(LifeSiteNews) — Canada’s foremost constitutional freedom group launched a national campaign calling on the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney to stop trying to reintroduce a bill censoring the internet.
In a press release to LifeSiteNews, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) said its national campaign urges the federal government “not to reintroduce Bill C-63, the proposed Online Harms Act, or any substantially similar legislation that would undermine freedom of expression, due process, and the rule of law in Canada.”
“To help Canadians take action, the Justice Centre has created an online tool with a ready-to-send letter that goes directly to the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister,” the group said.
The letter can be signed online and submitted directly to the prime minister’s email address.
Bill C-63, or the Online Harms Act, was put forth under the guise of protecting children from exploitation online. The bill died last year after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the 2025 federal election.
This bill looked to ban legal internet content that authorities deemed “likely to foment detestation or vilification of an individual or group.” Those in violation of the law would have faced potential $70,000 fines or house arrest.
The goal was to have internet content policed by a federally appointed digital safety commissioner, who would act as an all-powerful judge on the matter.
The JCCF warned that the Online Harms Act would “dramatically expand government censorship powers, punish lawful expression online, and authorize preemptive restrictions on individual liberty.”
“In doing so, it would represent a fundamental departure from Canada’s long-standing commitment to freedom of expression and due process,” the JCCF noted.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, the Carney Liberal government said last fall that it would attempt for the third time to introduce and pass a bill that aims to censor the internet.
The JCCF noted that such a bill is not needed because Canada already has “extensive Criminal Code provisions that address serious online harms, including child sexual exploitation, the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, criminal harassment, terrorism, and incitement to violence.”
“Bill C-63 goes far beyond targeting criminal conduct. The Online Harms Act would dramatically expand government censorship powers, punish lawful expression online, and authorize preemptive restrictions on individual liberty,” the JCCF warned.
The JCCF also warned that a new version of Bill C-63 would mean that lawful speech “could be subject to investigation, penalties, or removal based on vague and subjective standards.”
“Individuals could face severe consequences not for committing crimes but for expressing opinions that are later deemed unacceptable,” the JCCF said.
Carney, as reported by LifeSiteNews, vowed to continue in Trudeau’s footsteps, promising even more legislation to crack down on lawful internet content.
Indeed, while in Davos recently for the World Economic Forum meetings, Carney promised Canada would help usher in a “New World Order.”
