The News Rundown
- Bill C-11, also known as the Online Streaming Act, is the updated version of Bill C-10, first introduced last year by former Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault. C-10 died when Trudeau called an unnecessary election last year, and it's barely updated version C-11 is now spearheaded by current Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez.
- Bill C-11 expands the Broadcasting Act that grants the CRTC regulatory powers over radio and television to cover all audiovisual content on the Internet, including content on platforms like Tik Tok, YouTube, Spotify, and podcast clients, which would include Western Context!
- Under Bill C-11, all platforms hosting audiovisual content that are not specifically excluded must make financial contributions to producing officially recognized “CanCon”, or Canadian content - currently defined by a 1980s era points system built around legacy media broadcast media.
- Does that system support Canadian storytelling? Unevenly at best. In recent years productions about US President Trump and the English Tudors have been greenlit as CanCon, while productions of iconically Canadian stories like the Handmaid’s Tale and Turning Red have not met the standard.
- Under Bill C-11 platforms must also make CanCon “discoverable” by filling our feeds and search results with a mandatory quota of official CanCon content, or face stiff financial penalties from the CRTC.
- CanCon support currently largely excludes small and digital-first Canadian content creators. While Bill C-11 instructs the CRTC to review CanCon definitions, there is little guidance on how to do so, and no certainty for when it will complete its review, or whether digital creators will be appropriately included in future support.
- Bill C-11 also gives the CRTC unprecedented regulatory authority to monitor all online audiovisual content. This power extends to penalizing content creators and platforms and through them, content creators that fail to comply.
- However, both Rodriguez and representatives from the CRTC have been quick to downplay what the governmental agency would be able to control, despite the sweeping powers that the bill would grant the CRTC.
- The CRTC would be able to implement discoverability requirements—forcing platforms to promote Canadian content to users – but not impose standards on the content of what users post, such as rules around obscenity, the House of Commons heritage committee heard.
- Rachelle Frenette, CRTC general counsel and deputy executive director, said “user uploaded content can be the subject of some authority by the commission” but argued the CRTC’s powers “in relation to social media platforms, and user-uploaded content, are actually quite narrow.” For instance, the CRTC can’t impose any rules around standards of programming on user-uploaded content. Frenette said: “The commission could, for example, issue certain rules with respect to discoverability, could perhaps issue rules… to respond to certain concerns on accessibility.”
- Content creators have warned that discoverability provisions for Canadian content would harm the creators the bill aims to help. If Canadian content is shown to users who aren’t interested in it, and thus don’t engage with it, the algorithms will then downgrade that content, they argue. Many Canadian Youtubers have travelled to Ottawa to speak out against the bill, which many say has been written by people who don't know how the internet works.
- Earlier in the day, Justin Tomchuk, who runs two large YouTube channels, told the committee the bill would “potentially destroy” his channels’ international visibility – and 97 per cent of his viewers are international.
- Tomchuk said: “Bill C-11 implies vague changes to these platforms to prioritize Canadian content to Canadians, but it would in turn deprioritize Canadian content to an international audience. The social media platforms cannot allow Canadian content to enjoy heightened exposure to Canadians without detracting exposure internationally, as it creates an uneven playing field on the platform. Less Canadian content will be shown globally as a result.”
- He said the bill needs to make the distinction between paywalled premium distributors such as Netflix and user-generated social media platforms such as YouTube.
- Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage yesterday, using the opportunity to defend Bill C-11 with assurances that concerns about the inclusion of user content within the bill were “unfounded.” The denials of content regulation ring hollow as his defence falls apart on close examination of the bill. Numerous witnesses, including digital creators, Internet platforms, and industry associations, have all expressed concerns about the issue. Rather than respond to them, Rodriguez and the government implausibly deny that the issue exists at all.
- Rodriguez relied on at least three claims yesterday with respect to user content. First, he simply contradicted his own CRTC chair, stating that Bill C-11 does not regulate user content. In fact, Rodriguez was asked directly by Liberal MP Anthony Housefather about the issue: "When it comes to Section 4.2, we’ve heard a lot of comments again about what is regulated or what is not regulated. Can you clarify again that content is not regulated?"
- Rodriguez replied: "Absolutely. It is not."
- Rodriguez’s claim is inconsistent with what CRTC Chair Ian Scott told the same committee just last week when he said that "[Section] 4.2 allows the CRTC to prescribe by regulation user uploaded content subject to very explicit criteria. That is also in the Act."
