TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) – Trudeau’s Minister of Canadian Heritage has announced that $2.5 million of taxpayer funds have been earmarked for an initiative seeking to “counter harmful disinformation.”
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pablo Rodriguez, pledged $2.5 million to the government’s “Digital Citizen Initiative,” a project that allows Canadians to “respond and help in the global efforts to counter misinformation and disinformation.” Rodriguez is also the minister behind Bill C-11, a controversial internet censorship bill that seeks to allow the government to censor Canadians internet access using the excuse of limiting the spread of “harmful” content.
“Today, the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced the launch of a special, targeted call for proposals totalling $2.5 million to fund initiatives that help people identify misinformation and disinformation online,” states the Government of Canada website.
It adds: “Through the Government’s Digital Citizen Initiative (DCI), Canadians can respond and help in the global efforts to counter misinformation and disinformation. The DCI supports democracy and social cohesion in Canada by building citizen resilience against misinformation and disinformation, and building partnerships to support a healthy digital information society.”
According to the project’s mission, “Funded projects will help increase civic literacy, promote critical thinking when it comes to validating sources of information, and build capacity in Canada to fight disinformation online.”
“The department will work closely with several targeted and specialized organizations who are already doing work in this area. Stakeholders will be contacted in the following days.”
The $2.5 million is in addition to the $8.5 million the DCI has already contributed to such efforts since its launch in late 2019.
“There is an urgency to act. As Canadians, we can’t tolerate disinformation and propaganda. Democracy didn’t happen by accident. We need to fight for it. Canadians can play a role in pointing out and stopping the spread of misinformation and harmful disinformation. We can choose to advance a new, shared vision of democracy in the digital age. It begins with digital inclusion, where an informed and engaged Canadian public can participate meaningfully in society, both online and offline,” said Rodriguez in the press release.
“Each day, opinions are manipulated and division incited through the spread of deliberate disinformation online. Canada takes this very seriously. We know an engaged and informed public is the best line of defence in our efforts to fight disinformation and protect our democracy,” added the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc.
Despite Rodriguez’s claim that censoring speech is integral in the “fight” to uphold “democracy,” freedom of expression has been historically considered necessary for ensuring the continued existence of democracy. Canada’s own Charter of Rights and Freedoms has it enshrined as law.
Trudeau and Rodriguez’s move to censor the internet and other forms of media, especially regarding Bill C-11, known colloquially as the online streaming act, has been widely criticized by those outside the Liberal Party.
“Neither the Liberals nor any government, regardless of your political stripe, can be trusted to be neutral referees of what is preferred speech and preferred content,” said Canadian Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis earlier this month.
Lewis noted that Canadians’ ability to freely share information and ideas via the web “must be protected.”
“Primarily it must be protected from government, from governmental interference,” she said.
Dr. Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, commented that Bill C-11 will allow for the government’s broadcast regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC), a “virtually limitless reach” in what is deemed acceptable or not for programming.
It is feared that Bill C-11 might force websites under the CRTC – including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook – to remove content deemed “harmful” within 24 hours, and compel services like Netflix to have more Canadian content.