Morning Brief: Canada vows to make Facebook pay – iPolitics

Feb 19, 2021

Good morning, and happy Friday.

— Making Big Tech pay: Canada vowed to be the next country to go after Facebook to pay for the news. Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault condemned Facebook’s action in Australia — where it blocked all Australian news content over proposed legislation requiring it, and Google, to pay for news links. He said it would not deter Ottawa from crafting similar legislation.

— Tory council rejects Sloan appeal: The Conservative Party’s national council has rejected the former Conservative MP Derek Sloan’s appeal to be allowed to run as a party candidate in the next election, The Hill Times reports. Sloan was expelled from the party’s caucus in January due to a “pattern of destructive behaviour.”

— Drug policy reforms: As part of Justice Minister Lametti’s plan to reform the criminal justice system and reduce the over-representation of Black and Indigenous people in prisons, the minister also announced a new federal bill that would encourage police and prosecutors to treat drug possession as a health issue rather than something deserving jail time. Lametti also wants to repeal 20 of the more-than-60 mandatory minimum jail sentences, including those for drug trafficking and some gun crimes.