OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — One of Canada’s top constitutional freedom groups warned that the country’s broadcast regulator has gotten to the point of being a “gatekeeper” of citizens’ online presence, saying the overseer must be “abolished.”
The call for the removal of Canada’s broadcast regulator came from a report released by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) titled Mission creep: Is it time to abolish the CRTC?, written by public policy analyst Nigel Hannaford.
“Policymakers should act to prevent further entrenchment of this obsolete institution, seeking to abolish it, and repeal bills like Bill C-11 and C-18, which subject the internet and broadcasting more generally to government regulation,” Hannaford wrote.
“They must also oppose all legislation with the same objective currently under consideration, like Bills C-2, C-8, C-9, and C-22.”
The JCCF noted that the report examines “the evolution” of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). It argues that it has “expanded far beyond its original mandate and now functions as an unaccountable regulator that undermines freedom of expression and true choice online and frustrates the entry of new players in the media market.”
“Governments should not act as gatekeepers of expression or curators of information,” Hannaford observed.
The CRTC, which has been around since 1968, was created to promote Canadian content. Over the years, its “mission creep,” as Hannaford called it, has grown and “transformed” it “into a powerful gatekeeper of online content, enabling government influence over what Canadians can see, share, and access online.”
“To protect freedom of expression and access to information online, Canadians should call on policymakers to abolish the CRTC, repeal legislation that enables government control over online content, and support policies that promote a free and open internet,” the JCCF said.
Hannaford’s report calls to light many concerning recent Canadian bills such as the Online Streaming Act (C-11) and Online News Act (C-18) as well as Bill C-22.
Overall, it recommends five actions be taken:
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Abolish the CRTC: The report argues that the CRTC is outdated and unnecessary, and that its regulatory superstructure should be dismantled to restore freedom of expression and consumer choice;
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Repeal legislation empowering content control: Policymakers should repeal laws such as Bills C-11 and C-18 that extend government control over online content and broadcasting;
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Oppose further regulatory expansion: Parliament should reject additional legislation that would expand government authority over digital communication and online activity;
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Rely on market-based solutions: The report recommends allowing competition, consumer choice, and market forces to govern Canada’s telecommunications and digital sectors rather than centralized regulation.
Hannaford: Canadians do not need ‘government’ to tell them what content to watch
Hannaford stated that the federal government now uses the CRTC as a “gatekeeper” tool to use “longer levers to shape the national conversation in real time.”
“It has turned the CRTC into a gatekeeper who decides which ideas, creators, and stories get amplified, or quietly suppressed — not by banning them outright, but by making them harder to find. It does not trust Canadians to choose for themselves what they watch or listen to,” he noted.
“But Canadians do not need a government body to decide what content they should discover, consume, or create, as if we need a ‘cultural guardian.’”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, MPs from the Liberal Party and the Bloc Québécois passed Bill C-9, known as the “Combatting Hate Act,” on Wednesday in a 186–137 vote. Conservatives, NDP, and Green Party MPs voted against the bill in a rare form of unity among the usually opposing parties.
Canada’s top pro-life group, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), recently warned that the passage of Bill C-9, which criminalizes religious expression and belief when quoting parts of the Bible, including about homosexuality and gender, will lead to the “actual persecution” of Christians.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Bill C-22 was introduced recently by Canadian Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree.
This bill was introduced purportedly to address privacy concerns relating to another bill, C-2, that would have permitted police and government officials to open and examine Canadians’ personal mail and would also ban cash donations over $10,000.
After backlash late last year regarding Bill C-2, Anandasangaree said he would rewrite portions of the bill. However, Bill C-22 contains concerning language largely taken from Bill C-2 regarding Canadians’ online privacy.
