Media
Most Canadians oppose internet censorship, federal report finds
From LifeSiteNews
” even those who voiced concern over potentially ‘harmful’ content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat held that it ‘was the responsibility of individuals’ and not government to determine what Canadians can and cannot view. “
Most Canadians want the Trudeau government to keep its hands off access to the internet, according to a federal report.
According to information published January 3 by Blacklock’s Reporter, an in-house Privy Council report titled Continuous Qualitative Data Collection Of Canadians’ Views has found that most Canadians believe the federal government should not introduce legislation that would censor internet content.
“Discussing actions which could be taken to mitigate online misinformation and disinformation, participants stressed the role of individual responsibility,” federal government researchers wrote in the report.
According to the report, even those who voiced concern over potentially harmful content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat held that it “was the responsibility of individuals” and not government to determine what Canadians can and cannot view.
The research was contracted out to Strategic Counsel, which gathered information from focus groups in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada.
“A number were of the view it was of critical importance for Canadians to be able to leave comments and have their voices heard regarding initiatives and policies important to them,” the report stated.
According to the research, Canadians were unsure that legislation to censor internet activity was necessary, or even a good idea, explaining that they could “filter out hateful content” without the government’s intervention.
“While most believed harmful content online represented a growing concern few felt it to be a major issue at present,” the report said. “Several were of the view that individuals were typically able to avoid harmful content by blocking it or not utilizing platforms on which it was present.”
“While a few felt actions should be taken to limit the reach or prohibit harmful online content several were concerned these efforts might have the unintended consequence of impeding what they viewed as the rights of individuals to freely express themselves online,” it continued.
“Participants were asked if they were concerned about the spread of misinformation and disinformation,” the research added. “Though all participants reported feeling some degree of concern some also expressed reservations about the potential for censorship in any attempt by the federal government to prevent the proliferation of false information online.”
The research comes as Canadians are facing increased internet censorship thanks to the Liberal government under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
This past June, Trudeau’s internet censorship law, Bill C-18, the Online News Act, was passed by the Senate. This law mandates that Big Tech companies pay to publish Canadian content on their platforms.
As a result, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, blocked all access to news content in Canada, while Google agreed to pay Canadian legacy media $100 million under the new legislation.
Critics of Trudeau’s recent laws, such as tech mogul Elon Musk, have commented that the legislation shows that “Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada.”
Musk made the comments after the nation’s telecommunications regulator announced that due to new powers granted to it via the Online Streaming Act, certain podcasters will now have to “register” with the government.
Just last week, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada’s official broadcast regulator, announced it might soon be producing draft rules for a pre-election “code of conduct” for newsrooms, which includes print and online journalists.
The “code of conduct” can be legally enforced thanks to a little known clause in the Online News Act. Clause, 27.1.b.iv says newsrooms that want Google money must demonstrate full compliance with a “code of ethics.” This “code” was not defined, however, and Canada has no such national code of newsroom ethics.
Media
Breaking News: the public actually expects journalists to determine the truth of statements they report
CBC’s David Cochrane explaining to viewers how the CBC is blameless for accurately reporting a statement later determined to be false
Who knew? Plus! Online smartassery by reporters continues to curse the industry, Vancouver loves Harry Potter (shhhh!), layoffs continue and newspaper revenue now in uncontrolled descent
Journalists just love sensational political accusations and way too many of them are more than happy to spread them far and wide while shrugging aside their first obligation, the truth.
Why they put so much faith in the honesty of politicians, who have a history of being a bit, shall we say, truthy, is quite beyond me, but reporters often seem more interested in it being true something salacious was said than they are whether the scandalous thing that was said is true.
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A fine example of this behaviour, which continues to undermine public trust in journalism, unfolded a week ago. That was when freshly-minted Liberal MP and Tory turncoat Chris d’Entremont told the CBC’s Catherine Cullen that, after publicly musing about crossing the floor, “Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer and party whip Chris Warkentin “barged” into his office, pushed open the door — almost knocking down his assistant — and yelled at him about “how much of a snake” he was.”
The Conservatives, in response, issued a statement accusing d’Entremont of telling barefaced lies and described a much calmer scenario. CBC then issued a correction after d’Entremont “clarified” an embellishment but some journalists were happy to ignore that and stick with repeating the original, more salacious version.
Stu Benson of The Hill Times enthusiastically Tweeted that ““[D’Entremont] says Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer and party whip Chris Warkentin ‘barged’ into his office, pushed his assistant aside and yelled at him about ‘how much of a snake’ he was.”
