Conservative MP Rachael Thomas (Lethbridge, AB) said media is able to play its greatest role when it's kept independent and allowed to thrive without government interference. .“And what Bill C-18 does is it actually puts the government squarely in the middle of the newsroom,” said Thomas in a Tuesday video. .The video starts off with Thomas saying the media plays a few key roles in society. The first role is it's the watchdog. .For example, there have been multiple stories about the Canadian government ignoring Chinese election interference. People know about these stories because a whistleblower who came forward and said there was election interference in 2019 and 2021. .The whistleblower said the Prime Minister’s Office was aware of this. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau turned a blind eye and chose not to act with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service reports provided to him. .These stories led to committee meetings in the House of Commons about the issue and the Conservatives asking questions about it. Thomas said the Conservatives were empowered to do this because the whistleblower brought forward the truth. .The truth is there were documents produced and given to Trudeau, and he turned a blind eye and allowed the Chinese government to interfere in elections because it would benefit the Liberals in the long run. She acknowledged people know this “because of a brave whistleblower using the vehicle of media.” .The Conservative MP went on to say media “has an important role to play in terms of telling stories, in terms of raising awareness, in terms of accountability.” She added media has an important role to play in celebrating achievements in Canada and local communities. .Thomas said media has an important role to play in educating people about issues. The example she cited was the wildfires taking place across Canada. .She concluded by saying the Canadian government determines through Bill C-18 what the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will do. .“The CRTC then makes decisions, and those decisions are applied to media,” she said .“According to this bill, the CRTC can compel information from these news businesses, even confidential information.” .Bill C-18 passed through the Senate on Thursday, including an amendment proposed by Western Standard publisher Derek Fildebrandt. .READ MORE: Fildebrandt's 'opt-in' suggestion for Online News Act accepted by Senate.Fildebrandt asked for the bill to be opt in so news outlets such as the Western Standard do not lose the traffic they receive from Big Tech companies if they decide to block Canadian news..Independent Senators Group Sen. Donna Dasko (Ontario) introduced the opt-in amendment.
