outside Canada<\/a> denounced the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review (BTLR) panel\u2019s<\/p>\n\n\n\n report<\/a> released last week as a \u201cbreathtaking\u201d and unprecedented plan to regulate the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The government-assembled panel of broadcasting experts chaired by Janet Yale was tasked with advising the Liberals on overhauling the country\u2019s allegedly outdated broadcasting laws. Its report recommended a massive expansion of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as the renamed Canadian Communications Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA key recommendation was to extend licences currently granted to radio and television stations to all media content, along with a much stricter compliance regime,\u201d noted the National Post\u2019s John Ivison<\/a>. Indeed, so strict is this proposed scheme that two former CRTC members are among the report\u2019s fiercest critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former CRTC vice-chair of telecommunications Peter Menzies wrote in the Globe and Mail<\/a> that in a \u201cbreathtaking expansion of scope and bureaucratic hubris\u201d and \u201ca series of invasive and unjustifiable recommendations,\u201d the panel \u201cadvocated for a sweeping series of interventions that would make all online media \u2013 from online sites such as Rabble to Rebel News and in any language \u2013 subject to government regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was echoed by former CRTC commissioner Timothy Denton, who in a Financial Post op-ed<\/a> wrote that the report advocates \u201can unprecedented power grab for the federal government and the CRTC\u201d aimed \u201cat nothing less than a statist counter-revolution against the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was echoed by well-known Canadian pundit and political commentator Andrew Coyne<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report is \u201cbreathtaking \u2014 a regulatory power grab without precedent, either in Canada or the democratic world,\u201d noted Coyne in the Globe and Mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNobody elsewhere else is proposing anything like it, and for good reason: because it\u2019s insane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what the Liberal government will do remains a critical question after Heritage Minister Steven Guilbault caused a firestorm by first appearing to endorse the idea of government licenses for internet news sites, then reversing his position<\/a> the next day. On Sunday, Guilbault told CTV News: \u201cIf you\u2019re a distributor of content in Canada\u2026 we would ask that they have a licence, yes.\u201d On Monday, both the minister and the prime minister insisted the Liberals won\u2019t license internet news or regulate internet news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that\u2019s not exactly reassuring given the report recommends that \u201ccompanies delivering media content by means of the internet would be required to register with the new Canadian Communications Commission,\u201d and that it makes \u201cno mention here of any exemptions for news organizations,\u201d noted Ivison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And while the report\u2019s \u201cimplications for press freedom are obvious \u2013 so obvious, that one would expect the whole newspaper industry to rise up as one and reject it,\u201d it also contains an offer of \u201cgoodies\u201d for that beleaguered sector, Coyne observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, even as critics allege the Trudeau government\u2019s $595 million \u201cmedia bail-out\u201d announced in its last budget compromises Canada\u2019s legacy media, the report outlines more ways \u201cthe government could help news outlets\u201d losing out to digital competitors, the Globe and Mail<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It recommends that online media content providers must register with the CRTC and pay into a fund to support select Canadian news organizations, it reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newspapers \u201cwould be eligible for subsidies paid for out of the taxes on aggregators and sharers, who would also be obliged to link\u201d to those Canadian news sites the CRTC deems \u201caccurate, trusted and reliable,\u201d Coyne explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre we really going to bite the hand that feeds us, now or in the future?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Liberals and their beneficiaries believe they are \u201csaving quality journalism,\u201d noted Ivison, \u201cwhile everyone else thinks it\u2019s a transparent bribe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s echoed by Jack Fonseca, director of political operations at Campaign Life Coalition, Canada\u2019s national pro-life, pro-family lobbying group. The Liberal \u201cbailout of the privately-owned mainstream media was a bribe to ensure that major media outlets will become dependent on the government, and therefore not report anything critical about Trudeau, or else,\u201d he told LifeSiteNews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s similar to the Liberal government\u2019s \u201cnew rules to muzzle so-called Third Party Advertisers at election time, including simple information posted on Canadian websites,\u201d he said. Fonseca maintains those rules were \u201cdesigned to de-platform all small-c conservative voices which might be critical of Liberal policies, including that of Campaign Life Coalition. We actually had to shut down our pro-life Voters\u2019 Guide for months during the election, and then massively restrict access to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canadians should regard the recent controversial broadcasting report in the context of what they know about the Liberals, and particularly the prime minister, who in May 2014 expressed his admiration for China\u2019s \u201cbasic dictatorship,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to take Trudeau at his word, and not just laugh at him as if he\u2019s some kind of joke. He was deadly serious. A basic dictatorship is what he admires. And it seems fairly clear that\u2019s where he\u2019s trying to steer the country, with a clear plan in his own mind,\u201d Fonseca said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The possibility that the Liberals could \u201ccreate a \u2018media registry\u2019 and start licensing internet and social media-based news outlets is the latest in a string of warning signs that Justin Trudeau is the most dangerous man in Canadian political history,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, if the Liberals move ahead with this plan, it\u2019s reasonable to assume \u201cwebsites like LifeSiteNews would be forced to shut down because the Liberal government would refuse to give them a license,\u201d warned Fonseca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn short, Liberals will have total control of the internet and the power to block all dissenting voices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact information:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Honourable Steven Guilbeault – Minister of Canadian Heritage Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner Justin Trudeau – Office of the Prime Minister Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Terrifying\u2019: US watchdog denounces Trudeau govt\u2019s push to control Canada\u2019s free press<\/a> https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/news\/terrifying-us-watchdog-denounces-trudeau-govts-push-to-control-canadas-free-press<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Trudeau govt backpedals on licensing of news websites after outcry<\/a> https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/news\/trudeau-govt-backpedals-on-licensing-of-news-websites-after-outcry<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Canadian govt. offers huge tax breaks to \u2018trusted\u2019 news organizations 11 months prior to election<\/a> https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/news\/canadian-govt.-offers-huge-tax-breaks-to-trusted-news-organizations-11-mont<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Trudeau Called \u2018Most Dangerous Man In Political History\u2019 for Plan to Regulate Online News by Leanne Lawrence, Lifesite News \u2013 February 7, 2020 https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/news\/trudeau-called-most-dangerous-man-in-canadian-political-history-for-plan-to-regulate-online-news Warnings continue to multiply over the \u201cinsane\u201d and \u201cinvasive\u201d report that recommends Canada\u2019s Liberal government register … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/MAO-CENSORSHIP-3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
15 Eddy Street, 12th Floor
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M5
Telephone: 819-997-7788
Email: hon.steven.guilbeault@canada.ca<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shadow minister for industry and economic development
Suite 115, 70 Country Hills Landing NW
Calgary, AB T3K 2L2
Telephone: 403-216-7777
Email: Michelle.Rempel@parl.gc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca<\/a>
https:\/\/pm.gc.ca\/en\/connect\/contact<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n