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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 34

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 19, 2022 07:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 34 - Feb/19/22
Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)
  • Feb/19/22 11:34:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Joliette for his speech. I have a question for him, and I hope I will be able to express myself clearly. I do not think the definition of what constitutes a threat to the security of Canada can be found in the Emergencies Act. Rather, it is found in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, which refers specifically to foreign influenced activities. I find this deeply disturbing because I think that the misinformation about COVID‑19 and the vaccines, as well as the bizarre ideas that some protesters have are coming from two sources. Some come from Republicans in the United States but mostly they come from from Russia and Mr. Putin, who are spreading misinformation on sites like russiatoday.com. This site is accessible in Canada, which I find very surprising, since it spreads misinformation for the purpose of destroying democratic societies around the world. We need to make a decision about the Emergencies Act, but beyond that, we must take action against sources of misinformation. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on that.
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Context: House Hansard - 34 - Feb/19/22
Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)
  • Feb/19/22 1:06:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member spoke about being in South Korea. He told a personal story about meeting someone who was happy he was Canadian and not American. I cannot help but reflect on the fact that we are seeing misinformation and disinformation happening all around the world, much of it generated by Russian bots. People cannot be online for two minutes without being attacked by Russian bots. We have also seen misinformation being spread from places like Fox News and being amplified by Republicans like Ted Cruz. Would the member not agree that when Conservatives spread that misinformation and when Conservatives stand and get their photos taken with extremists, they are are in fact raising the level of misinformation and disinformation in our country and bringing us more into the divisive politics that we see in America?
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Context: House Hansard - 34 - Feb/19/22
Mr. Darren Fisher
  • Feb/19/22 3:24:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right. I sat on the national defence committee and the public security committee, and we heard from experts all over the world that there is a planned misinformation campaign aimed directly at countries by our adversaries and enemies. The member is absolutely right that this is affecting and impacting democracy in Canada.
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