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Serious questions and cartoon politics about internet regulation

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill during Question Period, on Sept. 18, 2023.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters

There is one message Canada’s major political leaders want to send you about their opponent’s internet policies: Be afraid.

The only thing more dangerous than the evils of the internet, they tell us, is what their opponent will do about it.

Last week, the Prime Minister of Canada warned us that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is coming for your porn, or at least that he’d make you turn over your personal information to “sketchy websites.”

To be fair, Justin Trudeau’s attack was far more accurate than the irrational diatribe delivered by Mr. Poilievre about the online harms legislation the Liberal government is about to introduce.

He asserted that Mr. Trudeau will criminalize any speech of which he disapproves, and then went on to make random claims of coming censorship.

“Recently, a school board in Ontario banned Anne Frank’s books. So would that be considered hate speech? Under Justin Trudeau’s woke authoritarian agenda? I think it would,” Mr. Poilievre said a press event in Kitchener, Ont., last week.

Why does Mr. Poilievre think that? Well, he doesn’t, of course. It’s a ridiculous leap from a dumb decision by a school board to cull old books to a fake Liberal plan to ban Anne Frank’s diary in an internet bill.

There are two bills about internet safety coming onto Parliament’s agenda, and every sign that the political debate won’t be fit for grown-ups.

One is the government’s online harms bill, which has been long-delayed because the Liberals botched the job before by rushing out hodge-podge measures that in their totality pleased just about nobody.

This week, Mr. Trudeau’s government is slated to table a new version that is supposed to address issues such as child pornography, revenge porn, deepfakes, incitements to children to self-harm and hate speech.

And yes, it is possible that it will go too far in some respects. But certainly not in the weird ways Mr. Poilievre suggests. A serious critique might actually be useful.

Instead, Mr. Poilievre asserted the bill would make Mr. Trudeau – whom he called a “hateful racist” because of his history of wearing blackface – the arbiter of what is hate speech. And folks, no bill would give any prime minister that role.

Yet in legislation such as this, there is potential for overreach that should be taken seriously. That could be in bad definitions of hate speech, too much left to regulations rather than legislation, or too much interpretive power given to police or other authorities. It could also set onerous but ineffective rules.

So far, the Liberal government has been poor at thinking through online regulation. They have treated it more as a political promise than a complex societal issue.

Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor and the Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law, worries the government’s main desire is still to put up a “mission accomplished” sign to say they have acted.

Mr. Poilievre, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to have any interest in the complexities of the issue. Still, there’s no arguing that the internet is free of harms. Mr. Poilievre expressed support last week for a bill that would require porn sites to institute age verification for minors.

The bill, proposed by Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, has been supported by the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois, NDP and some Liberal MPs – so it could pass into law.

The bill does not define what age-verification technology would be used, and critics warn the options, including sending personal information to porn sites or some sort of third-party digital ID, create substantial privacy and security risks.

As soon as Mr. Poilievre declared his personal support for it, Mr. Trudeau piped up at the end of a press conference – where no reporter asked – to warn it would require giving “personal information to sketchy websites or create a digital ID for adults to be able to browse the web.”

There isn’t a simple, neat solution for age-verification. But Ms. Miville-Dechêne notes society’s interest in keeping porn from children did not go away just because it is online. What will the Prime Minister do about it?

And what will Mr. Poilievre, now the odds-on favourite to become the next prime minister, propose to do about other online harms?

Internet regulation isn’t a niche issue now. It is a serious, complex question, and we should expect more than cartoonish answers.

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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