Click to listen to André Arthur’s comment
ANDRÉ ARTHUR : “So, we have two repugnant bills before the Parliament of Quebec at this time: we have this law [Bill 74] that aims at controlling the web in order to shut down competitors of the government and we have this other law [Bill 59] banning the criticism of the Muslim religion. Aside from that, everything is fine…”
André Arthur is a radio host from Quebec City who has been an independent Member of Parliament for the riding of Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier from 2006 to 2011.
In its 2015-2016 budget tabled in March 2015, the Government of Quebec proposed a new censorship measure of the internet which targets, this time, online gambling websites competing with the EspaceJeux platform favored by Loto-Québec. On November 12, 2015, the Minister of Finance, Carlos Leitao, introduced Bill 74 to implement the provision announced in his budget speech. Click on the box to your right to view the official transcript in the Hansard.
On Monday November 16, 2015, André Arthur dedicated a segment of his daily show on CHOI Radio X to explain the dangers of this censorship proposal submitted by the Couillard Government. It is much less known by the public at large than ‘hate speech’ Bill 59. Mr. Arthur explained why the implications of this bill go beyond online gambling
According to Law professor Michael Geist from the University of Ottawa, the recent initiative of the government “could be challenged by invoking that freedom of expression will be violated and, also, on constitutional grounds because Internet Service Providers such as Bell and Vidéotron fall under federal jurisdiction.” La Presse / WebArchive – Archive.Today / March 2015
‘Hate speech’ Bill 59 also aims at censoring the internet. It is the government’s answer to a request made by the Quebec Human Rights Commission to sue “people who would write against … the Islamic religion … on a website or on a Facebook page,” as explained by its president Jacques Frémont in December 2014.
Point de Bascule has commented on the much less discussed constitutional facet of Bill 59 in an article entitled #Bill59 Debate – The Quebec Human Rights Commission’s plan to sue websites belonging to the telecom sector under federal jurisdiction.
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TRANSCRIPT OF ANDRÉ ARTHUR’S COMMENT ON BILL 74
TRANSLATION BY POINT DE BASCULE
11:42:55 ANDRÉ ARTHUR: There are some backward countries trying to control the internet. It has never happened in a democratic country. In China, it’s frequent. In certain despicable countries, it’s commonplace. People violating the rights of others, it’s frequent. And now, this trend has reached Quebec. Quebec has joined these countries trying to control the internet.
11:43:25 When governments want to bring in unpopular measures, they often bury them in their budgets. In the last provincial budget, there was a clause enabling the control of certain websites. […] Finance Minister [Carlos] Leitao has followed up with a concrete bill that tells us: So far, here is what we want to do. Where will it stop? Obviously, he will not tell. We can fear the worst because once you start that… If you succeed, there is no end to it. There is always an appetite for controlling something. The appetite of getting rid of somebody. The appetite to trample on another freedom. And it is always done by invoking some noble purposes…
11:44:18 This bill [74] that was introduced before the Quebec National Assembly on Thursday (and neglected by journalists) includes amendments to the Consumer Protection Act. The law will enable Internet Service Providers (Bell, Vidéotron, Cogeco, Telus and the others) to block certain websites displeasing the government. The selection of websites to be blocked will be made by Loto-Québec. Loto-Québec will have the power to make a list of websites that ISPs will be compelled to block. These websites are online gambling websites. Why? Because they generate significant incomes: almost $15 million that don’t fall into Loto-Québec’s coffers because online websites pay more than Loto-Québec. […] Somebody allows us to bet and win more than Loto-Québec. Isn’t it terrible?
11:45:46 So, this bill gives Loto-Québec the mandate to constitute a list and give it to Internet Service Providers, to your ISP so that, when you’ll try to connect to a website to play and maybe win more money than you have spent, then poof! The screen will turn blue, or red or whatever or worse, it could be more aggressive and you could be redirected toward a Government of Quebec website called Loto-Québec. You wanna play poker? Here is Loto-Québec. […] Take it or leave it my friend.
11:46:39 There are uncertainties with this bill. First, many people believe that this is beyond provincial jurisdiction. Second, many people believe that no government should have the right to do so and, finally, there are people who believe that if there is a level of government that can do it, it is the Canadian government and not the provincial government of Quebec.
11:47:38 It is very worrisome that the government intends on giving the legal power to Loto-Québec to shut down its competitors.
11:49:00 Imagine that a PQ government run by René Lévesque had come to power in the old days with its program advocating the ban of private radio stations to please Ms. [Lise] Payette. It was an integral part of the Parti Québécois’s platform. It would mean that if a radio station switches to the internet, the government could say: “Shut down this radio station.” It is competing with Radio-Québec.”
NOTE BY POINT DE BASCULE: In the section Notre vie culturelle / Ch. VI Les moyens de communication de masse of the 1975 and 1980 versions of its electoral platform, the Parti québécois effectively committed itself to shut down private radio stations and merge them with the Radio-Québec state network “[if] the private stations hold a monopoly in their area.” Would two radio stations in two neighbouring villages have been considered as monopolies in their respective village and therefore expropriated in an independent Quebec? According to the 1980 PQ platform, the survival of private radio stations in an independent Quebec would have been dependent on the size of these areas alluded to in the platform. Click on the image to view the relevant excerpt (in French). The 1975 / WebArchive and 1980 / WebArchive PQ platforms are also available.
11:50:03 Imagine all the sectors in which the Government of Quebec could decide that it has interests that could be better protected by using the law currently before the National Assembly not only to get rid of Loto-Québec’s competitors but of its own. It’s stunning.
11:50:23 So, we have two repugnant bills before the Parliament of Quebec at this time: we have this law [Bill 74] that aims at controlling the web in order to shut down competitors of the government and we have this other law [Bill 59] banning the criticism of the Muslim religion. Aside from that, everything is fine…
Further reading
Christine Dobby (The Globe and Mail – November 13, 2015): Quebec plan to block gambling sites draws cries of censorship / Internet Society – Archive.Today
Point de Bascule (August 6, 2015): #Bill59 Debate – The Quebec Human Rights Commission’s plan to sue websites belonging to the telecom sector under federal jurisdiction
Point de Bascule (January 23, 2015): In November 2014, Jacques Frémont took part in a forum which was opened by the King of Morocco who stated that the universality of human rights is not ‘the expression of a unique model and conception’ [Article in French]
Point de Bascule: FILE Quebec Human Rights Commission / Many Point de Bascule articles on various aspects of Bill 59
Point de Bascule: FILE Quebec Human Rights Commission / General References on Bill 59