Big Brother is emigrating from George Orwell's Great Britain of 1984, and coming to Canada.In this week’s Hannaford interview, Western Standard host Nigel Hannaford speaks with John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, about the federal government’s latest attempt to control the internet: Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act..Sold as a measure to protect children under 16 from pornography and online harms, the bill is far more ambitious – and dangerous. Carpay warns it represents another major building block in a creeping surveillance state.That is, to block minors from designated social media platforms, adults will be required to prove their age through intrusive methods such as government ID uploads, facial biometric scans, credit card verification, or similar “adequate measures.” A simple click confirming you’re over 16 will not suffice.While the bill promises data will be deleted shortly after verification, Carpay asks the obvious question: how will anyone know for sure that it was? It's hardly an idle question: data breaches involving tens of thousands of government IDs have already occurred. And yet this new plan creates a de facto national digital ID infrastructure for everyday internet use..Bill C-34 also creates a new super-agency, the Digital Safety Commission (DSC) – but with its sweeping powers to be defined only after passage of the bill, unscrutinised by Parliament. Carpay calls it akin to a super-powered CRTC for the internet. Many critical decisions (which platforms are covered, what counts as “adequate” verification, how “harmful content” will be interpreted) are left to future regulations and the Commission's own judgment. MPs are effectively being asked to sign a blank cheque.The Commission will be government-appointed, enforce compliance through massive fines (up to 3% of global revenue,) and pressure private platforms to do the censoring to avoid penalties — much like vaccine passport enforcement during the lockdowns.Particularly alarming is the inclusion of “content that foments hatred” among the “harmful content” the DSC will police. Nobody likes harmful content, but what is harmful is to be all defined by bureaucrats, and not subject to the guard rails found elsewhere in government. This opens the door to viewpoint discrimination and regulatory chill. This government has already signalled which viewpoints and persuasions it favours: platforms therefore have strong incentives to over-remove lawful but controversial speech – on residential schools, gender issues, religion, or politics – to avoid administrative trouble. And as with human rights commissions, truth and evidentiary rigour will be no defence in this administrative regime..Carpay places Bill C-34 in the broader pattern of federal legislation (including elements of C-63, C-8, C-22, and C-9,) that together lay the foundation for greater government control over online speech and privacy.What You Can DoPublic opposition has already forced changes to other bills. Bill C-34 is still at an early stage. Canadians should contact their MPs immediately and urge them to oppose the bill or demand major amendments.Watch the full interview above for a detailed breakdown of this troubling legislation. For more information and to send a letter to your MP, visit the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms website.Protecting children is important – but not at the cost of turning Canada into a digital surveillance state with state-directed censorship.The Hannaford Show is uploaded at seven o’clock tonight.
