Rempel Garner said cabinet had neither the integrity nor public support for such a far-reaching initiative, per Blacklock’s Reporter. 

“The government is close to the end of its mandate and does not have a lot of public support across the country. The Online Harms bill “would not likely become law,”  Rempel Garner told the House of Commons.

“Certainly the regulatory process is not going to happen prior to the next election even if the bill is rammed through.”

Bill C-63 would appoint a Digital Safety Commission to monitor legal but “harmful” content on Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms.

The Trudeau Liberals in 2021 tried and failed to pass C-36, legislation that would amend the Criminal Code and grant a chief censor unprecedented powers to block websites containing legal content deemed hurtful.

“We are presently living under a government that unlawfully invoked the Emergencies Act and that routinely gaslights Canadians who legitimately question efficacy or the morality of its policies as spreading misinformation,” said Rempel Garner.

Hurtful internet content could be countered by “laws that are already on the books but have not been recently enforced due to a lack of extreme political will,” she said.

“The bill is irremediable. It is not fixable and members do not have to take my word for it.”

Attorney General Arif Virani testified March 21 at the Commons Justice Committee that he was personally terrified of the internet.

“Social media is everywhere. It brings unchecked dangers and horrific content. This frankly terrifies me. We need to make the internet safe,” said Virani at the time.

“We all expect to be safe in our homes, neighbourhoods and communities. We should be able to expect the same kind of security in our online communities. We need to address the online harms that threaten us.”

Human rights groups, lawyers and free speech advocates have condemned federal attempts at regulation of internet communication.

“Proposals fail to account for the importance of protecting the kinds of expression that are most central to a free and democratic society including journalism, academic scholarship and public interest research, debate, artistic creation, criticism and political dissent,” the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab wrote in a 2021 submission to the Department of Canadian Heritage.

The Ontario Civil Liberties Association called federal proposals “astonishing.”