44th Parliament207Open for signatureMarch 26, 2024e-4896e-4896 (Democratic process)BrianKerrJamieSchmaleHaliburton—Kawartha Lakes—BrockConservativeONMarch 26, 2024, at 4:05 p.m. (EDT)July 24, 2024, at 4:05 p.m. (EDT)Petition to the <Addressee type="2" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">House of Commons in Parliament assembled</Addressee>Whereas:There are currently no election laws at the federal level of Canadian government that enable legally registered Canadian voters to fire an elected representative before their term;There are currently no election laws at the federal level of Canadian government that enable legally registered Canadian voters to repeal or remove legislation that is proven biased, bigoted, prejudiced, oppressive, authoritarian, or treasonous; andWithin this legislation must be a law that, politicians who are recalled, would no longer be entitled to their pension or any other benefits associated with their elected position. A sitting government cannot amend or remove the recall/initiative legislation without a public referendum.We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to put into law, "Recall and Initiative" legislation at the federal level of government in Canada to give Canadian citizens a mechanism to protect their livelihood from an untrustworthy, tyrannical government ruling Canada.LegislationMembers of ParliamentParticipatory democracy44th Parliament222Presented to the House of CommonsMarch 21, 2024e-4274e-4274 (Democratic process)BrianKerrJamieSchmaleHaliburton—Kawartha Lakes—BrockConservativeONJanuary 26, 2023, at 9:49 a.m. (EDT)May 26, 2023, at 9:49 a.m. (EDT)March 21, 2024May 26, 2023Petition to the <Addressee type="2" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">House of Commons in Parliament assembled</Addressee>Whereas:There are currently no election laws at the federal level of Canadian government that enable legal Canadian voters, by petition, to remove an elected official from their elected position before their term; andThere are currently no election laws at the federal level of Canadian government that enable legal Canadian voters, by petition, to remove or repeal legislation.We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to put into law "Recall and Initiative" legislation at the federal level in Canada to give Canadian citizens a mechanism to protect their livelihood from an untrustworthy tyrannical government ruling Canada.LegislationMembers of ParliamentParticipatory democracy44th Parliament222Presented to the House of CommonsMarch 21, 2024e-3827e-3827 (Democratic process)BrianKerrJamieSchmaleHaliburton—Kawartha Lakes—BrockConservativeONFebruary 3, 2022, at 2:58 p.m. (EDT)June 3, 2022, at 2:58 p.m. (EDT)March 21, 2024June 3, 2022Petition to the <Addressee type="2" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">House of Commons in Parliament assembled</Addressee>Whereas:There are currently no election laws at the federal level of Canadian government that enable legal Canadian voters, by petition, to propose or repeal legislation; andThere are currently no election laws at the federal level of Canadian government that enable legal Canadian voters, by petition, to remove an elected official from their elected position before their term.We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to put into law "Recall and Initiative" legislation at the federal level of government in Canada.LegislationMembers of ParliamentParticipatory democracyPetitions44th Parliament222Presented to the House of CommonsMarch 21, 2024e-4605e-4605 (Democratic process)BrianKerrJamieSchmaleHaliburton—Kawartha Lakes—BrockConservativeONSeptember 28, 2023, at 10:06 a.m. (EDT)January 26, 2024, at 10:06 a.m. (EDT)March 21, 2024January 26, 2024Petition to the <Addressee type="2" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">House of Commons in Parliament assembled</Addressee>Whereas:There are currently no election laws at the federal level of Canadian government that enable legal Canadian voters, by petition, to remove an elected official from their elected position before their term; andThere are currently no election laws at the federal level of Canadian government that enable legal Canadian voters, by petition, to remove or repeal legislation.We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to put into law "Recall and Initiative" legislation at the federal level of government in Canada to give Canadian citizens a mechanism to protect their livelihood from an untrustworthy, tyrannical government ruling Canada.LegislationMembers of ParliamentParticipatory democracy44th Parliament220CertifiedMarch 19, 2024e-4758e-4758 (Citizenship and immigration)MariaKartashevaAnitaVandenbeldOttawa West—NepeanLiberalONJanuary 17, 2024, at 4:29 p.m. (EDT)March 17, 2024, at 4:29 p.m. (EDT)March 19, 2024Petition to the <Addressee type="3" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">Government of Canada</Addressee>Whereas:The current process for evaluating immigration and citizenship applications unfairly places the burden on those facing political persecution to prove that foreign laws they're accused of violating aren't crimes in Canada, and this places undue stress to those who have suffered under autocratic regimes;We propose an official list that automatically disqualifies political laws as