Roundup: Concerns divorced from reality in C-11

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The continuing discourse around Bill C-11—the online streaming bill—continues to plumb new depths of utter idiocy, and this weekend, the Globe and Mail dragged Margaret Atwood into it, where she said some things that have absolutely nothing to do with the bill at hand. Why? Because Senator David Richards, a novelist who has been little more than a crank during his time in the Senate, gave a speech last week (around 1530 in the Hansard) that was pretty much complete and utter nonsense in which he accused the government and the CRTC of being Goebbels-like propagandists because of this bill, and people have glommed onto the debate without knowing anything about it.

If anything, the Globe story was complete journalistic malpractice, because it didn’t give sufficient context to the bill or what it actually says, and Atwood admitted she hadn’t read the bill, and they ran the story about her comments regardless.

I have done several stories on this bill and its predecessor in the previous Parliament (here and here). In spite of the Conservative narrative that this was “Orwellian” and that an “Internet czar” was going to censor your tweets, the bill is nothing about that. It’s about ensuring that streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ play by similar rules as other conventional broadcasters, particularly in using part of their revenues to continue to Canadian content media funds. YouTube was included for that reason—as the largest music streaming service, it should also disclose its Canadian revenues and submit the same proportion to media funds for artists that radio does. That’s it. The CRTC has been determining what counts as “Canadian Content” for those purposes, as well as for tax credits, for decades. The current point system has been in place since 1984. None of this is new or novel, and none of this is the Minister of Heritage telling people what to produce, and absolutely none of this is “government censorship,” and if people believe that, then they don’t understand the meaning of the word. And yet, these narratives have been allowed to perpetuate in the mainstream media, either because the journalists in question are too lazy to actually read the bill, or they are content to both-sides the debate, and when one of those sides are outright lying, or are free speech zealots who object to CanCon regulations on principle, and on the other side you get ministerial pabulum, you’re not exactly cutting through any of the bullshit. We have been so let down by the media over the course of this interminable debate, and we are all the worse off for it because people aren’t doing the jobs.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 348:

Russian missiles struck Kharkiv over the weekend, destroying residential buildings, while a fire caused a blackout in Odessa. Russia and Ukraine also traded almost 200 prisoners of war in a prisoner exchange on Saturday. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defence minister is being shuffled to a new portfolio as part of the government shake-up in light of combatting corruption allegations.

Good reads:

  • In advance of this week’s first ministers meeting on healthcare, Jean-Yves Duclos is point-blank saying that the current system doesn’t work anymore.
  • Anita Anand said that she supports the downing of that Chinese “spy” balloon.
  • Canada is sending a military aircraft to Haiti to help “disrupt the activities of gangs.”
  • Marco Mendicino is telling the RCMP to ban the use of sponge rounds and CS gas as crowd control measures (which I’m sure they’ll get right on that).
  • Canada has joined other G7 countries and Australia in extending the price cap on Russian oil and gas to limit their income.
  • Here is a look at how Correctional Services is trying to reform and enhance its use of Indigenous elders to provide guidance and counselling to inmates.
  • For some added context on the Chinese “spy” balloon, here is the tale of a Saskatchewan weather balloon that malfunctioned and couldn’t be shot down.
  • Inuit hunters are trying to convince governments to ensure that they reduce underwater noise in the Arctic, which is affecting whale populations.
  • Here’s a profile of Pablo Rodriguez and his family history, including why they had to flee Argentina when their house was bombed for political reasons.
  • Marit Stiles was confirmed as the new leader of the Ontario NDP.
  • Chantal Hébert sees the appointment of Amira Elghawaby as a sign that Trudeau is out of touch with voters, particularly in Quebec.

Odds and ends:

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