National Newswatch, despite CBC’s correction still had a Tweet up days later stating “Pushing, yelling from Conservative leadership ‘sealed the deal’ on defection: d’Entremont. MP says Conservatives felt like ‘part of a frat house rather than a serious political party.”
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Ignoring the correction and “clarification,” CBC’s Power & Politics used the clip of d’Entremont’s self-confessed embellishment and repeated what both he and the CBC knew not to be true. To be fair, the segment that can be found here fully details the Conservatives’ response but, according to one of the CBC’s most diligent critics, no on air correction has been made. Instead, host David Cochrane went out of his way to point out that while his editors had used the term “correction,” the CBC was blameless for reporting d’Entremont’s admittedly false representation of the event.
The pattern of behaviour indicates to the public that news organizations do not take their obligation to the truth seriously. The public actually expects journalists to seek to establish the truth of statements they are reporting before they report them.
Edmonton City News reporter Sean Amato meanwhile managed to take foolish online smartassery to a new level when, repeating the Liberals’ Trump = Tories theme, he posted:
“Quite the press conference from (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre in Calgary today. Basically…the Liberals suck, the media sucks and a lot of other stuff in Canada sucks. Hey, it worked for Trump.”
Tens of thousands of views and (at time of writing) more than 500 comments later, he replied with renewed smug smartassery:
“Never thought a tweet that says “the Liberals suck, the media sucks” would anger so many Conservatives. But here we are 
.”
Here we are, indeed. Amato appears to have set a new personal best for comments in response to one of his Tweets while simultaneously embedding the impression that not only he but all journalists are biased against Conservatives. And, I ask, for what? And why?
Maybe think before you Tweet or, better yet, just shut up. Many good journalists find that works just fine.
Amato, though, seems determined to prioritize personal commentary over journalism. When he recently got some pushback on lack of objectivity, his response was unrepentant.
“Bonnie…mute me, follow people you like, no hard feelings. But let me be free too. Cheers!”
Liberation awaits.
The “controversial” Harry Potter Forbidden Forest experience opened 10 days ago in Vancouver, weeks after the parks board, cowed by trans activists, vowed such an event would never happen again.
The distress of the “Qmunity” over the connection to J.K. Rowling and her vocal insistence on a traditional definition of women was well documented in the weeks leading up to the event. But there was nary a peep from CTV, CBC or Global News when organizers announced on media day that the pre-sales were the largest they had experienced anywhere in the world.
I found coverage in The Daily Hive and in Black Press papers in British Columbia. But it wasn’t until Remembrance Day that one of the city’s legacy media, the Vancouver Sun, delivered a review of any kind. CBC, CTV and Global News appear to be boycotting.
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Operating revenue for Canada’s publishers continues to plummet – an indication the nation’s newspapers are increasingly unable to deliver the readers needed to provide results to advertisers.
Statscan reported a decline of a whopping 17.9 per cent since 2022, which compares with a drop of 7.3 percent from 2020-2022.
News Media Canada lobbyist Paul Deegan, meanwhile, confessed to a House of Commons committee that operators “cannot make a buck as a digital-only publisher,” have failed to transition their business models and still need revenue from print.
Profit margins, according to Statscan, are down to 3.2 per cent.
Postmedia, meanwhile, is later than usual in posting its annual report but has a little under another two weeks to do so.
Last week, The Rewrite noted how an extra $150 million from the government for the CBC would be bad news for everyone else in the business. This week, Groupe TVA announced it was eliminating 87 positions and laid the blame squarely at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s door.
“Repeated appeals to government authorities to support the private television industry, at a time when it faces fierce competition from the web giants and CBC/Radio-Canada, have been ignored,” a company statement explained.
Poilievre, who has been the focus lately of much of the press inclined to favour the Liberals, tried to shame media into paying some attention to dissent from the likes of Beaches-East York MP Nate Erskine-Smith within Liberal ranks.
It was left to the Toronto Star’s Althia Raj to gently explain to his Deputy Leader, Melissa Lantsman, why dissent within Liberal ranks is not a story because, unlike dissent with Conservative ranks, it’s in the best interests of the country.
“Nate has normalized independent thought so it isn’t new/s,” she wrote. “IMO it would be nice to see this from other MPs. Those outside of cabinet, their job is to hold the govt to account. More independent thought means better reports, better debate, better policy. Better social cohesion too.”
Take that, you silly Tories! 
The narrative is entrenched.