valid reasons for denying refuge, humanitarian or other visas, or Canadian citizenship;Autocratic regimes craft laws, for the purpose of political persecution, that look just to those unfamiliar with their political context, for example, in the Russian Federation, Articles 207.3, 280.3, and 284.2 were added to the Criminal Code after the Ukraine invasion to suppress truth about the war and persecute dissenters;Implementing this list would streamline Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reviews, expediting applications for those persecuted under these laws, and preventing delays for those wrongly perceived as criminals; andPolitical context for understanding these laws as political prosecution, not crimes, can be provided by the Canadian Ministry of Global Affairs, they already use this information to sanction regimes for human rights violations.We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to establish a pre-approved list of laws used for political persecution that don’t have an equivalent in Canada, for the purpose of fast-tracking the evaluation of immigration and citizenship applications during the Prohibitions sections of said applications.Application processCriminal chargesImmigration and immigrantsLegislation44th Parliament220CertifiedJune 28, 2023e-4448e-4448 (Health)SusanNatshehDeanAllisonNiagara WestConservativeONMay 25, 2023, at 9:02 a.m. (EDT)June 24, 2023, at 9:02 a.m. (EDT)June 28, 2023Petition to the <Addressee type="3" affiliationId="" mp-riding-display="1">Government of Canada</Addressee>Whereas:Canada has held to the highest regulatory standards by ensuring all medical products were proven safe and effective prior to authorization through randomized controlled trials;Canada created ‘Agile Regulations’ permitting approval of novel therapeutic products that fulfill a minimal level of evidence showing their benefits outweigh their risks and their risks will be adequately managed and controlled, replacing the pre-market requirements for proven safety with post-marketing monitoring of harm;These novel medical products, classified as Advanced Therapeutic Products (ATPs), may include potentially high-risk products such as gene editing, 3D bioprinting, and nanotechnology;Proposed amendments to Canada’s Food & Drugs Act published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 156, Number 51: ‘Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Food and Drugs Act (Agile Licensing)’ seek to further strengthen the ATP framework; andAmendments of concern are those granting potential expedited access to drugs for public health emergencies, emerging infectious diseases, or the prevention and diagnosis of serious diseases or conditions, thereby permitting use of potentially harmful products in healthy adults, children, and livestock.We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to stop the authorization of any therapeutic product for use in healthy Canadians and livestock that has not first been proven safe and effective through rigorously conducted randomized controlled trials, and permit re-examination of the Agile Regulations and all proposed regulatory changes to the Food and Drugs Act by qualified, independent health professionals and public representatives free from conflicts of interest.Drug review processLegislationMedical research44th Parliament223Government response tabledDecember 7, 2022441-00791441-00791 (Media and telecommunications)ArnoldViersenPeace River—WestlockConservativeABOctober 24, 2022December 7, 2022March 2, 2022PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLEDWe, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:WHEREAS: Vulnerable Persons (which may include: any individuals who are susceptible to mistreatment because of the individual's circumstances, as a result but not limited to the individual's age, physical or mental disability, illness, or otherwise, who cannot protect themselves from violence, abuse or neglect) may not be adequately protected on social media platforms on the Internet, and where some persons in Canada or abroad may have intentions to exploit, sexualize or otherwise harm others located in Canada;Vulnerable Persons may be bullied, targeted, threatened, blackmailed or otherwise harassed by others on the Internet and in particular on social media platforms; There are currently inadequate controls that exist within existing legislation to sufficiently mitigate the risk of harm to Vulnerable Persons on the Internet and on social media platforms;Parliament recognizes that the harmful effects of unrestricted access to Vulnerable Persons on the Internet and on social media platforms may include: the creation of sexually explicit material of young persons, online bullying, the proliferation of fraud, child luring instances and long lasting mental effects for victims of these actions;Parliament recognizes neglect of these issues may cause an increase in public health and public safety concerns;Social media platforms on the Internet continue to introduce and provide more opportunity for harms to occur to Vulnerable Persons;Online age-identity verification technology is increasingly sophisticated and can now effectively ascertain the age and identity of users without breaching their privacy rights;Age-identity verification on social media platforms can significantly reduce: