin O'Toole is the next Prime Minister of Canada. And of course,
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if you can't watch this program in its entirety right now, you can download it later on and listen
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to it on platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, you name it, it is out there.
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The topic today is something we've talked about many times before. It's Bill C-10. This is a piece
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of legislation that started out as a way to level the playing field between the traditional broadcasters
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and the new ways of communicating the internet streamers. Now, of course, that has then
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ballooned into something totally different in terms of how the government is now, if passed
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by the Senate, has the power to control what content you see, what content you don't. It
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has the power to promote certain content. So to bring on someone to talk about this, this
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is something new as well. We've only done this a couple of times in the history of the blueprint
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as we work to become Canada's number one Conservative podcast. We're going to bring
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in Spencer Fernando. Of course, many of you know him as an independent columnist. He's
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a social media guy. He puts a lot of his content out and it gets shared freely and openly by
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people who enjoy what he puts out there. But this is someone who will be specifically hurt
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by this piece of legislation. Spencer, welcome to the program.
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So Bill C-10, I know you've written about it and you've engaged on this topic. Maybe you
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can tell us a bit about how potentially you could be affected by this, given the fact that
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you have built a network, a line of supporters, people that may agree, may disagree with your content,
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but actually choose to follow you because they want to read or listen to what you have to say
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Yeah, well, it's a big concern because what the government is obviously doing, what the
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Liberals are doing, is I think they're upset they're losing control over how people share
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information and what people say, right? So they have CBC, obviously, and we see CBC again saying
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they need more money, right? So CBC gets private ad revenue and they get a bunch of government
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funding and they still keep failing. And so I think the Liberals are saying, well, it looks
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like when people choose independent media, they're not choosing things that the Liberals like to
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see. And so they want to get control back. And I think it's a bit of kind of, you could call
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it a deal with the devil between the Liberals and the establishment media, really, because a lot
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of the establishment media is struggling. You know, they're not getting the views and the ratings
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they want. And the Liberals, they want something they can control. So they kind of both agree,
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well, you know, we'll try to restrict independent media and we'll try to, you know, narrow down
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the balance of debate in the country. And, you know, I think that's what they're trying to do.
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Now, I've said this many times before, I take it you will agree, this could be a very dark and
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dangerous path we could be going down, given the fact that the government, as you mentioned,
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could say, we like this content, we don't. Because eventually, the speech that becomes
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things the government doesn't want to promote is anything that disagrees with their narrative
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Yeah, I mean, it's similar to what they're doing, I think, with, I think, Bill C-36, right?
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Where they're expanding the definition of hate speech. And, you know, it's interesting,
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I saw Jagmeet Singh even talking about that. And he said, oh, well, right now, there's nothing you
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can do if there's hateful content on the internet. And that's just not true at all, right? I mean,
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he's a lawyer, you'd think he would know better, but obviously not. And there's a lot of stuff the
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government can do, they already have, you know, legislative power and legal authority to deal
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with hate content, wherever it is. So that's not really what it's all about, right? It's about
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controlling people, it's about narrowing down the balance of acceptable speech. And, you know,
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it's quite disturbing to see, you know, you look at, obviously, a country like China,
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right? It's a communist state. And, you know, they obviously have only state media in China,
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right? There's no such thing as independent media. You'd think in a free country or supposedly free
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country like Canada, we want to move in the opposite direction. But it seems like a lot of
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governments, you know, Western governments, especially the liberal government here,
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they seem to look at China as a model, you know, they're trying to move Canada closer to that kind
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of country, where the only opinions you can have are opinions the government allows you to have.
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And that's the direction they're moving in. I think people should be very concerned about that.
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Well, why aren't they concerned? How come the outrage has not been there? You think,
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you just turn the tables for a second, and say, a conservative prime minister was in power,
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and a conservative prime minister brought in Bill C-10, this controlling piece of legislation.
