Debates of March 30th, 2023

Online Streaming Act

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is obvious the government does not want to hear the truth. It is going to try to push beyond the time allocation on this vote because it does not want to hear the truth. This is what it is trying to hide from Canadians and that is what I am trying to get at here.

We heard about the ethics breaches of the Prime Minister that he tried to hide, and how about the WE Charity scandal when the Liberals shut down Parliament?

I was beginning to speak about the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, who hired a company co-owned by a close friend. This was another ethics breach.

How about a housing minister who granted $133,000 to a group whose—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby is rising on a point of order.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, I think members of the House have been very patient. The member has not read the bill. He does not understand the bill. He is not speaking to the bill. I do question relevance when he has a speech that has nothing to do with the bill.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

We are approaching the halfway point in the time allocated for the speech, and there has been no reference to the bill in question. I recommend the hon. member get to that point, please.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, the members will see, as I conclude my speech, how all of what I am saying is very much relevant.

More recently, we heard news about the foreign influence that happened in the 2019 and 2021 elections, but the Liberals were not going to tell anyone about it until the news broke in the media. Then they appointed a friend—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby is rising on a point of order.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, you have been very patient. This is a violation of our Standing Orders. The member has not read the bill and does not understand the bill. He must refer to the bill; otherwise, we should move on to the next speaker.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I asked the hon. member to return to the bill, and the hon. member assured us that he will get there, so I am going to take him at his word.

The hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby continues to interrupt proceedings. He is not allowing debate to take place. He is not allowing anything to be talked about. I know he is a Liberal lapdog—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Let us not debate and let us not start insulting people. I have made my ruling.

The hon. member for North Okanagan—Shuswap.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, these interruptions are absolutely another example of the egregious actions of the Liberal-NDP government. That is what I will get to in this speech, if they quit interrupting me and allow me to finish.

Further to these attempts to limit what Canadians can see, we just heard yesterday what appeared to be more evidence of a government that wants to control and censor what Canadians see, share and read. The government has appointed an interim Ethics Commissioner with family ties to the Liberals.

This may not sound bad enough at first glance, but upon further examination, it is not just a connection of a Liberal family. It is the same Liberal family that was involved when the former fisheries minister was found in breach of conflict of interest rules for approving a deal that could see a Liberal family friend reap big benefits. The deal was clam scam. The former fisheries minister issued a licence worth $24 million to a company that was run by his wife's cousin. Now it is the same Liberal cabinet minister's sister-in-law who has been appointed the watchdog of a corrupt Liberal government.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

I would like to think I have been as patient as you with regard to seeing the member become somewhat relevant. The member cannot say at the beginning of his speech that in the last 30 seconds he will be relevant to the bill, or that he will be making in the first nine and a half minutes an argument that will become relevant in the last 30 seconds. The member does need to provide some comment on the bill throughout the speech, not just in the last minute of it.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I ask for you to be judicious in this particular speech. This is an elected member of Parliament. He has been elected by his constituents to represent them in this place, and I ask that you not allow these interruptions to occur. You have ruled that the member will be going back to the point. He has already made that clear. He is an elected member of Parliament and has every right, in spite of the fact that they stand up and interrupt him, to—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

This is entering into debate, and I have said to the member that he will get to the point. However, I cannot stop other members from raising points of order. That is part of their democratic right.

The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I would like to hear what our member has to say and what he has to talk about in the debate. However, here is a great example of a coordinated effort from the Liberal Party and the NDP to stifle a debate in this House about censorship. Will these members be an example, as they should be—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

We are going to let the hon. member for North Okanagan—Shuswap conclude his speech.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, this harassment from the parties that simply do not want to hear the truth is incredible, especially from the member for Winnipeg North, who is known for rambling on and on in debate in this House. His speeches have become less and less relevant over the years. I look forward to tying this all together so that we can understand what I am speaking about.

It is not just that we are speaking for Canadians who are concerned that their access to what they view online may be restricted by the government. It is about an even greater concern over what the government will do to hide its backroom deals, corruption and scandals if Canadians are not able to share and view things online without government censorship. The Liberals' track record, which I just laid out only a portion of, shows that they cannot be trusted to do what is right and what is ethical.

Bill C-11 is a piece of legislation that would impact every single Canadian who has a cellphone, a television or a computer in their home and who enjoys online streaming and viewing and listening to content online. Through this piece of legislation, the government is about to give itself the ability to control what Canadians have access to, can listen to online or can watch online. Instead of viewers deciding what they want to watch, the government would control the algorithms, which will put things in front of them that the government determines it wants them to see. People go online to see what they want to see, not what the government wants to see.

I have been asked to do all I can to stop this bill and I will. However, in turn, I ask Canadians to do what they can by contacting members of the Liberal-NDP government, MPs and senators from the other House to voice their concerns with Bill C-11, and join us as we fight on their behalf to maintain freedoms in Canada. They should tell the government that what it is doing is wrong. For the government to take control over what people can post online, view online and promote online is wrong.

I have trust in Canadians to do what is right more than I trust the government. The government has shown a propensity to hide the truth. I have given many examples of that this evening, even though members tried to shut me down with their point of order interventions. I trust Canadians to do the ethical thing, but we cannot do this alone. As Conservative members in this House, we will lead the charge. I hope Canadians will fall behind us in leading the charge to end this bill and this draconian measure.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, I listened with confusion to the member's brief history of time, the fictionalized version. I note that it had very little to do with the bill at hand, so if the member does not mind, I am going to bring us back to Bill C-11.

When the dust settles and Bill C-11 is passed, we will come to realize that the only thing changed in Canada is that Canadian creators are better supported and that there is more Canadian content entering Canadian homes. We will realize that the outrage we have been hearing has been manufactured with the nefarious purpose of raising money. This is a manufactured crisis to raise money for the Conservative Party.

When this bill passes and the changes are seen as positive, and none of the ludicrous predictions the party opposite has made come to pass, will the member apologize to Canadians? Will his party apologize to Canadians? Will you return every dollar to every hard-working Canadian you have snookered with this nonsense?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I have not received any money, so I am guessing the hon. member meant that through me.

The hon. member for North Okanagan—Shuswap.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, the member asked if I would apologize if I am wrong, but I truly believe I will not be wrong. I hope he will do the same thing when he finds out that Canadians are being censored improperly. The Liberals are so afraid that people will put the truth out there and hear the truth that they are doing everything they can, as they have done tonight, to end debate on this bill.

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for North Okanagan—Shuswap for his speech, which contained many elements. I would like to ask him to summarize in a few sentences the speech in question as I could not follow it because of the many interruptions.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, if I were to sum up my speech in just a couple of paragraphs, it would be very difficult, because I had to list off so many places where we cannot trust the government. That is what my speech was about: the track record of the government and its failure to exhibit trustworthiness. We cannot trust it with this bill.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, the member, as I pointed out earlier, has clearly not read the bill, does not understand the bill and has not taken the effort to go through the bill. What we have seen from the Conservatives over the course of the nearly 100 hours of debate over many months is that most of the Conservatives getting up to speak have not read the bill at all. They have talking points, and the talking points are “something, something tyranny”, but that does not have anything to do with the bill—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby does understand what he is doing.

The hon. member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands has a point of order.

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Madam Speaker, the House is built upon the foundational principle of honour, and every time the member says that a member from this side has not read the bill, it is dishonourable. He needs to show some integrity and he needs to understand that the Conservatives are doing the best they can to represent the views of their constituents. It is dishonourable of him to insinuate that we would do otherwise.