the creation or proliferation of child sex abuse materials, online bullying, instances of fraud and child luring; andSocial media platforms have a responsibility to control access to their platforms by Vulnerable Persons for the mitigation of harm reduction.THEREFORE, we, the undersigned, call upon Parliament to:1. Commit to protecting Vulnerable Persons from harm whilst using social media platforms;2. Create, implement and enforce an Act, Statute, Legislation or Regulation to empower ISPs (internet service providers) to prevent access to social media sites or platforms that ignore or fail to implement reasonable systems to ensure the age and identity of all its users; and3. Demand of creators of electronic device applications, social media websites or businesses to respect the citizens of Canada by encouraging appropriate restrictions, systems for verification, usage and rules of usage that reflect such regulations.
Response by the Minister of Canadian Heritage Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Chris BittleThe Government would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their concerns regarding the protection of vulnerable people online. This is a very important issue, and the Government is committed to making the Internet a safer and more inclusive place for Canadians, including people that are in a vulnerable situation because of their age, or because they are facing violence, abuse or neglect.As you know, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has been mandated to work with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to develop and introduce legislation as soon as possible to combat serious forms of harmful online content.From July 29 to September 25, 2021, the Government of Canada held a public consultation on a proposed legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online. Subsequently, a report titled ‘The Government’s Proposed Approach to Address Harmful Content Online’ was released on February 3, 2022, outlining the key takeaways. The Minister also convened an Expert Advisory Group, composed of 12 experts from diverse backgrounds, which met over the course of the spring. The group’s discussions included topics raised by the petitioners, including perspectives on child protections online. The work of the expert advisory group concluded on June 10, 2022, and summaries of their discussions have been posted online. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/harmful-online-content.htmlThe Minister of Canadian Heritage is currently conducting roundtables on online safety to understand the perspectives of those who would be most impacted by the legislation. Over the last few months, roundtables have taken place in cities across Canada, as well as virtually. Additionally, there have been engagements with international jurisdictions to better understand their approach to online harms and the protection children and youth. The government sees this as a serious issue and will continue to explore avenues that will best support our youth.The Government will take some time to further engage with civil society, experts, stakeholders and interested groups to develop an effective legislative and regulatory framework to confront harmful content online, especially as it pertains to young persons.
LegislationSocial networking sitesVulnerable persons
44th Parliament223Government response tabledAugust 17, 2022e-3914e-3914 (Justice)FrankSaptelAlexandreBoulericeRosemont—La Petite-PatrieNDPQCMarch 11, 2022, at 2:48 p.m. (EDT)May 10, 2022, at 2:48 p.m. (EDT)May 17, 2022August 17, 2022May 12, 2022Petition to the <Addressee type="4" affiliationId="278925" mp-riding-display="1">Minister of Labour</Addressee>Whereas:The intent of the federal government in amending the Canada Labour Code and modernizing labour standards was to address long standing discrepancies in labour legislation with the goal of improving working conditions for Canadians and bringing labour law in line with realities of changing labour markets;In line with this goal, one area of federal labour law that was addressed were wages of part-time, casual, temporary and seasonal workers whose hourly wages were less than that of full-time workers doing the same work;The legislation received Royal Assent in 2018, however, a date of effect was not given, making the legislation impossible to enforce in workplaces;The practice of paying different wages based on employment status is exploitative and discriminatory, and will only end with enforceable legislation; Without legislative protections, employers will continue to use this loophole to exploit workers;Without a date of effect, years of lobbying efforts will be erased, setting Canadian workers back decades, which from our perspective, runs counter to the intent of modernizing the Canada Labour Code; andThe labour market has changed to the extent that non-traditional employment relationships are on the rise, making this piece of legislation essential in protecting workers and ensuring they earn equal wages for doing the same work as those who hold full-time employment.We, the undersigned, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, call upon the Minister of Labour to assign a date of effect for legislation relating to wages and equal treatment of workers regardless of their employment status.
