Bill C-18 received royal assent after a final vote in the Senate on Thursday. The law will compel certain tech companies to pay for news content that they share on their platforms.
Meta announced in a news release following the act’s passage that it will block news for Canadian users in order to comply with the law, and will do so before C-18 comes into effect in six months, though it hasn’t given a date.
They’re working as if there’s no rules.– Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez
In an interview with CBC News Network’s Rosemary Barton Live, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez defended C-18 as necessary to support Canadian journalists and news organizations, and regulate big tech companies.
“We’re just saying to the tech giants, well, you have to consider that this has value and pay for that value — not more, not less [than] what’s fair,” Rodriguez told host Rosemary Barton.
Rodriguez said he hopes Meta negotiates with the government, and said big tech companies should accept more regulation.
“They’re working as if there’s no rules. It’s a bit like the Wild West where these people can come here and do whatever they want,” he said.
“That doesn’t work like that in Canada, not in a democracy, and I cannot accept that a company like Meta comes here and threatens us, and threatens a sovereign country, and if we don’t stand up for Canadians, who will?” he asked.
Concerns not addressed, Google says
Google Canada said in a statement Thursday that none of its concerns about C-18 have been addressed, but that it’s looking to work with the government on the law.
The Online News Act requires both companies to enter into agreements with news publishers to pay them for news content that appears on their sites if it helps the tech giants generate money.
But the legislation has prompted debate in Parliament and beyond about the government’s role in supporting media and regulating tech giants.
A spokesperson for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre directed CBC to a tweet Poilievre posted Friday morning.
“There you have it. Step by step, the Trudeau government is deliberately getting in the way of what people can see and share online,” Poilievre said in the tweet, which included a screenshot from Meta’s news release.
Poilievre said in a tweet sent later Friday that he’d “repeal Trudeau’s censorship laws and bring home free speech” if he becomes prime minister.
There you have it. <br><br>Step by step, the Trudeau government is deliberately getting in the way of what people can see and share online. <a href=”https://t.co/mZP1SQ9lfD”>pic.twitter.com/mZP1SQ9lfD</a>
But Peter Julian, the NDP Canadian Heritage Critic, slammed both Meta’s decision and Poilievre’s opposition to C-18.
“Meta’s announcement to end news access to all users in Canada in retaliation for Bill C-18 is completely unacceptable. The NDP has worked hard to ensure this legislation protects access to reliable news and puts web giants and local media on equal footing,” he said in a statement to media.
“Rather than standing up for local media, Poilievre’s Conservatives would rather defend the interests of super-rich web giants. In the age of fake news, we need more access to reliable media and reporting, not less.”
Both Meta and Google have experimented with blocking news on their platforms for some users in anticipation of the bill becoming law.
The bill has found support among many media outlets, publishers and advocacy organizations who say it will help support an embattled Canadian news industry.
“[The bill’s passage] is an important first step to level the playing field and address the significant market power imbalance between publishers and platforms, and to restore fairness and ensure the sustainability of the Canadian news media ecosystem,” said Jamie Irving, chair of News Media Canada, an advocacy organization for Canadian print and online media.
In an interview with CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, News Media Canada President Paul Deegan said he’s confident Meta, the government and media can work out an agreement.
“These companies make a lot of money in Canada.… Canada is a very attractive market for Facebook, and it’s in their self-interest, it’s in their economic interest, to continue to offer news on their platform,” Deegan told host David Cochranne.
“We are 100 per cent confident that we can come up with something that we can live with, and they can live with.”
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) also welcomed the passage of C-18.
“This much-needed legislation will ensure that our homegrown news businesses, including those of our private broadcasters, have a framework for fair negotiation with online platforms on the value gained from their content,” CAB said in a statement.
“This is a positive step in righting the imbalance that exists between Canadian news businesses and the foreign web giants that benefit financially from using their content,” CAB president Kevin Desjardins said in the statement.
Maria Saras-Voutsinas, executive director of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, said the organization is “ecstatic” that the bill has passed.
“I do think that it’s going to save the industry,” she said, adding she hopes Meta will change its position on the law.
“It would have been great if we could just collaborate instead of playing these types of games, so it’s unfortunate. I’m really disappointed,” Saras-Voutsinas said.
The government said in a news release that revenue for broadcast television, radio, newspapers and magazines fell by nearly $6 billion between 2008 and 2020, and that since 2008, 474 news media outlets have closed across Canada.
Bill has flaws: Expert
Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law, and a law professor at the University of Ottawa, said Meta does not get much economic value from news content, and that the news industry needs Facebook more than the other way around.
“I think the government has backed itself into an unfortunate corner with some pretty obvious consequences,” Geist said in an interview Friday with CBC News Network.
Geist said the government could have gone with a different approach to supporting Canadian media, such as creating a fund that’s supported by tax revenues from tech companies like Meta and Google.
Such an approach, he added, would have been less complicated.
“So there were a lot of, I think, real risks and problems with this legislation. There were better alternatives,” Geist said.
“And for whatever reason the government seemed steadfast to say no, this was the approach they were going to take, and just never took the risks associated with their approach particularly seriously.”
Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law, said the government could have taken a different approach to supporting news organizations than making tech giants like Meta pay for linking to their content. (Guillaume Lafrenière/CBC)
Geist said Google is more likely to reach an agreement with the government than is Facebook, given the difference between the two platforms when it comes to the value of news content.
Rodriguez said talks with Google have been going well.
“They were very constructive, very positive, so Google has one approach, Meta has the other one,” he said.
“I’m a bit surprised and disappointed with Meta because they keep threatening Canadians, they keep threatening the government, and it doesn’t work that way. I don’t work under threat.”
Jeanette Ageson, publisher of The Tyee, an B.C.-based online news magazine, said in an interview with Power & Politics that while she’s confident the publication will survive, the legislation could threaten some media outlets.
“Small publications disproportionately rely on traffic from platforms like Google and Facebook,” she said.
“We will certainly feel some pain, but [for] some other, smaller news organizations it’s existential I would say.”
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
