CRTC Chair Ian Scott Confirms Bill C-11 Can Be Used To Pressure Internet Platforms to Manipulate Algorithms

The Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications held an exceptionally important hearing as part of its Bill C-11 pre-study (which is about to change into a Bill C-11 study) last night featuring Canadian Heritage officials and CRTC Chair Ian Scott. I will have a second post on the officials, who struggled to provide clear answers to basic questions on everything from how to identify what counts as Cancon for user content (Youtube’s Content ID was suggested) to the absence of thresholds for what is covered by the bill (there are no thresholds and the government wants the ability to also target small streamers). But the key moment of the day came in questioning Scott about the discoverability and the potential for algorithmic manipulation.

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Former RCMP commissioner defends Mountie behind Brenda Lucki allegations

Former RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson and other retired Mounties are defending the integrity of Superintendent Darren Campbell, who has alleged that current Commissioner Brenda Lucki interfered in the investigation of the largest mass shooting in Canadian history to help the Liberal government’s gun-control agenda.

Emergencies Preparedness Minister Bill Blair doesn’t accept Supt. Campbell’s written account of a conference call, on April 28, 2020, between Commissioner Lucki and RCMP commanders overseeing the criminal investigation into the rampage 10 days earlier by a lone gunman in Nova Scotia. Twenty-two people were killed in the shooting.

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Here’s why experts say Canada isn’t headed for a recession

Canada’s annual inflation rate hit 7.7 per cent for the month of May, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday, the highest level of growth seen in nearly 40 years. With inflation reaching astronomical levels, some Canadians may be concerned that rising costs will lead to a decline in economic activity and eventually trigger a recession.

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Canadian taxpayers group says ‘Trudeau needs to follow Biden’s lead’ for gas tax relief

As plans for relief from gas prices come out of the United States, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to follow suit.

“Trudeau needs to follow Biden’s lead and provide gas tax relief immediately,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano in a statement on Wednesday. “Today, Trudeau could save an average Canadian family about $20 every single time they fuel up their minivan by cutting federal fuel taxes.”

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John Ivison: The NDP-Liberal coalition has made an inefficient government inept

Much has been written in recent days about the prospect the Liberals are heading for defeat at the next election.

The oracle of Delphi couldn’t come to any firm conclusion on a vote that might be three years away, possibly between politicians not currently leading their parties.

But the Trudeau government’s performance in recent months has been as listless as it has been inept. When things are going well, governments find their mistakes are often glossed over. Conversely, when they are in trouble, they are magnified. Right now, lack of preparation is meeting reality.

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Sh*t Outta Lucki? Trudeau’s Mountie denies claim she interfered in N.S. shooting investigation

The head of the RCMP is denying a claim by a fellow Mountie that she tried to direct the information investigators released as part of their probe into the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.

That allegation was contained in handwritten notes from Nova Scotia RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell which were released Tuesday as part of the Mass Casualty Commission probe.

The commission is investigating the April 18-19, 2020 rampage that claimed the lives of 22 people — including a pregnant woman — and left several people injured and several homes destroyed. The commission released a report Tuesday on the way the RCMP and government communicated with the public about the incident.

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Biden calls on Congress to pass three-month gas and diesel tax holiday … Meanwhile in Canada … Gas tax break ‘would be irresponsible’ now, say Trudeau Libs

President Joe Biden will implore Congress to suspend federal gas and diesel taxes for the three months ending September amid record-high prices at the pump and record-low approval ratings before November’s midterm elections.

Biden will make the pitch to lawmakers in remarks Wednesday, although senior administration officials concede it “alone won’t fix the problem we face, but it will provide families a little breathing room.”


Gas tax break ‘would be irresponsible’ now, federal minister says, as Liberals focus on other priorities

OTTAWA — The federal government has no immediate plans to cut prices at the pump by offering Canadians a temporary reprieve from the federal gas tax, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Tuesday.

We obviously are not yet poor enough.

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The annual report on our inglorious Canada Infrastructure Bank

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Justin Trudeau’s authoritarian rule of Canada

Over the past two years, Canadians have been stripped of their Charter rights. Unvaccinated Canadians have been locked away from leaving the country and from seeing family members, people were forced to stay home in order to “save lives”, businesses were forced to shut their doors, church gatherings were limited by order of the state and now the government is seeking power to control what you and can and cannot see and say on the internet.

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Two Canadians hiding out in Mexico, one an Interpol fugitive, killed at Playa del Carmen resort

MEXICO CITY, June 21 (Reuters) – Two Canadian citizens, a man and a woman, have been killed at the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, authorities said on Tuesday.

The killings in the state of Quintana Roo follow the fatal shooting in January of two Canadians with criminal records in nearby Cancun.

A senior state official told Reuters the man, whose identity has not been made public, was wanted by Interpol.

Had their throats cut. I wonder what flavour of Canadian they were.

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The Trudeau government is on a quest for censorship

The government is currently trying to rush new censorship legislation through Parliament at lightning speed. Through Bill C-11, the Trudeau government plans to hand the CRTC the power to control what content Canadians are exposed to online. This includes filtering feeds on popular apps like Netflix, YouTube and TikTok.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the government is deliberately choosing not to disclose the scope of these new regulatory powers until after the bill becomes law.

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Canada’s single-use plastics ban a ‘first step’ in waste reduction. What’s next?

By the end of 2022, Canadian companies will no longer be able to import or make plastic bags, cutlery, takeout containers, ring carriers, stir sticks and straws, barring a few targeted exceptions to recognize specific cases.

The deadline was announced by the federal government on Monday in what Anthony Merante called “very good news” for the environment.

“A plastic bag, a plastic fork, a single-use straw … it only takes one of those plastic items to encounter wildlife … to make that a lethal encounter for them,” said Merante, a plastics campaigner for Oceana Canada.

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