Response by the Minister of LabourSigned by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): TERRY SHEEHANThe Government of Canada believes strongly in equal pay for work of equal value and the fair treatment of all workers in the workplace, regardless of their employment status. As part of the Budget Implementation Act, 2018 No. 2 (BIA 2018), amendments were adopted to the Canada Labour Code (the Code) in order to require employers to provide equal pay to employees performing similar work regardless of their employment status. The adopted amendments also confer authority to the Governor-in-Council to make regulations modifying requirements, exempting classes of employees, and defining terms regarding equal treatment provisions (see Section 182.4 of the Code, not yet in force). These changes are not yet in force because regulations are currently being developed to support these changes and ensure equal treatment and compensation for employees, including those in precarious work. In particular, regulations are required to provide additional clarity to terms used in the legislation.A discussion paper pertaining to several amendments to Part III of the Code, including equal treatment, was shared in June 2019 with over 600 federally regulated stakeholders, including employers and employer associations as well as unions and employee representatives. Also, Indigenous partners, community organizations, and think tanks were consulted. The consultation was broad in scope, seeking feedback on a variety of Code amendments passed in the BIA 2018 that aimed at improving protections for employees, particularly those in precarious work, while supporting productive workplaces.The Labour Program launched additional consultations, on December 21, 2021, through a broader online consultation on a number of regulatory initiatives, including equal treatment provisions, under Part II (Occupational Health and Safety) and Part III (Labour Standards) of the Code.  Given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Canada’s changing labour market, the consultations provided an opportunity to seek up-to-date input from stakeholders. The consultations ended on February 21, 2022 and the Labour Program received written submissions from employer associations in federally-regulated industries, employee associations, unions, and community organizations.Departmental officials are currently reviewing the submissions from the 2021-2022 consultations and working to incorporate feedback for the pre-publication of the proposed regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette (CGI). The timeframe for pre-publication of the proposed regulations in CGI has yet to be determined, as stated in the Labour Program Regulatory Plan: 2022-2024. Any update on the timing of pre-publication will be made available on the Labour Program's website as soon as it becomes available.
DiscriminationIncome and wagesLabour codeLegislationWorkers
44th Parliament223Government response tabledMay 10, 2022441-00285441-00285 (Media and telecommunications)ArnoldViersenPeace River—WestlockConservativeABMarch 28, 2022May 10, 2022March 23, 2022PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLEDWe, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:WHEREAS: Vulnerable Persons (which may include: any individuals who are susceptible to mistreatment because of the individual's circumstances, as a result but not limited to the individual's age, physical or mental disability, illness, or otherwise, who cannot protect themselves from violence, abuse or neglect) may not be adequately protected on social media platforms on the Internet, and where some persons in Canada or abroad may have intentions to exploit, sexualize or otherwise harm others located in Canada;Vulnerable Persons may be bullied, targeted, threatened, blackmailed or otherwise harassed by others on the Internet and in particular on social media platforms; There are currently inadequate controls that exist within existing legislation to sufficiently mitigate the risk of harm to Vulnerable Persons on the Internet and on social media platforms;Parliament recognizes that the harmful effects of unrestricted access to Vulnerable Persons on the Internet and on social media platforms may include: the creation of sexually explicit material of young persons, online bullying, the proliferation of fraud, child luring instances and long lasting mental effects for victims of these actions;Parliament recognizes neglect of these issues may cause an increase in public health and public safety concerns;Social media platforms on the Internet continue to introduce and provide more opportunity for harms to occur to Vulnerable Persons;Online age-identity verification technology is increasingly sophisticated and can now effectively ascertain the age and identity of users without breaching their privacy rights;Age-identity verification on social media platforms can significantly reduce: the creation or proliferation of child sex abuse materials, online bullying, instances of fraud and child luring; andSocial media platforms have a responsibility to control access to their platforms by Vulnerable Persons for the mitigation of harm reduction.THEREFORE, we, the undersigned, call upon Parliament to:1. Commit to protecting Vulnerable Persons from harm whilst using social media platforms;2. Create, implement and enforce an Act, Statute, Legislation or Regulation to empower ISPs (internet service providers) to prevent access to social media sites or platforms that ignore or fail to implement reasonable systems to ensure the age and identity of all its users; and3. Demand of creators of electronic device applications, social media websites or businesses to respect the citizens of Canada by encouraging appropriate restrictions, systems for verification, usage and rules of usage that reflect such regulations.
