Trudeau's 'illiberal' Liberals leak details on internet censorship bill to friendly media

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The Trudeau Liberals refused disclosure of a briefing note on their draconian online harms bill to Rebel News. They proceeded to leak the information to friendly media overnight.

Tonight, Sheila Gunn Reid guest hosts the Ezra Levant Show.

Before the winter parliamentary recess, the illiberal Trudeau Liberals quietly reviewed the "international best practices" on internet censorship. But Justice Minister Arif Virani did not provide examples at the time of legal content they would censor.

Asked when Canadians could expect online harm legislation, he replied, "It is really critical that we get this right."

"You didn’t answer the question," said a reporter. "We are looking at international best practices," countered Virani.

PM Trudeau confirms to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh that the Liberals' plans to further censor Canadians' access to the internet through the Online Harms Bill are still in the works.https://t.co/MiSqptlFEs pic.twitter.com/eXHrTMEBbJ

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 14, 2024

Cabinet in June 2021 introduced Bill C-36, An Act To Amend The Criminal Code, that proposed $70,000 fines for legal content deemed "likely to foment detestation or vilification." Among the categories of harm identified by Parliament then included 'hate speech' and terrorist content.

A Technical Paper and Discussion Paper published the following month pondered a Digital Safety Commissioner to investigate anonymous complaints, conduct closed-door hearings and block websites, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. They have since appointed the said commissioner.

However, Bill C-36 died on the order paper when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election that August. He pledged new legislation within 100 days of his new mandate, but that promise fell through.

On February 14, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau renewed that promise in response to NDP leader Jagmeet Singh during Question Period. Bill C-11 received Royal Assent last April 27, but remains boggled down by ongoing public consultations.

"The checks and balances in Canada no longer work. The opposition parties often don't oppose. The media cheerleads, it's not skeptical or critical. The courts are of no use."

Bill-C11 is a nightmare. pic.twitter.com/9ArpNDUBmF

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 3, 2023

Trudeau has repeatedly endorsed regulating legal content on the internet, despite contradictorily issuing support for free speech. "The government believes in free speech," he testified at the Emergencies Act inquiry on September 9, 2022.

Yet he contends social media has become a petri dish for 'anger' and 'hate' that is "destabilizing our democracy."

Official Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre opposed the legislation on the grounds it could be misappropriated to censor ideas that challenge government narratives. "We have to be very careful about giving any state czar the ability to define what he or she thinks is hate because we might end up being very surprised with their definition," he told True North.

The Liberals have since passed censorship legislation in Bill C-18 and C-11, with Alphabet and Meta earlier fighting the feds over Bill C-18, the Online News Act, on the grounds it would censor speech.

GUEST: Rebel Commander Ezra Levant provides an update from the 'Coutts Four' trial in Lethbridge, Alberta.