Carney takes a swipe at Musk and Starlink, while his government writes seven speech and surveillance bills
The Prime Minister told POLITICO that relying on a satellite system a billionaire can turn off is "not a good idea." Seven Liberal bills on speech and surveillance raise the question of who really holds the switch.
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Article by Rebel News staff.
Tonight on The Ezra Levant Show: Prime Minister Mark Carney warned Canadians about a billionaire who could switch them off, while his own government has spent the past year writing laws that give Ottawa that power over speech, surveillance and telecom service.
In an interview with POLITICO in Montreal on Thursday, following the Canada-EU summit, Carney said: "If you're connected to a satellite system that a billionaire, almost trillionaire, decides to turn off at one moment or not, that's not a good idea either." He did not name Elon Musk or Starlink. The interviewer raised Musk, Starlink and Ukraine, and Carney answered, "Yeah." He added that Canada would never tie its defences to Musk's system, "nor would we, given the track record." POLITICO called the remark the "subtweet of the day."
The track record includes Musk switching Starlink on for Ukraine in the first days of the war, when Russian missiles were knocking out other communications and the Ukrainian army risked fighting blind. The remark appeared aimed at the Liberal base and at Democrats in Washington who have made Musk a political villain. Had Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre sneered at a named businessman in the same terms, the CBC reaction would likely have been far harsher.
Carney's broader point, that one powerful actor able to cut people off is dangerous, is a fair one. It also describes his own legislative agenda. At least seven government bills either govern what Canadians can say online or expand state surveillance. Four deal with speech and three with surveillance, and some are already law.
Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, received royal assent June 18 and took effect July 18. It creates new offences for displaying certain symbols, adds a stand-alone hate crime offence, writes a legal definition of "hatred" into the Criminal Code and repeals the defence for people expressing, in good faith, an opinion on a religious subject or text. The Department of Justice states that "the law repeals this specific defence," while maintaining the change does not criminalize religious expression. The government has not explained why a defence it says changes nothing needed to go.
Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, was introduced June 10 and remains before Parliament. It would create a Digital Safety Commission of Canada with three to five cabinet-appointed commissioners empowered to issue orders, investigate, inspect and fine. The government's fact sheet sets penalties of up to three per cent of global gross revenue or $10 million, whichever is higher, a scale that would fall hardest on the largest platforms, including Musk's X. Alongside material that is already illegal, such as child abuse imagery and intimate images shared without consent, platforms would have to police "content that foments hatred," a standard interpreted by commissioners the Liberal cabinet appoints. The framework closely resembles Justin Trudeau's Online Harms Act under a new name.
Bill C-25, the Strong and Free Elections Act, received royal assent June 18. It makes it a crime to knowingly spread false or misleading information about elections or voting with intent to disrupt an election or affect its results, and bans deepfakes of candidates and election officials made to mislead. Opinion and satire are exempt, but officials working for a government that is itself on the ballot will decide what was false, what a speaker knew and what he intended. The government says the rules now reach activity outside Canada, an odd position for a Prime Minister troubled by one man's satellites crossing borders.
Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, became law the same day. Most of it targets child predators and sextortion, but it also rewrites criminal harassment. According to the Department of Justice, the prosecutor once had to show the victim feared for their safety. Now it is enough that "a reasonable person in the victim's circumstances would fear for their safety," including through "modern technology." Rebel News reporters have been labelled harassers by Liberal politicians for asking questions in public, and the lower bar gives that label new legal weight.
Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, passed the House of Commons in June and is now before the Senate. It lets police demand information on "reasonable grounds to suspect," allows the public safety minister to order providers to build in technical access for police, which critics call a backdoor, and permits metadata to be kept for up to six months.
Bill C-8, the cyber security act, received royal assent June 15. It lets the minister and cabinet issue orders to telecom companies, with secrecy orders attached, including cutting off service to an individual where "strictly necessary." Conservative amendments on the public safety committee requiring prior judicial authorization passed, but the Speaker ruled them out of order and they were removed, so judges review such orders only after the fact.
Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, was among Carney's first major bills and drew enough backlash over its surveillance powers that the Liberals split it. The border measures moved into Bill C-12 and passed, while C-2 stalled. Its lawful access powers returned as C-22.
Musk cannot jail anyone, levy fines worth three per cent of global revenue, secretly order a phone company to cut off a customer or strip a religious defence from a hate speech trial. The Government of Canada can now do, or soon will be able to do, each of those things. Carney's remark leaves open who in this country really has a finger on the off switch: the billionaire with the satellites, or the Prime Minister who spent the past year writing the laws to use one.
COMMENTS
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Anthony Tasker commented 2026-11-03 22:28:28 -0500 FlagCarney’s going to take us down ,down ,down . -
Peter Wrenshall commented 2026-11-03 21:59:12 -0500 FlagRegarding Ezra Levant’s concluding remarks, there is a fair amount of evidence that the polls done by the US’s marquee polling companies are rigged in order to demoralize prospective Republican voters. Putting all that aside, can anyone seriously believe that a Jew-hating, Muslim Brotherhood-connected El-Sayed, or a Talarico in Texas is running neck-and-neck with their Republican opponents? We shall see tonight, but I hope for the sake of America – for that matter, the sake of Canada and the world, that these polls are false.
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Bruce Atchison commented 2026-11-03 21:12:15 -0500Carney and his ilk are hypocrites. While warning about a capitalist cutting off people, they’re working to do the same thing. Soon, if they get their way, all non governmental media that is critical of the regime will be shut down. We see this throughout history where authoritarian leaders close down papers and broadcasts they dislike.