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I think there will be protests in the streets about this. Why the silence? Why is it just,
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meh? Well, I think part of it is, you know, it's obviously a double standard, right? I mean,
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imagine if Stephen Harper had done something like this, right? It would be all Harper's a dictator,
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right? People would be going crazy. But I think it's also because the establishment media wants
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this to happen, right? So they have an interest in there not being a lot of, you know, outrage and
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anger about it, because they stand to benefit from it, right? I mean, they have so many advantages,
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and yet they're still struggling. Someone like me, you know, I start up a website really basically
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on my own. And, you know, it's gotten pretty big, you know, a lot of other people, you know,
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True North, you know, Rebel Media, although I know you guys aren't talking to them too much,
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but that's for you guys to worry about. But Rebel Media has done well, True North,
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obviously, in the post-millennial, you know, National Telegraph. So there's a lot of different
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people who are succeeding without any government funding. And, you know, people, as you say,
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people choose to consume the content, or they choose not to. And apparently that's not good
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enough for the Liberals and much of the media. So, you know, they don't want there to be outrage
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So the media, so the CBC, let's start with the CBC first. They get about a billion dollars,
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or over a billion dollars in annual subsidy for that. Then you get the other media, the kind of
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the Ottawa-centric media, they get about $600 million in government money to keep them afloat.
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But somehow, like you mentioned, yourself and other organizations are somehow making a go of it.
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And you're actually putting content people freely choose to watch or listen to. And you also,
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if they don't like it, you have the, they have the ability, the individual has the ability to
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unsubscribe to that content. You don't need some government regulator pushing buttons and telling
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Yeah. And I think that's, that's what makes it very interesting, right? Is that there's obviously
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a market for independent media, a market for people who, you know, criticize everybody. Like,
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I'm sure, you know, I criticize, you know, Aaron O'Toole and the Conservative Party quite a lot.
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And then I criticize the Liberals and the NDP, right? And so I think there's a market for people
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who want to see, you know, fair coverage, right? But much of the media, of course,
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their criticism of the Conservative Party is much harsher than the Liberal Party, or they just
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don't criticize the Liberals or NDP at all, right? I mean, Jagmeet Singh gets away with saying a lot
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of things that would be considered misinformation if it wasn't, you know, a politically correct
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politician, you could say, right? So, yeah, it's just that they, you know, they don't like the fact
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that people are choosing content that they don't agree with. And rather than respecting the fact that,
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you know, this is a free country, you know, you're supposed to respect people's choices,
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whether you agree or not. They've just decided, you know, we'll use the power of the government,
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and we'll decide what people can consume to what they can't. And again, in a free country,
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So how can people stop this? Like, obviously, like I said, you've engaged on it. We as an
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opposition have been pushing back on it. You've mentioned the NDP, they support this piece of
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legislation, Bill C-10, the Bloc Québécois support this piece of legislation, the Liberals support it.
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We are the only party in Parliament pushing back against this. But how can we rally people to kind
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of realize what is going on, because the mainstream media isn't talking about it? And I don't want it
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to be too late, right? Usually, this stuff happens, it's too late. And then people start wondering,
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where did all the content I used to watch and read, it seems to disappear? Like, we don't want to get to
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that point, because it's too late. You know, well, I think, you know, it sounds maybe old fashioned,
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but I really do think reaching out to your MP, you know, if you don't have a, you know, MP who's
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opposing it, reaching out to them and, you know, telling them what you think, you know, visiting
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their office and respectfully, of course, you know, we don't want people, you know, doing anything
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crazy, but, you know, respectfully reaching out. And I think, you know, I worked for an MP for a few
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years, and, you know, they do listen, you know, they do notice when a bunch of people are contacting
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them about the same thing. And it might not even be that you're trying to, you know, you think a Liberal MP
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is going to change their mind, you know, out of some sort of, you know, moral virtue, but, you know,
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people want to get reelected, right? So if you start getting worried, you're not going to get
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reelected. If you're supporting Bill C-10 and legislation like that, then they might change
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their minds and bring some internal pressure. So I really think, you know, one thing you have
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to give the left credit for, unfortunately, is that they don't just treat elections as, you know,
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the only time politics happens, right? They're constantly working, right? And so they're trying
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to change the society and change the culture in between elections. And then it's often tough for
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conservatives because they get to the election, like, oh, the country seems to have changed
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quite a lot, right? So I think that's something people, you know, on the right and center right
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need to start doing as well as realizing, look, it's a constant fight. It's a constant battle.