Some of you will remember how last fall, CTV News terminated two employees following the doctoring of Poilievre’s quotes in a fashion not too dissimilar to that used by the producers of a Panorama documentary at the BBC. Two of the BBC’s senior executives walked the plank there when it was revealed its team had intentionally misrepresented a speech by US President Donald Trump, who then threatened to sue the organization for $1 billion.
Well, one of those fired CTV employees, Derek Thacker, is back on the list of approved Parliamentary Press Gallery members as an employee of Global News.
Don’t forget to check out this week’s Full Press podcast and, if you haven’t done so yet, click at least one of the Subscribe, Share or Donate buttons provided.
(Peter Menzies is a commentator and consultant on media, Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow, a past publisher of the Calgary Herald, a former vice chair of the CRTC and a National Newspaper Award winner.)
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From Resource Works
By Stewart Muir
What if the secret to understanding Canada’s energy future lies not in spreadsheets but in storytelling?
When I think about who has done the most to make sense of Canada’s energy story — not just in charts and forecasts but in human terms — Peter Tertzakian sits near the top of that list. He’s an energy economist, author, and communicator who has spent decades helping Canadians understand the world beneath their light switches and fuel gauges — and why prosperity, energy, and responsible development are inseparable.
Peter is the founder and CEO of Studio.Energy. He is also widely known as the founder of the ARC Energy Research Institute and co-host of the ARC Energy Ideas podcast, alongside Jackie Forrest. Week after week, they unpack what’s happening in the markets, in technology, and in policy, always with the rare gift of clarity. He’s also the author of two influential books, A Thousand Barrels a Second and The End of Energy Obesity, both written long before “energy transition” became a household term.
When we sat down for our Power Struggle conversation, I mentioned how remarkable it is that someone with Peter’s credentials — an economist, investor, and advisor to industry — is also an exhibiting artist whose photography can regularly be found in a gallery in the Canadian Rockies. That’s when he smiled and said what has become one of his signature lines: “I’ve always said a picture is worth a thousand spreadsheets.”
What followed was a fascinating discussion about how visual storytelling can bridge the gap between data and understanding. Peter explained that what began as a hobby has evolved into a personal quest to communicate complex energy subjects more effectively. His photographs, which range from industrial scenes to landscapes shaped by human activity, help connect the emotional and analytical sides of the energy story. The pictures, he said, reveal the same truths that his spreadsheets do — only in a way that more people can feel.
That resonates deeply with what we do at Resource Works — translating complexity into clarity so that Canadians can see how responsible resource development strengthens communities, funds public services, and opens doors for Indigenous partnerships. Like Peter, we believe that understanding energy isn’t about choosing sides; it’s about understanding systems, trade-offs, and the people behind the numbers.
Peter’s concern — and one I share — is how difficult it has become to find truth amid the noise. “People are bombarded by noise, especially today. And not all of that noise is true,” he said. “The challenge now is extracting the signal.” Whether you’re a policymaker, a corporate leader, or just someone trying to make sense of global change, Peter’s approach is to step away from confrontation and toward comprehension. His ability to blend visuals, narrative, and numbers makes complicated issues accessible without oversimplifying them.
Prosperity, Not Population, Drives Energy Demand
Our conversation also turned to the forces shaping global energy demand. Peter reminded me that the biggest driver isn’t population growth — it’s prosperity. “When a person moves from a rural setting to a city, their energy consumption goes up twentyfold, sometimes more,” he said. The story of urbanization, particularly in China, explains much of the past few decades of energy growth. Renewables have slowed that curve, but as Peter points out, “our use of fossil fuels is still growing.”
What I most admire about Peter is that he doesn’t preach. “I don’t have all the answers,” he told me. “My role is to discuss treatment options — not to perform the surgery.” It’s a refreshingly honest stance in a world where too many experts claim certainty.
On Power Struggle, Peter Tertzakian reminded me why he’s so respected across the energy world: he brings intelligence without ego, curiosity without ideology, and a deep respect for the audience’s ability to think. His work reminds us that Canada’s resource story — when told with honesty and creativity — is one of innovation, community, and shared prosperity. And that storytelling — visual, verbal, and numerical — remains our most powerful tool for navigating change.
- Power Struggle audio and transcript
- Peter Tertzakian in Arc Energy Research Institute podcasts
- Peter Tertzakian on X
- Peter Tertzakian on LinkedIn
- Stewart Muir on X
- Stewart Muir on LinkedIn
Power Struggle on social media
- Power Struggle on LinkedIn
- Power Struggle on Instagram
- Power Struggle on Facebook
- Power Struggle on X
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