QUESTION PERIOD — Employment and Social Development
Journalistic Practices
May 11, 2023
The person who designed the passport is more of a fan of the Granby Zoo than a history buff.
On another subject, members of the government passed a resolution at your party’s convention — the Liberal Party, that is. Resolution 472 asks the government to limit the publication of online information, which obviously includes newspaper articles. It says, and I quote, “. . . limit publication only to material whose sources can be traced.”
After passing Bill C-11, the censorship bill, now the Liberals want to hunt down sources. Even though Parliament unanimously passed a law to protect journalistic sources, it is now government policy to hunt down sources.
Leader, is this the result of Chinese interference? Sources spoke out and embarrassed the government, so now it has decided to make it government policy to hunt down journalistic sources?
Thank you for the question. No, that is clearly not the case. Despite the fact that your leader addressed me as the “Liberal leader,” I am the government representative. Resolutions adopted by the Liberal Party, and those adopted by your party as well, colleague, are quite obviously supporters’ resolutions, and the government is in no way obligated to take them up.
The Prime Minister made it very clear, as did Minister Seamus O’Regan, that the government has no intention of implementing the proposed resolution. The Government of Canada respects journalism. That is quite evident in the bills under consideration, and it is clear to everyone.
The answer, once again, is no.
No prime minister lasts forever, but the government and the Liberal Party are here to stay. This proposal was brought forward by the Liberal Party, this Liberal government, and some of the government members who were present endorsed it.
Whose job will it be to trace the sources? Should it be the CRTC’s job, or do the Liberals want to create a new politburo?
Once again, colleague, I’m not sure I fully understood your question, but I will repeat what I just said.
Resolutions at political conventions, whether for the Liberal Party or, I assume, the Conservative Party, are brought forward by party supporters who want to express their views.
They have no bearing on the decisions the government must make for the well-being of Canadians. Once again, the Prime Minister and the minister have stated very clearly that the Liberals have no intention of pursuing this.