- The government’s continued insistence that the bill does not do what it plainly does seems like a classic case of gaslighting. But Rodriguez doesn’t stop there. He relies yet again on the claim that “platforms are in, users are out.” While this is true in the sense that users are not regulated like platforms due to an exception in the bill, the truth is the bill regulates indirectly what it cannot do directly. In other words, users may not be called before the CRTC, but their content falls under CRTC regulation with platforms tasked with the enforcement. Both Youtube and Tiktok, the two best-known user content platforms, have provided the committee with submissions that make it clear that as currently structured platforms and user content both face regulation with Bill C-11.
- Rodriguez also emphasized that the bill was limited to “commercial” user content, noting that there are three criteria for the CRTC to consider whether the content falls within the ambit of the Act. The Minister referred to content that generates revenue and was asked repeatedly how much revenue is needed in order to qualify. He refused to provide the actual number, instead stating that there was no threshold and that the CRTC would consider all the criteria.
- TikTok did not appear before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage as part of its Bill C-11 study, but one of the world’s most popular user generated content sites issued a warning that even Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez can’t ignore: if the bill becomes law, “any video on TikTok that uses music could be subject to regulation under the Broadcasting Act.” TikTok’s analysis picks up where Rodriguez left off at committee as he sought to downplay the effect of the bill on user content and dangerously equated some of the concerns with misinformation. Yet despite the persistent denials, TikTok’s submission to the committee leaves little doubt that any Canadian who uses the service to create a video with music backing will find their content caught by the bill.
- Make no mistake, Bill C-11 is a dangerous bill that will change the way Canadians interact with the internet for as long as it is in force. While the desire to preserve Canadian culture in an increasingly globalized world is an admirable trait, as is so often the case, Trudeau is tackling the issue with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer, and somehow still manages to completely whiff on fixing the problems that the bill is meant to address. Instead, it harms Canadian content creators, Canadian organizations, Canadian internet users (ie, everyone), as well as the international audiences of very popular and successful Canadian media creators. The bad news is that the mainstream media rarely talks about just how dangerous this bill is, because they are the only ones that will actually benefit from it. That's why your support for Western Context is so important, so that we can deliver news that matters to you.
- Supplementals:
- A good chunk of the media focus in Alberta has been on the UCP and in particular, it’s leader Jason Kenney.
- The focus of course is expected as he is the Premier of Alberta. But in doing our job here at Western Context, we also have to look at what’s happening with the other party leaders.
- There’s a common misconception among those who just watch the news and don’t watch politics frequently in the province who think that ordinary party members have no influence - in reality, they were the ones who decided Jason Kenney should leave.
- Turning now to the NDP, that party has minimal grassroots involvement and is tied heavily to the federal party run by Jagmeet Singh.
- This week we have news that the culture within the Alberta NDP does not provide a safe environment for some workers and there’s a culture of disrespect and mistreatment.
- The Alberta NDP are said to be cycling through volunteers and have lost some constituency association presidents, the people who do most of the organization at the riding level province wide.
- Those on the ground are realizing what the NDP is truly about when they say, "This should be a party run by the members, but this is the party of a few elite staffers.”
- This week 15 NDP riding presidents and regional executives called for an independent investigation into this pattern of mistreatment and sketchy candidate nomination process.
- The mistreatment is characterized as staff being rude, belittling, or condescending to volunteers and candidates as well as some being shouted at in meetings.
- Notley said that there are two sides to every story and the process needs to be followed. From this the NDP is in a similar boat to when the UCP grassroots organizers started raising concerns about pandemic restrictions.
- The difference here is that one was covered in the media and one was not.
- The NDP also has a party nomination process that is anything but democratic.
- Political parties traditionally do this and it is their right to, but most parties in Canada on the right, like the UCP and federal Conservatives are much more open.
- For the NDP, some candidate applications have been in the vetting process for a year plus while others have been processed quickly.
- Constituency association presidents are being left out of the loop on the nomination process and their input is being ignored.
- Volunteers are feeling like they are brand ambassadors at a retail outlet.
- Subsequent volunteers and candidates that discussed the issue with the media feel like the party is doing nothing but trying to make this all go away.
- Now let’s back up a year, two, or three and see that these are the exact same allegations that were made towards the UCP.
- The difference being is that the UCP allegations were chosen by the media to be carried and discussed in mainstream and were amplified on online social channels.
- It’s at this point we share the reality with our listeners that if you are working or volunteering for a political party, you are donating your time and money to helping the candidate win, helping the party win, and helping the leader be successful.
