OTAWA –
A spokeswoman for Governor General Mary Simon says she will continue to advocate for “digital respect”, despite suggestions that it is inappropriate for her to intervene when a government bill focused on the issue is being hotly debated.
Justice Minister Arif Virani raised eyebrows last week when he posted photographs of himself with “industry experts” at a recent symposium hosted at Rideau Hall.
Virani mentioned the government’s new Online Harms Act, which aims to better protect Canadians on the internet, and said in the social media post that he discussed it with some attendees.
Virani and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “should be ashamed” for “politicizing and exploiting” Simon’s staunchly non-partisan position, said Sebastian Skamski, spokesman for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who opposes the bill.
Skamski described the exercise as “a pathetic campaign to promote his controversial legislation that has received significant criticism.”
The Online Harms Act, if passed, would require social media companies to limit their users’ exposure to harmful content, particularly anything that could be used to bully a child or encourage a minor to self-harm.
The legislation would also create a new digital regulator and force companies to quickly remove images of child sexual abuse or sexual images shared without consent.
Conservatives believe existing laws should be enforced to protect vulnerable people online, rather than “referring them to a new bureaucracy,” Skamski said. He accused Trudeau of wanting to ban opinions with legislation.
Civil society groups and legal experts say they fear freedom of expression will be affected by the bill’s stiffer penalties for hate crimes, as well as provisions that create a new hate crime offense and reinstate Hate speech as a reason for discrimination.
Virani and Justice Department officials say the changes would only apply to extreme cases and that a high threshold would have to be met for a human rights court to hear a hate speech case.
Simon has been making her own efforts to raise awareness about online abuse since her office decided to disable comments on her social media accounts last year following a flood of harassing comments.
The symposium brought together people to talk about their personal experiences of such abuses, and the agenda did not include any discussion of the government’s bill, a spokesperson said.
Lynne Santerre, the governor general’s deputy director of public affairs, said last week’s event had been in the works since 2023 and that its “planning and organization” was led “exclusively” by Simon’s office.
Santerre says raising awareness about online abuse is part of Simon’s priority.
He used his “convening power” to bring together a number of stakeholders at Rideau Hall, including members of Parliament and senators “who had spoken out on the issue of online abuse,” he clarified on Wednesday. Journalists, including one from The Canadian Press, also participated.
Simon’s office confirmed that of the invited MPs, only Virani and independent senator Bernadette Clement attended.
“The symposium provided an opportunity for participants to make connections and collaborate on possible solutions. The Online Harms Act was not on the agenda nor was it part of the panel discussions,” Santerre said.
“The Governor General will continue to promote the need for digital respect.”
We know that online harms have real-world consequences and now is the critical time to make the digital world a safe space.
With industry experts at the Governor General’s Symposium, we discussed this and our Online Harms Act to create a safe experience for everyone. pic.twitter.com/s3j3iiuRAb
-Arif Virani (@viraniarif) April 12, 2024
Parliamentary expert and Carleton University professor Philippe Lagasse called the development “risky.”
He compared it to the issues raised by the environmental advocacy of the former Prince of Wales, whose new role as King Charles requires him to navigate more carefully the narrow space between politics and monarchy.
The Governor General’s role is strictly nonpartisan and requires a lot of work that cuts across partisan lines and “ideological divides,” Lagasse said.
That means it becomes complicated once an issue becomes personal for a viceregal, who is expected to act “with complete impartiality when it comes to important political debates,” he added.
“The more personal it becomes for the office holder, the more you need to make sure you don’t touch it if it’s part of an important debate in the country, because then your bias is pretty exposed.”
Hosting the symposium became “inadvisable” once the government introduced its legislation, at which point Simon should have stopped his advocacy efforts, Legasse said.
In a statement, Virani said he only showed up for lunch and that the legislation “naturally” came to mind with some attendees.
“It has come to my attention that a post I made last week caused some confusion,” he said.
“It is disappointing to see an event held in good faith to provide a safe space for victims to share their experiences and to discuss an issue of widespread concern to Canadians receive wholly unwarranted criticism.”
Virani said he was pleased to accept Simon’s invitation because he wanted to support attendees sharing deeply personal experiences of online abuse and harassment and “discuss the pressing social issue of online safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2024.