Freedom of the Press Tag

21 May 2021 Freedom of Expression and the Regulation of Social Media through Bill C-10

Last fall, the federal government introduced Bill C-10, a bill that – if passed – will amend the Broadcasting Act for the first time since 1991 in order to expand the regulatory powers of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) over the internet. In the last month or so, the number of critics has increased, as has the vociferousness of their opposition to the bill. When Bill C-10 was first introduced, we did an initial analysis and found that, while there were aspects of the bill that concerned us, the...

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14 Apr 2011 Ontario action alert: Anti-Freedom of Information Amendment

ARPA Canada Note: The notice below is from the Niagara ARPA chapter. You can read more about the matter from the mainstream media here. "The impact this will have on Ontario’s health care system is frightening.   Hospitals who engage in poor practices will be protected from scrutiny resulting in numerous victims.  Even if your family doctor wants access to information regarding a hospital’s record of quality, he can be denied access.  Worse yet, this is an incremental step to uncontested Euthanasia in Ontario’s Hospitals.  No one, not even the media, will be permitted access to the necessary information required to expose this kind of practice.  Even if access is requested on the basis of public interest it will be denied."
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04 Jan 2011 Censorship by any other name

Jesse Kline, National Post (Dec 23 2010): The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC), an independent body that administers guidelines set out by Canada’s private broadcasters, recently made public a decision that finds the Christian television show Word TV in violation of its code of ethics. The council condemned the show’s host, evangelical minister Charles McVety, for, among other things, making “disparaging and unacceptable” remarks about homosexuals during Toronto’s Gay Pride parade. Read more ...

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15 Dec 2010 Word TV Back on Air – Now Censored

By Chales McVety, Canada Free Press, Dec 15, 2010: Word TV is pleased to announce that it will resume broadcasting on CTS this Sunday evening at 11:00 p.m. however all programs will now be pre-screened and censored. On December 8th, 2010, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council announced an indefinite blacklisting of Charles McVety and the show, Word TV. The Council’s heavy hand of censorship followed months of deliberations in secret. The Council made its final, furtive decision on June 22, 2010. But the...

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26 Nov 2010 CRTC gives green light to Sun TV

Globe & Mail, Nov 26, 2010: Quebecor Inc.’s (QBR.B-T36.32-0.30-0.82%) bid to create a new 24-hour news channel in Canada has taken another step toward the TV dial. On Friday, the federal broadcast regulator approved the license application for the Sun TV News Network. The approval had been expected since last month, when the Montreal-based company adjusted its application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, to request a standard license for a specialty channel. Read More...

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28 Oct 2010 Complaint dismissed against County Weekly News

October 27, 2010: PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY - The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has dismissed a complaint against the County Weekly News for an editorial that appeared in the paper in 2009. Alan Whiteley, a lawyer who lives in Picton, filed the complaint, arguing the contents of the editorial discriminated against an identifiable group — newly arrived "imports" to Prince Edward County.
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22 Jul 2010 Audio E-Luminary: Jon Dykstra on Media Bias

Is the Media Out to Get Us? Yes! In this 15 minute audio e-Luminary, Jon Dykstra, editor of Reformed Perspective magazine addresses the topic of media bias and how we can respond. Dykstra delivered this talk at an ARPA event in Winnipeg earlier this year. We encourage you set 15 minutes aside today to listen to this and consider how we can apply it in our homes. Which media will you fire, put on probation, or hire? Deciding what is suitable for our homes will make a big difference in cultivating our worldview. Click here, or on the image on the right, to listen. Richt click on the link to save this recording to your computer or MP3 player. This talk involves audience participation. At one point, Dykstra will refer to two scenarios that were handed out to the crowd. At that point, click on pause and read these scenarios below.
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11 Jun 2010 Right-leaning TV channel in the works

Globe and Mail, June 10 2010: Ottawa — Quebec billionaire Pierre Karl Péladeau’s plans for a “Fox News North” channel in Canada are gathering steam, with his media company poaching two senior journalists for the right-of-centre TV network – a venture expected to have an operational budget of $100-million over five years. An official announcement on the bid to shake up television news is anticipated by next Wednesday, an unveiling expected to detail how it intends to convince federal regulators and cable companies to...

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21 Jul 2009 Legislation Would Allow Canadian Government to Monitor Internet Users

By Thaddeus M. BaklinskiOTTAWA, July 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The federal Conservative government introduced legislation in June to give the state greatly expanded power of surveillance of electronic communications and access to the personal information of Internet users. The Department of Justice's communiqué on the proposed legislation says the intent of the bill is to thwart child pornography and identify criminal activity on the Internet.
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12 Feb 2009 Human rights commission calls for media council; National Watchdog; Want mechanisms to ensure opportunity for public scrutiny

By Joseph Brean, National Post (Feb 11/09) - The Ontario Human Rights Commission is calling for Parliament to force all Canadian magazines, newspapers and "media services" Web sites to join a national press council with the power to adjudicate breaches of professional standards and complaints of discrimination. The council would have the power to order the publication of its decisions and "would help bring about more consistency across all jurisdictions in Canada," reads an OHRC report to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. [Continue reading...

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