Orwellian Bill C-11 passes third reading in the Senate

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The Liberal-proposed Bill C-11 — a sweeping piece of legislation that would regulate the internet content that Canadians can produce and access — passed its third reading in the Senate late February 2.

Vote result on third reading of Bill #C11, as amended:

Yeas: 43✔️
Nays: 15❌
Abstentions: 0#SenCA #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/qZIVg461CV

— Senate of Canada (@SenateCA) February 3, 2023

The Senate has proposed dozens of changes to the bill, An Act to Amend the Broadcasting Act, which will need to go back to the House of Commons to be passed.

Bill #C11, as amended, has been adopted at third reading in the Senate: https://t.co/ZqOiRobT3f#SenCA #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/LuNRb8vzNO

— Senate of Canada (@SenateCA) February 3, 2023

Broadcasting in Canada is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), a regulatory authority that works at arm’s length from the federal government.

The Senate itself, admits that it’s difficult to say how the bill will affect broadcasting in Canada.

“The bill would give the CRTC new powers — but exactly how or even if the CRTC would make use of them cannot be determined through an analysis of the bill alone,” the Senate website reads.

“Aspects of this bill may have a sweeping effect on broadcasting in Canada — or modest effect, depending on future CRTC decisions.”

Any person and/or business that violates certain provisions of the sweeping regulations will have hefty financial penalties imposed on them by the CRTC.

This caused at least one Liberal-appointed Senator to criticize the bill as an Orwellian piece of legislation.

Senator David Richards drew a chilling comparison when he compared it to Stalin’s Pravda and Hitler’s book burning while he condemned the censorship measures.

Senator David Adams Richard tears apart Bill C-11, warning against censorship and government dictating what counts as Canadian culture. Powerful speech from one of Canada’s most acclaimed authors, having won Governor General’s Award for fiction and non-fiction and Giller Prize. pic.twitter.com/9LH4boRW5a

— Michael Geist (@mgeist) January 31, 2023

Conservative Senator Leo Housakos tried to reign in what he referred to as deeply flawed legislation. 

Again today at final reading in the Senate, I tried to improve the deeply flawed #BillC11 by removing discoverability and algorithm manipulation as means for the Government to censor what Canadians see and post online. WATCH: pic.twitter.com/ofrM0EGoxv

— Senator Leo Housakos (@SenatorHousakos) February 2, 2023

Yet any meaningful attempt to amend the bill in a way that would uphold Canadians' freedom to access content online was squashed by the Senate. 

And again today, Liberal Senators voted against our amendment to ensure your right to decide what to watch online. One by one, they voted against our efforts to protect your online feed from regulation. WATCH: pic.twitter.com/jvNkjftP7s

— Senator Leo Housakos (@SenatorHousakos) February 3, 2023

The same senators are being criticized for not acting independently of the federal government in their review and approval of this legislation. 

While ⁦@CPC_HQ⁩ Senators were moving amendments in the Senate to protect your right to decide what you see online, the Liberals were making clear to their Senators how to vote on those amendments. Tell me again how independent you are … #BillC11
https://t.co/eJNeBF4eTa

— Senator Leo Housakos (@SenatorHousakos) February 3, 2023

As Canada's ranking on the freedom scale declines and things that the government deemed misinformation turn out to be true, granting the CRTC new powers and sweeping control over internet content with ambiguously worded legislation and unknown consequences will be detrimental to Canadian media autonomy.