- You hope that you will be appreciated but there’s no guarantee of that happening.
- It can happen in any party and denying that it can and not reporting on it in the mainstream is foolish.
- The biggest mistake the Alberta media made in 2014/15 was not vetting the Alberta NDP. We could very well be on that track again to making that same mistake and that’s why it’s so important this story see the light of day.
- Supplementals:
- Following the tragic Uvalde school shooting massacre in Texas, as well as the mass shooting in Buffalo in May, gun control legislation was being debated once again. Not just in the US, but in Canada, where such mass shootings are already rare with existing gun control legislation at work.
- Never mind that both shootings were committed using semi-automatic rifles, which are already highly restricted from purchase in Canada, or banned altogether, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his intention to further expand his gun control agenda to further restrict handguns from being sold, which is expected to be implemented sometime in the fall.
- Trudeau said in a statement: “One Canadian killed by gun violence is one too many. I’ve seen all too well the tragic cost that gun violence has in our communities across the country. Today, we’re proposing some of the strongest measures in Canadian history to keep guns out of our communities and build a safer future for everyone.”
- Trudeau followed up with: “We need only look south of the border to know that if we do not take action firmly and rapidly it gets worse and worse and gets more difficult to counter.” The US, having just under 9 times the population of Canada, had 163 times as many gun related deaths in 2020. The two countries cannot really compare.
- Because the freeze does not take place immediately, Canadians are rushing to gun stores following the announcement. Shops have reported being sold out of pistols after demand surged in the run-up to the freeze. Some stores ran out of stock within days of the announcement. In some places, demand ran so high customers lined up in the street, desperate to acquire a firearm before the ban.
- Jen Lavigne, co-owner of That Hunting Store in Ottawa, said “We sold 100 handguns, or almost our entire stock, in the last three days, since the prime minister announced the freeze. This measure is only going to hurt legal gun owners. It’s not going to reduce any of the crime because the bad guys don’t follow the rules.”
- Handgun owners and those who sell them say legal requirements to possess and use the weapons are already extremely strict with mandatory training, stringent storage laws and their transportation limited between home and firing range.
- Proponents of gun control say a federal ban on handguns will lessen accidents and its use in domestic violence incidents. But opponents say the law will have no impact on the main abuse of handguns — their use by criminals who obtain them illegally with many of those weapons smuggled in from the U.S. Instead, it will make the black market more attractive and guns more valuable.
- Canada currently has one million handguns, and about 2,500 stores sell handguns in the country. It’s already an extensive process to purchase a handgun in Canada. First, you have to pass the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. That is 16 hours of instruction, followed by a written exam and a practical exam. After that is complete, you have to wait for your test results to come back from the chief firearms officer. In the meantime, you can download all the forms from the RCMP’s website or obtain them from Service Canada for your background check. You’re going to have to outline any partners that you’ve cohabitated with in the past five years, and your spouse’s information as well.
- You’re going to have to answer questions asking if you’ve been prescribed any drugs for depression, or if you’ve had a job loss or a divorce in the past five years. You’re going to have to provide references that the RCMP should call. Your cohabiting partner or spouse is going to have to sign off on that last page to say, “Yes, I’m okay with this individual owning firearms.” And then you send that entire package off to the RCMP, and if everything checks out on their end, then they will send you your firearms licence in the mail. Then you can go to a retailer who is licensed to sell handguns, and you have to bring your possession and acquisition licence that the RCMP sends you with you to the store to check.
- According to Ryan Simper, who is in charge of business development for Select Shooting Supplies in Cambridge, Ontario, "Firearm owners feel like they are some of the most responsible citizens in the country, because the RCMP has put their trust in them to give them the licence. So when somebody says you can’t have any more, they go out and buy. I think it’s more of a protest—they’re saying that the current government wants to eliminate handgun ownership in this country and the current government doesn’t trust its own citizens. So they’re gonna go and buy them.
- If the new law goes through, we’ll no longer be able to sell handguns. It is a large part of our business and we’ll have to move into something else. I feel more sorry for the smaller shops that are probably going to go out of business, because they don’t have the ability to make a quick switch into something else."
- Simper concludes: "It’s just targeting the property that’s been lawfully acquired by citizens that has been cleared to own by the RCMP. If our national police service says it’s okay for me to own a gun, if the national police service says it’s okay for my customers to own a gun, why is the government against me owning a gun? There’s a severe disconnect there. We want safer communities, but I don’t think this is the way to do it."
