Reactions Split On What Canada's Liberal Majority Means For Tech Policy Future (freezenet.ca)

Dangerous_Minds writes: Few could have predicted the Liberal majority win in Canada's recent election. Now that the Canadian government is in a state of transition, some have speculated what the new government will bring to the table when it comes to a policy on technology. Michael Geist is speculating that the people in the new Liberal government may bring about a positive policy change, concluding "All of this points to real change and the chance for a fresh start on Canadian digital policy in the years ahead." Meanwhile, Freezenet has a very different take. Drew Wilson points out that the last time the Liberal government was in power, the party was very combative on digital rights because they were trying to bring in Lawful Access and the Canadian DMCA before Stephen Harper took power. In one very infamous exchange, Sam Bulte lashed out at people like Michael Geist by calling him and his supporters "pro-user zealots". With digital rights not even on the radar during the election outside of Bill C-51 towards the beginning and the Liberals long history on these files, Wilson paints a very bleak future given that the Liberal party now has a majority government and can push through policies unopposed whether controversial or not.

Comments

Re:Well if its anything like the US...

[Anonymous Coward]

The fact that we voted the Conservatives out for a number of reasons, not the least of which was their attempt to sway the vote with a xenophobic campaign message, shows that we aren't as like the US as one might think.

HRT

[PopeRatzo]

Now that the SJWs have taken over Canada, they're going to force everyone to undergo sex reassignment therapy. It's a proven fact that I read on 8chan.

Re:HRT

[PopeRatzo]

Over my dead body. Oh, and you'll need to pry my guns from my cold dead hands as well.

Well, I'm not undergoing sex reassignment therapy.

They'll have to pry my penis from my cold, dead hands.

Our friends up north are just like us apparently

[JoeyRox]

Their citizens actually believe it makes a difference whether a "liberal" or "conservative" is in power.

Liberal Party?

[GerryGilmore]

Heck, here in America "Liberal" is a cuss-word that even Democrats run away from. That's part of why they suck as a political party - they can't/won't even defend Liberal values.

Re:Liberal Party?

[phantomfive]

It's dangerous to evaluate foreign countries on the American political spectrum, and especially dangerous based on their name. If you judged American politics based on the names of the parties, you would think that one party desperately wanted a direct democracy, and the other party was fighting ferociously to keep the states independent. But neither of those is why the names were chosen (in fact, the founder of the democrat party fought to strengthen the states rights).

In Canada, the Liberal Party has that name, but it is the centrist party.

"All politics is local," that is the saying. In Canada, no one is fighting over Obamacare, just like in America no one cares about Quebec independence. In fact, one of the ways the party won is by getting a lot of votes in Quebec (also, Justin Trudeau is kind of hot).

Don't try to focus on "left" or "right," it is a way to divide us. Instead focus on specific issues.

Re:Liberal Party?

[phantomfive]

An example of this is the Liberal party of Australia, which tends to be labeled as a "right" party

Re:Our friends up north are just like us apparentl

[dunkelfalke]

Well, it can. About the only time I was proud of my country was when Schroeder said no to Iraq war. A conservative government would have followed Dubya without even thinking twice about it.

Re:Well if its anything like the US...

[aevan]

And what you said is "'Opinions must be politically correct or we will arrest you' is a good thing. Go Oceania!"

Churches should be allowed to be homophobic - and should also be toothless in matters of law and called out on their views. Idiocy and being wrong hasn't been outlawed - just pity the bigots and only raise your ire if they act on their views. [That said they can have their little homophobe club and exclude girls too for all I care - bygone relic of a superstitious age :P ]

Re:Nothing good

[Straif]

While true, only Liberals or Conservatives/PC have had enough seats to claim the PM title, smaller parties have held significant power at times. Whenever you get a minority government the ruling party must make deals with someone to get legislation passed and it's at those time the smaller parties can get some things done.

The problem is in a majority government the ruling party doesn't have to listen or negotiate with anyone, in many cases even their own members so the PM can pretty much do whatever they want. While not a legislative issue, Trudeau's already shown his willingness to rule from on high by effectively removing Canada from the multinational anti-ISIS campaign against the wishes of his own party members and the majority of Canadians. Our handful of jets weren't doing much but at least they gave us a voice at the table and showed some willingness to help.

There are simply no checks or balances in a majority government.

If we at least had a useful Senate then there might be some hope but seeing as they are all just appointed and would rather not rock the boat while getting their nice paychecks, what the PM wants the PM pretty much gets.

Oligarchy

[fyngyrz]

We don't get to vote for the boss. The boss is the person who fills the lobbyist's pockets and tells them under what conditions to fork over said money. The boss is the person who arranges that little junket Thailand, or the Bahamas, or Las Vegas. The boss is that person who makes sure that congress-critter McTurd's second cousin Tedwina gets an absolutely amazing price on that succulent little bit of property. The boss is that guy who sees to it that post-congress, there's a $$k/event speaking tour waiting the wings. The boss is the guy with that awesome stock tip.

And sure as hell, the boss is not us.

But yes, new boss, same as old boss. Because no change in boss. At all. Has nothing to do with elections.

Re:Well if its anything like the US...

[MightyMartian]

There's no link, because it isn't true. Canadian hate laws don't work like that.

Re:Well if its anything like the US...

[Fire_Wraith]

Funny, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms would disagree with you:

2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:Nothing good

[Curtman]

Trouble is, Canada has a two party system that pretends to have more parties, but has never once elected them to run the country.

The Liberals have also promised this will be the last election under our current first-past-the-post system. Depending on the result of that, there may be a lot more MPs elected who arent from the two parties, and it may be the last majority government in Canada.

Re:Our friends up north are just like us apparentl

[Curtman]

Well, it can. About the only time I was proud of my country was when Schroeder said no to Iraq war. A conservative government would have followed Dubya without even thinking twice about it.

Oh they definitely thought about it. Some Steven Harper quotes:

"[Y]our country [the USA], and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world."

I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans.

This party will not take its position based on public opinion polls. We will not take a stand based oÂn focus groups. We will not take a stand based oÂn phone-in shows or householder surveys or any other vagaries of public opinion⦠In my judgment Canada will eventually join with the allied coalition if war on Iraq comes to pass. The government will join, notwithstanding its failure to prepare, its neglect in co-operating with its allies, or its inability to contribute. In the end it will join out of the necessity created by a pattern of uncertainty and indecision. It will not join as a leader but unnoticed at the back of the parade.

Having this new government is like waking up from a terrible nightmare.