QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Social Media
June 10, 2019
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Leader in the Senate.
Senator Harder, three weeks ago your government announced that it would be launching a digital charter. It was rather short on actual details but your government promised strong enforcement of companies who break the law. It’s all part of your government strategy to police the Internet leading up to the election. But I’m not so sure your government are the ones who should be doing the policing, Senator Harder. I say that for reasons too numerous to get into in this juncture so let’s just focus on the most recent one.
Late last week we learned that the Liberal Party of Canada, as well as the Prime Minister himself, used Facebook to solicit financial donations from outside of Canada, specifically from people living in the U.S. and the U.K.
Senator Harder, as your government knows well, it is illegal for political parties in Canada to collect donations from anyone who is not either a citizen or a permanent resident of this country.
My question to you is this: Instead of worrying about policing others’ use of the Internet, why doesn’t your government focus on making sure that your government and your party follow the rules? Why is it always so difficult for your government — and particularly Prime Minister Trudeau — to hold itself to the same standard it sets for everyone else? Who is policing your government in regard to the misuse and abuse of the web?
I thank the honourable senator for his question. Let me try to unravel the pieces that he’s trying to tie together.
The commitments the Government of Canada has made with respect to concerns over social media and the platforms are ones that are broadly shared by a number of Liberal democratic countries, which are seeking to have the appropriate balance of freedom of expression while ensuring that social media and the platforms are not inadvertently, or otherwise, used for the promotion of hate and to undermine or advance civil discourse or, indeed, organized crime and sedition. The linking of this to whatever parties might do on the web in terms of raising funds is chalk and cheese.
Last fall, this Senate and the Parliament of Canada passed an elections reform bill that governs exactly how election spending can proceed.
Government Leader, this isn’t a hypothetical question. The Prime Minister and the Liberal Party of Canada broke fundraising rules. It’s not hypothetical.
Also late last week your government Minister of Democratic Institutions put on a display that was anything but democratic when she refused to rule out the possibility of this government — your government — shutting down Twitter in the lead-up to the election.
And by the way, Senator Harder, I challenge you to name any liberal democracies around the world that are threatening to shut down social media and other platforms — more hypocrisy and double standards from this government.
I will ask you the same question I asked you last week. How far is your government willing to go to shut down opposition voices in this country? Do we have a commitment from this government that you’re not willing to go as far as countries like China, North Korea and Iran in shutting down Twitter and other social platforms?
I find the question preposterous.
