The owner of an independent digital news outlet serving Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada says she’s scrambling after Meta’s decision to remove Canadian news from its platforms.
Maureen Googoo, owner and editor of Ku’ku’kwes News, from Sipenkne’katik, 31 kilometers north of Halifax, says her work is important, because Indigenous communities are looking for someone to provide context and explain what issues of the day mean to them.
She told CBC Indigenous her site depends on the traffic from social media sharing and Meta’s pushback, related to the recently introduced Canadian Online News Act, is detrimental to her work.
“To me that’s more bread and butter than anything and I am concerned down the road of what it’s going to mean for us for a revenue stream,” Googoo said.
“Every month it’s always a balance for us. Are we making enough money to pay the bills?”
The act, known as Bill C-18 as it worked its way through Parliament, received royal assent on June 22.
The government’s stated rationale for the legislation was it would ensure digital platforms curating Canadian news shared revenues with news providers.
Meta promised to push back and earlier this month, some Canadian users of Facebook and Instagram were blocked from viewing or sharing media content.
“We have been transparent and have made it clear to the Canadian government that the legislation misrepresents the value news outlets receive when choosing to use our platforms,” a statement from Meta posted online said.
“The legislation is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, when the reverse is true.”
Googoo said Facebook became a place where Indigenous communities held important conversations and she feels she helped play a role in contextualizing some of those conversations. Now, she’s forced to get that audience to come to her website in other ways.
Elsewhere, another Indigenous organization feels unfairly targeted by Meta’s sweeping ban.
Justus Polson-Lachache is the director of public relation for the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke and said their public service announcements have been blocked on Facebook. ( Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke)
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK), through a press release, said its public service announcements were blocked on Facebook.
“Social media for us has become one of our biggest mechanisms to deliver information to the community and its definitely hindering how we inform our community members,” said Justus Polson-Lahache, director of public relations for MCK, told CBC Indigenous.
He said MCK, which represents the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community, south of Montreal, is not a news organization and should be allowed to share content on social platforms.
Polson-Lahache said there are about 8,000 people in Kahnawà:ke and Facebook was a vital tool to communicate instantly with them.
He said the community’s public service announcements are still broadcast over radio and published in newspapers and local media, but the ban on Facebook prevents a two-way conversation.
Sandy Maloney, host of Shubie FM, a local radio station in Sipekne’katikik and said she used her Facebook page to share other Canadian news the Mi’kmaw community may find interesting.
Meta’s ban doesn’t affect her business operations as much because she’s still able to stream and broadcast on the radio waves and her website. But Facebook was a quick way to engage with her audience and now she can’t do that as well, Maloney said.
“It just kind of angers me, it just gets me like, are you kidding?” said Maloney of Meta’s decision.
MONTREAL – Quebec’s ombudsperson is warning that public services are becoming “dehumanized” in the province amid a rise in demand for them.
Marc-André Dowd released his annual report today, which highlights several examples of people receiving inadequate care across the health network in the 12 months leading to March 31.
One dying man who lived alone was denied help cleaning his cat’s litter box by his local health clinic, a service Dowd says should have been given for “humanitarian reasons.”
Dowd also describes staff at a long-term care home feeding residents “mechanically” and talking among each other — despite health ministry guidelines directing staff to maintain eye contact with residents.
The ombudsperson says his office received a record number of problems to investigate across the province’s public services — 24,867 compared with 22,053 last year.
He says his office investigated 13,358 cases between April 2023 and March of this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Canada next week after a planned trip in July was cancelled amid political turmoil in France.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a statement today that Macron will be in Canada Wednesday and Thursday after the leaders attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Trudeau will welcome Macron in Ottawa on Wednesday, where they are expected to discuss collaboration on geopolitical issues including their ongoing support for Ukraine.
They are also expected to discuss ways to strengthen the response to emerging threats, such as disinformation.
In Montreal, Trudeau intends to show off the city’s artificial intelligence sector, while both countries reaffirm their commitment to work with counterparts on responsible use of AI.
The leaders will also discuss promoting the French language ahead of the Francophonie summit being held in France next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Health Canada has authorized Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, has been reformulated to target the JN.1 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Earlier this week, Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated mRNA COVID vaccine.
It is still reviewing Pfizer’s updated mRNA vaccine, with a decision expected soon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously described the Novavax vaccine as an mRNA shot.