- Politicians continue to misread the tea leaves when it comes to gun ownership. When calling for bans, gun sales typically increase. Announcing that a gun would actually be banned in the future only creates unprecedented demand. Trudeau’s bill has resulted in exactly what he and so many other gun control advocates often fail to expect – that more people who might have never purchased a gun will run out and make a purchase.
- Trudeau's gameplan since the beginning of the pandemic has been to restrict Canadians' freedoms across the board. He's afraid of Canadians making decisions for themselves, because they might decide something he doesn't like. That's why he's made any number of limp decisions on Canadian issues that don't actually fix the problem, like inflation, the housing crisis, the opioid epidemic, the pandemic, even First Nations issues. That is something that the media has not connected the dots on, and it's why we're here to do what the mainstream media won't.
- Supplementals:
Firing Line
- We’ve talked before on the podcast about how the 2019 and 2021 elections were successful wedges by Justin Trudeau against the opposition, abortion and social issues in 2019 and vaccine status in 2021.
- Starting at home here, a piece in the National Post compares the Trudeau government to a troll farm.
- The issue that’s pointed out is that the policies as presented do little to enact change except rile up Trudeau’s base and provoke the Conservatives into opposing the ideas or twisting themselves into a pretzel.
- Let’s start with gun control. Trudeau’s gun policy emerges after the horrific Uvalde shooting in the US when we don’t have that exact issue in the country.
- What’s more, the gun policy is a “freeze” on new handguns which means more can’t be sold.
- The Wall Street Journal editorial board encouraged Justin Trudeau to run for Congress and pointed out that in Toronto where there are 36,832 firearms licenses, there are strict laws on how you can carry a handgun and according to Toronto police, 85% of guns used in crimes are trafficked from the US.
- The firearms legislation also includes red-flag and yellow-flag laws that are redundant because there is already a system in place for background checks, wait times, and times at which the police get involved.
- When it comes to the gun control issue, Trudeau’s policy plays well in the media because it’s what some American progressives want, a removal on the Constitutional right in the United States to bear arms.
- We saw the exact same thing recently as well when the US Supreme Court draft opinion on overturning Roe vs. Wade was leaked. Roe vs. Wade defacto legalized abortion in the US.
- This caused politicians across the country (and the media) to push for some move on abortion here in this country since there is no law on the books regarding it.
- In the US this has resulted in a foiled assassination attempt of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh this past week. This story completely flew under the media circus of the live prime time January 6th congressional hearings.
- This is the point the US is at and for political gain, Canada and Justin Trudeau are pushing us in this direction.
- Justin Trudeau had a majority from 2015-2019 and could have passed abortion legislation easily, he could even do it now with the support of the NDP and with some framing, maybe even the Conservatives.
- We also saw this with the ban on conversion therapy which should have been banned ages ago but was used as a political tool.
- We saw the government keep the flags on parliament hill at half staff for half a year after the horror’s of the residential schools were made mainstream.
- This was also the case for the natural resources industry and pipelines, those were used as convenient wedge issues
- Then there were vaccinations where Canadians who aren’t vaccinated are deemed undesirable by policy and banned from traveling by plane or train, even in the country.
- But the silly part about this is that Trudeau was against mandatory vaccination until it was a political opportunity last election.
- This provided an opportunity for protestors both in the campaign and in January and February to create that wedge which they did successfully.
- This is exactly what the Prime Minister wants since it allows for his brand of politics to flourish.
- The country is suffering as a result and the media needs to take note or else it will only get worse before it gets better.
- Supplementals:
Quote of the Week
“Bill C-11 implies vague changes to these platforms to prioritize Canadian content to Canadians, but it would in turn deprioritize Canadian content to an international audience. The social media platforms cannot allow Canadian content to enjoy heightened exposure to Canadians without detracting exposure internationally, as it creates an uneven playing field on the platform. Less Canadian content will be shown globally as a result.” - Canadian Youtuber Justin Tomchuk, on Trudeau’s Bill C-11
Word of the Week
Troll - to make a deliberately offensive or provocative post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.
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Show Data
Episode Title: The Greatest Gun Salesman
Teaser: Bill C-11 allows the CRTC to regulate user content, Alberta NDP volunteers are demeaned, and panic buying ensues after Trudeau’s gun freeze. Also, Trudeau trolls Canadians by creating policy in response to the US.
Recorded Date: June 11, 2022
Release Date: June 12, 2022
Duration: 57:52
Edit Notes: None
Podcast Summary Notes
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