The publisher of a First Nations newspaper based in Six Nations of the Grand River, Ont., says she’s “extremely concerned” about the impact on Indigenous communities of Meta blocking news content in Canada.
“In many cases, they’re in very isolated areas and for Facebook to pull a stunt like this, it can cause so many problems for our people to get information to them,” Lynda Powless, publisher of Turtle Island News, told CBC Hamilton.
“First Nations are in precarious positions to begin with … these are communities that just even have problems getting to the internet.”
Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — began ending the availability of news on those sites in Canada earlier this summer in response to the passage in June of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which takes effect by the end of this year.
Now links and content shared by Canadian news outlets on Meta’s sites can’t be viewed by people in Canada. Users in Canada also can’t view news from organizations outside of Canada.
Google has threatened similar action.
Lynda Powless, publisher of Turtle Island News, says: ‘First Nations are in precarious positions to begin with … these are communities that just even have problems getting to the internet.’ (Aicha Smith-Belghaba/CBC)
The Online News Act will force large social media platforms to negotiate compensation for Canadian news publishers when their content is shared. The government says C-18 is about ensuring tech companies pay their “fair share” to media organizations.
Meta has countered that the only reasonable way to comply with the bill is to end news access in Canada.
CBC/Radio-Canada and other news publishers and broadcasters have asked Canada’s Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s decision to block news content, describing the social media giant’s actions as “anticompetitive.”
CBC/Radio-Canada’s corporate position is that the Online News Act will help level the playing field and contribute to a healthy news ecosystem in Canada “at a time when 80 per cent of digital ad revenue goes to Facebook and Google,” spokesperson Leon Mar has previously said.
WATCH: Wildfire evacuees frustrated, angry at Meta’s Canadian news ban
Wildfire evacuees frustrated, angry at Meta’s Canadian news ban
12 days ago
Duration 2:04
Fire evacuees say the block on Canadian news content on Facebook and Instagram makes it even harder to get crucial wildfire information. Many in Canada’s North rely on the platforms, and some are now looking for workarounds to share info.
Meta has faced more criticism recently as wildfires have ravaged parts of the country and forced thousands of Canadians from their homes.
“Those fires affected a lot of First Nations communities that we service,” Powless said, adding that they have readers across the country.
In a statement to CBC Hamilton, Meta said the company has been “clear for many months that the broad scope of the Online News Act would impact the sharing of news content on our platforms.”
It said people across Canada can still use its platforms to “connect with loved ones and access information, which is how more than 70,000 people have marked themselves safe and over 1.5 million people have visited the Yellowknife and Kelowna Crisis Response pages on Facebook.”
‘It’s taking resources from an Indigenous newspaper’
Powless said Turtle Island News has used Facebook for live or breaking coverage in the past but hasn’t been able to do so since the news ban.
The Turtle Island News page doesn’t show any content at all and Powless said it happened without warning.
“How are we supposed to let our community know what’s happening in an urgent situation?” she said, adding that mainstream media outlets usually cover news Indigenous communities a day or two later than local Indigenous outlets.
She said the newsroom has tried to find ways around Meta’s efforts, but now the outlet is finding itself having to “re-train” readers about where to find news.
She said the newspaper is also developing an app.
“It’s taking resources from an Indigenous newspaper in a small Indigenous community,” Powless said, noting it has lost ad revenue.
She hopes Meta will back down and end its news ban.
“You have people who are fighting fires, all kinds of climate change issues in First Nations communities … we’re there and we can’t get the word out,” Powless said, speaking about Indigenous media outlets broadly.
“That’s a serious problem and the kind of problem that costs people’s lives.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
