Happy Canada Day!

 

Dear America. Send us your 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. All of them. We will send you our Conservatives. All of them.
Love,
Canada

— @JohnBeggs (@dbeggs13) July 1, 2023

It’s not every day I get emails from a Canadian International Ambassador asking if they can play my video at their Canada Day celebrations… but it is today. https://t.co/prWwmkwKaa

— Brittlestar (@brittlestar) June 29, 2023

 

On this day, in particular, it seems very appropriate that Canada is standing its ground about our new the Online News bill, while international media bullies try to force us to give in:

All of Canadian society should be outraged by this and it should spark international discussion about whether to break up Google and Facebook, who now brazenly see themselves as unbeholden to countries that try to rebalance the internet for societal good. https://t.co/aBrGjixtt6

— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) June 29, 2023

Chrystia Freeland won't be bullied:

Chrystia Freeland was able to navigate NAFTA negotiations with the Trump Administration, I am sure she can handle Meta and Google. I cannot get over the members of Canadian media calling for capitulation to tech monopolies, just like many did during NAFTA negotiations. #cdnpoli https://t.co/XFx23LPOSY

— Neil Before Zod™ (@WaytowichNeil) June 30, 2023

I don't follow all the legislative ins and outs like Dale Smith does, so I'll just quote from Friday's Routine Proceedings Roundup: Google joins the bully tactics:

Following Facebook’s particular tantrum over the online news bill, and their announcement that they will remove Canadian news links from their site, and end some of their media fellowship programmes, Google has stated that they will do the same, and lo, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. It’s absolutely a bully tactic, but so far the government is holding firm. It has been pointed out that when these web giants tried this in Australia, they lasted four days before they returned to the table, so we’ll see how long this lasts.

This having been established, a couple of things: Despite the media narrative, the bill is not a “link tax.” Links are nowhere in the spirit or the text of the bill. These companies were not supposed to be paying for hosting links on their sites, but rather, this was supposed to be an exercise in trying to rebalance the marketplace. Facebook and Google have so distorted the advertising market and destroyed it for media companies that this was supposed to be a way of essentially trying to compensate the public good of journalism for how they distorted the ad market. What the law is supposed to do, once it’s in force, is create transparent conditions for those negotiations to take place, with the oversight of the CRTC as an arm’s-length regulator. Again, this is not paying for links. There is no prescribed tariff rate for these links, but it was about addressing a market failure in a way that is as arm’s-length from government as possible. But web giants don’t like transparency (the deals they signed with media companies previously were all secret), and they don’t like to be held accountable....

I’m less inclined to be angry at the government, because they were largely being responsive to what the news industry was asking of them, even though that is tainted by the self-interest of certain zombie media giants. We should, however, absolutely be angry that these web giants are throwing their weight around and bullying sovereign governments like this, and it makes the case even more that these companies have become too big and need to be broken up. The fact that they are beating up on Canada won’t endear them to other jurisdictions, like the EU, but that’s in part why they’re doing it—they don’t want other countries to do what Canada is attempting here. But this may very well be a case that they are overplaying their hands, and those other countries or jurisdictions they are trying to scare off won’t be deterred.

Meanwhile, if anybody needs their Canadian news site fix, here's a great list:

If you're alarmed by the future of Canadian news, may I recommend to you The
* Narwhal
* National Observer
* Line
* Local
* Tyee
* Trillium
* Logic
* Ottawa Lookout
* IndigiNews

That's just a partial list of English outlets. All independents doing serious original journalism.

— David Reevely (@davidreevely) June 29, 2023

Me on this latest #Meta & #Google business.

These companies are drawing ~$10 BILLION a year in ad revenue out of Canada--paying zero tax here on that income.

But they'll use mob tactics to skip out on a 3% tariff.#cdnpoli https://t.co/GJGipqYKBy

— Sandy Garossino 🇨🇦🌻 (@Garossino) June 30, 2023

Feds are asking for Pennies on the Dollar. Google and Facebook aren’t fighting for a principle. This is only about FB and Google Greed. @Garossino says “Hit ‘em Harder” https://t.co/rP9wrRcEgT via @NatObserver

— Charles Adler (@charlesadler) July 1, 2023

Moving on, I have no idea where this happened, but hey its fireworks so ...

Outstanding. pic.twitter.com/0sBG802brF

— jamie (@gnuman1979) June 28, 2023

What a great country. Even 60% of those who vote BQ are proud to be Canadian. https://t.co/0hBnozWbOH

— Charles Adler (@charlesadler) June 29, 2023

From the Washington Post:

« Canada is booming like it never has before »

▶️ Unprecedented population growth

▶️ record-low unemployment

▶️ most diversified economy in its 156-year history; and

▶️ world-beating stock market since 2021.

Go Canada🇨🇦!
https://t.co/o4j7LEleZp

— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) 🇨🇦 (@FP_Champagne) June 29, 2023