Jay Goldberg Returns: Trudeau’s Censorship Tsar Reclaims Control

Prime Minister Mark Carney ought to rescind the hazardous censorship legislation introduced by the Justin Trudeau administration before it is fully implemented.

Unfortunately, following Steven Guilbeault’s appointment as head of the Ministry overseeing the Canadian identity, Carney seems ready to intensify the push for censorship that characterized the Trudeau era.

Why the pessimism?

Guilbeault authored the Trudeau administration’s censorship legislation, commonly referred to as the Online Streaming Act.

Many Canadians recall Guilbeault from his time serving as Minister of the Environment, during which he aggressively advocated for yearly increases in the carbon tax that affected Canadian taxpayers.

However, Guilbeault initially demonstrated his capabilities as the minister of Canadian Heritage between 2019 and 2021, during which time he penned the Online Streaming Act.

Before the bill became law, Guilbeault departed from the heritage position. However, Guilbeault has returned to the same role and must begin enforcing the legislation they crafted themselves—a piece of legislation centered around governmental oversight.

The Online Streaming Act grants extensive authority to the federal government to regulate key aspects of the internet.

This requires online streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime and Netflix to adhere to Canadian content regulations previously applicable only to broadcast companies. Consequently, these digital streamers must ensure they provide a specified quota of local content to users in Canada; otherwise, they could lose their operating license within the country.

What type of governmental oversight might we see here?

In his testimony before a Senate committee in 2022, ex-CRTC head Ian Scott appeared.

warned

This would probably involve compelling streaming services to alter their algorithms so as to promote Canadian content to unwitting viewers.

Guilbeault is essentially attempting to control what content Canadians can access on the internet.

It is an assault on democratic principles for the government to control which online materials Canadians can access or must avoid. The government ought not to have the power to influence the information Canadians consume.

This is the type of method employed by authoritarian states. Such tactics ought not to be adopted by a liberal democracy.

People ought to have the liberty to watch any streaming content they choose, without undue governmental intervention.

As prime minister, Pierre Trudeau famously stated that the government should not interfere with what happens in people’s homes. However, Guilbeault believes there should be exceptions when individuals stream content on platforms like Netflix.

In addition to everything else, the Online Streaming Act is causing significant financial strain for streamers and poses a risk of pushing providers out of the market.

Larger streamers are mandated by legislation to offer

5%

a portion of their streaming revenue to the government, after which the funds are directed to particular local media initiatives.

These additional expenses will have one of two effects: They could force streamers completely out of the Canadian market, or at the very least, they will increase streaming costs for Canadians.

Several streaming services, such as Hulu, intentionally do not operate within the Canadian market, possibly due to existing stringent regulations. This new legislation has the potential to exacerbate the situation further.

Some streaming services might conclude that the profit margins in Canada aren’t sufficient enough to justify altering their algorithms, generating additional Canadian programming, and paying what effectively functions as a levy to support governmental media initiatives.

If one or two streaming providers decide to leave the Canadian market instead of adhering to all the stringent aspects of the Online Streaming Act when it’s completely implemented, Canadians shouldn’t be surprised.

Canadian consumers definitely do not require less competition in the streaming sector. However, this could likely occur due to Ottawa’s enthusiasm for governmental oversight.

If Carney is wise, he’ll overlook Guilbeault’s tendency towards governmental regulation and carefully reconsider this detrimental legislation that was enacted during the Trudeau administration’s waning days.

Carney has leaned towards the center on certain matters and hasn’t shied away from scrapping unpoplar Trudeau-era policies such as the consumer carbon tax and the increase in capital gains tax.

When it comes to the Online Streaming Act, Carney ought to take similar action once more. He should consider repealing the law and make it clear that his administration has no intention of regulating what content Canadians have access to on the internet.

Jay Goldberg serves as the Canadian affairs manager at the Consumer Choice Center.