I know what happened. They issued a directive under section 15. They basically nudged the CRTC, which held a hearing and concluded that RT should be pulled off the airwaves.
I think we need to be a bit more categorical about authoritarian state-controlled broadcasters, and not just RT. CGTN should have been pulled at the same time. That's why I'm suggesting section 7, or some derivative thereof, and proceeding in that fashion. The intent of the drafters of the bill was to get authoritarian state-controlled broadcasters off our airwaves.
I would disagree with you on one thing: It's not the same as the Internet, because long-standing Supreme Court rulings have said that the broadcast system, as regulated by the CRTC, is a public entity. It is owned by the Government of Canada, and we are under no obligation to allow authoritarian state-controlled broadcasters to use publicly owned airwaves, which is what they are.
That's very different and distinct from the Internet, the publication of books or newspapers, or the distribution of materials. These are public airwaves. They're owned by the public and they're owned by the Government of Canada. In my view, the Government of Canada is well within its rights to determine what goes on those airwaves and what doesn't. That's why we have a whole Canadian content policy that's been in place for decades. We don't do that to newspapers or other private forms of media. That's a distinction I would make.