Category: Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez

Tories Object to Vote ‘Shutting Down’ Debate on Bill C-11, Online Streaming Act

MPs voted on March 30 to close debate on the Senate’s proposed amendments for Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act. The closure motion was moved by Government House Leader Mark Holland and passed by a vote of 173–145, with both the Liberals and NDP voting in favour and the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voting against it. According…


House Votes to End Debate on Bill C-11 as Tories Object

MPs voted on March 30 to close debate on the Senate’s proposed amendments for Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act. The closure motion was moved by Government House Leader Mark Holland and passed by a vote of 173–145, with both the Liberals and NDP voting in favour and the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voting against it. According…


Feds Close to Passing Internet Regulation Bill, Says Liberal MP

A Liberal MP says the federal government is “just shy of the finish line” in passing legislation that will regulate the content Canadians can view online by requiring major online streaming platforms to contribute to Canadian content rules. Speaking to MPs in the House on March 8, Liberal MP Chris Bittle, who is also the parliamentary…


Liberals Reject Senate’s Bill C-11 Amendment on User-Generated Content

Cabinet has rejected a Senate amendment to Bill C-11 related to user-generated content. C-11 is the Liberals’ controversial legislation that aims to regulate certain areas of the internet in Canada. The Senate’s proposed amendment to the bill was meant to protect user-generated content on social media and open-creator platforms like YouTube from the regulating power…


Heritage Minister Says Facebook Is Intimidating Canadians With Threats to Pull News From Platform

Federal Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez accused Meta on Thursday of trying to intimidate Canadians with threats of pulling news content from its Facebook platform, following the adoption of Bill C-18 in the House of Commons. “Canadians don’t like being intimidated,” Rodriguez told reporters in Ottawa. “Me, if I were Facebook, I would change my strategy….


Senate Committee Rejects Amendment to Narrow Scope of Liberals’ Internet Bill

A Senate committee yesterday rejected by a vote of 10-4 a proposed amendment to narrow the scope of the Liberal government’s internet regulations bill, which has passed the House of Commons and is currently awaiting Senate approval. If passed, Bill C-11, “An Act To Amend The Broadcasting Act,” will grant the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission…


Costs of Celebrating Canada Day on Parliament Hill Nearly Doubled: Federal Records

The amount spent on celebrating Canada Day on Parliament Hill nearly doubled after the Department of Canadian Heritage assumed responsibility for all related expenses, federal record shows. In 2019, the costs of the one-day observance hit almost $6 million, an 86 percent hike from $3.2 million when the department assumed all expenses shared with another…


Canadian Heritage Department Bought Maple Leaf Pins Made in China

The Department of Canadian Heritage bought over $300,000 worth of maple leaf pins made in China, according to records presented in the House of Commons, despite MPs condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for genocide last year. According to a House “Inquiry of Ministry” obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, the department has spent exactly $344,513 over the past…


Laith Marouf Says Feds ‘Begged’ His Group to Take Funding

Former government-funded consultant Laith Marouf, whose group’s funding was pulled because of deragotary tweets with comments such as “Jewish white supremacists,” says Heritage Canada “begged” his group to take over $130,000 in funding. Marouf, a senior consultant working for the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) in Montréal, said Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s department of Canadian Heritage initially approached…


Heritage Minister, Google Clash Over Online Streaming Bill

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says he doesn’t appreciate Google “trying to intimidate Canadians” after the company pushed back on a proposed online streaming bill. Google published a blog post on Wednesday advocating against Bill C-11, saying it has the potential to “disadvantage the Canadian creators.” When asked about that criticism, Rodriguez says the proposed law…