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You know, there's always people trying to restrict freedom. It doesn't just automatically,
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you know, stay around, you know, just stay free just because you hope it's going to work out well.
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So I think constantly fighting and constantly battling is kind of the attitude a lot of people
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Well, I couldn't agree with you more. I think that's even at the beginning of the show,
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I always say we have to push back against the ever moving Liberal agenda because you're right,
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that ball does not stop rolling. Sometimes they slow down a bit, but they seem to be always in
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motion. And I look at countries like Venezuela, for example, it took about 10 years or so before they
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got to the point where they're in now, right? They're obviously going downhill fast. They have
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been for a long time, but it's slowly, piece by piece, some of their freedoms, their money supply,
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all of it, their jobs, everything slowly went away because the government was taking control
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of it. Communication, you name it. And this is something I think you're right. We do need to
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fight back and we do need to ensure that it doesn't happen here because it can be done
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step by step, slowly, but slowly. And we need to push back.
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Yeah. It's like that saying, you know, how did you go bankrupt? It's like very slowly and then
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all at once, right? I mean, that's, I think that's how freedom goes away, you know? And that's,
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that's what I say to people when I write about it. People say, oh, it's, it's going too far to compare
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what the Liberals are doing, say to China or something. I say, you never look at each individual
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by action, but you look at the direction, you know, do the Liberals ever move in a direction
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that's more pro-freedom or pro-free speech? Of course not. It's all in one direction,
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more government power, less free speech, less independent media, more centralized control.
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So, so you say, okay, what's the end game of that? Where, where does that end up? And it does
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end up if you, as you say, in a place like Venezuela or a country like China, where there is no, you know,
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there's no real freedom. I mean, look at Venezuela, right? I mean, they had an election. People really
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voted to get rid of, you know, the, the socialist government there. The popularity of that government
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has got to be somewhere in the twenties. I mean, the country's basically, they basically have no economy,
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but they're still in power, right? I mean, at a certain point when the government sees all levers of power,
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you know, military force, communications, media, and everything, there's nothing where the people
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can do. And so, you know, and Venezuela was, I think the richest country in South America for a
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while, as possibly the world's largest proven oil reserves, or maybe second after Saudi Arabia.
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So of all the countries in the world, you think would never, you know, collapse and would never be
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poor, then Venezuela will be one of them. But lo and behold, that's what socialism manages to achieve,
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right? So we have to be very careful it doesn't happen here.
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But it's always sold as something that is great, it's shiny, it will solve all. But socialism has
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not, to my knowledge, lifted anyone out of poverty. I guess those that are close to government,
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those that are connected to government, the well-lawy, the well-lobby, maybe they get rich,
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and you're right. I guess the 20% in Venezuela that support the current government, they're probably
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the ones with the electricity still on or still getting fed, right? They're the ones that seem to
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manage to fill their tummies. Yeah, I mean, Venezuela, I think at one point, the average
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person had lost about 20-25 pounds due to food shortages. But whenever you looked at photos of
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Nicolas Maduro, and the top generals and top government officials, I mean, just say that they
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didn't look like they had any food shortage problems, right? So, you know, that's the thing.
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Socialism, it says that we're going to fight inequality. And I guess it does, it just makes
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everybody poor, except people in government, right? So there's maybe more equality and suffering and
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poverty at the bottom, but the only people at the top are, you know, government officials. And that's
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not quite the way it's normally sold to people. And I always love it that the difference is that
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the people making the rules, they rarely follow the rules that they want for everyone else,
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right? Socialism is for the people, not the socialists, right? They always lived with a
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different standard, and they live above the people. It's really a weird dynamic. And yet you have
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that following that seems to think that socialism is the be-all and end-all. But when you really look
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into it, all it causes is poverty and misery. Yeah, of course, that's never real socialism,
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right? Every time it fails, oh, we just, just, that wasn't actually, actually, that was a state
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capitalism. Capitalism, that's what I say, right? It's not really socialism. It was just a failed
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state capitalism. So we'll try socialism again. And this time, trust me, it'll work this time.
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So that's a big concern. But, you know, it's, I think it was a video Jordan Peterson did. And it's,
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it's a really good point that's relevant for today. And he talked about how, you know, our society has
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very good, you know, kind of, we're very attuned to any sign of fascism, right? Like, we're always
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on the lookout for it, which is a good thing, right? We want to make sure that doesn't happen. But we
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don't quite have the same, you know, ability to recognize the danger of communism, right? When politicians
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are saying things in Canada that are very similar to what communists did, you know, people think,
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oh, it sounds very nice. Oh, we're going to help everybody. I mean, that's the same thing they
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were saying in China and the Soviet Union, the rhetoric is very similar. And we saw how that
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ended up, right? It doesn't end up in any good place. So I think that's one thing we need to
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educate people about too, is, you know, fascism and communism. Yes, they both fought each other
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in at certain times, but there's a lot of similarities between them. And we have to realize that both are
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I always call the two kissing cousins, because they really are. You're right. They are. You're
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right. Absolutely. They fought against each other many times in history. But at the same time, they
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are very close to what they want, the end game. So we are running out of time. But I do want to go
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back to, to kind of the independent columnists like yourself that are putting content out on social media
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and other platforms, you're developing yourself, usually a small operation, but you do have a pretty
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solid following. And that's a good thing. And we want more people like you. And we're just not
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saying, you know, conservative leading commentators, we want a wide variety of voices, because
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free, free speech is what oftentimes advances the agenda or allows critical thinking in a number of
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areas. And that's something we don't want to see taken away. And maybe you could just close out with
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some comments regarding Bill C-10 and, and what that could do to to your business.
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Yeah, well, I think it's it just gives the government a level of power they shouldn't
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have, right? They're trying to centralize all media, they're going to probably try to make
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people like myself register, right? And then when you register, of course, the government will have
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control over your content, they'll be able to restrict it. And again, I think it's not going
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to happen all at once, right? I mean, the liberals for all their flaws, they're not idiots, right?
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Which is almost the problem. If they were idiots, it would make it easier. But they know what they're
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doing. They're very slowly moving towards a situation where all media is government controlled,
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right? So it won't happen all at once, you know, I'll still be putting content out there. But
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then maybe, oh, you know, you can't actually say this, or this violates the rules. So you have to
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delete this one. And then you get put on a list somewhere. And then, oh, you know, you can't get
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web services in the country because you're on a list. I mean, they move, they move slowly, but the
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direction they're moving is very clear. So I think people need to push back against it. And, you know,
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a lot of people, you know, the average person is influenced a lot by, you know, friends or family who
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really follow politics, right? I mean, most people aren't following it very closely. And
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that's understandable. They've got their lives to live. But if you're someone who, you know,
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really follows politics and knows a lot about it, then it's kind of up to you to, you know,
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help educate and, you know, talk to people around you. You know, if you don't trust the
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establishment media, then you don't leave it to the media to influence people around you,
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or you've got to try to influence them yourself. So that's what I say. Each person needs to recognize
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the power and potential they have to change minds and influence the direction of the country
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and just never give up. Couldn't have said it better myself. Well done, Spencer Fernando. We
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do appreciate your time. Independent columnist giving his thoughts on Bill C-10. So like Spencer
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said, we need you to like, comment, subscribe, share this program, help us push back against that
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ever moving liberal agenda. As Spencer said, there could be someone in your social media network
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that might be open to hearing this message, something they are not getting in the traditional
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media. This is your way to do that and hope to change the current government in Ottawa.
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As always, new content every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern time. We do appreciate it. If
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you didn't get a chance to watch it all now, download it later on, listen to it on platforms
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like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, you name it, it is out there. And remember,
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low taxes, less government, more freedom. That is the blueprint.