Response by the Minister of Canadian Heritage Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Chris BittleThe Government would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their concerns regarding protecting vulnerable persons online – a very important issue. The Government is committed to making the Internet a safer and more inclusive place for Canadians. As you know, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has been mandated to work with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to develop and introduce legislation as soon as possible to combat serious forms of harmful online content.The Government is committed to getting this right. From July 29 to September 25, 2021, the Government of Canada held a public consultation on a proposed legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online and released a What We Heard Report titled ‘The Government’s Proposed Approach to Address Harmful Content Online’ on February 3, 2022, outlining the key takeaways from the consultation. As a next step following the release of the report, the Government announced the creation of an expert advisory group to generate advice on a revised legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online on March 30, 2022. The advisory group’s objective will be to provide the best advice to support the Government in developing legislation on online safety. Engagement with the expert group will be done in an open and transparent manner.All Canadians should be able to express themselves online without being subject to hateful or threatening attacks. The Government will take some time to further engage with experts, stakeholders and interested parties to reframe the proposal.
LegislationSocial networking sitesVulnerable persons
44th Parliament223Government response tabledMay 6, 2022441-00253441-00253 (Media and telecommunications)ArnoldViersenPeace River—WestlockConservativeABMarch 23, 2022May 6, 2022March 2, 2022PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLEDWe, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:WHEREAS: Vulnerable Persons (which may include: any individuals who are susceptible to mistreatment because of the individual's circumstances, as a result but not limited to the individual's age, physical or mental disability, illness, or otherwise, who cannot protect themselves from violence, abuse or neglect) may not be adequately protected on social media platforms on the Internet, and where some persons in Canada or abroad may have intentions to exploit, sexualize or otherwise harm others located in Canada;Vulnerable Persons may be bullied, targeted, threatened, blackmailed or otherwise harassed by others on the Internet and in particular on social media platforms; There are currently inadequate controls that exist within existing legislation to sufficiently mitigate the risk of harm to Vulnerable Persons on the Internet and on social media platforms;Parliament recognizes that the harmful effects of unrestricted access to Vulnerable Persons on the Internet and on social media platforms may include: the creation of sexually explicit material of young persons, online bullying, the proliferation of fraud, child luring instances and long lasting mental effects for victims of these actions;Parliament recognizes neglect of these issues may cause an increase in public health and public safety concerns;Social media platforms on the Internet continue to introduce and provide more opportunity for harms to occur to Vulnerable Persons;Online age-identity verification technology is increasingly sophisticated and can now effectively ascertain the age and identity of users without breaching their privacy rights;Age-identity verification on social media platforms can significantly reduce: the creation or proliferation of child sex abuse materials, online bullying, instances of fraud and child luring; andSocial media platforms have a responsibility to control access to their platforms by Vulnerable Persons for the mitigation of harm reduction.THEREFORE, we, the undersigned, call upon Parliament to:1. Commit to protecting Vulnerable Persons from harm whilst using social media platforms;2. Create, implement and enforce an Act, Statute, Legislation or Regulation to empower ISPs (internet service providers) to prevent access to social media sites or platforms that ignore or fail to implement reasonable systems to ensure the age and identity of all its users; and3. Demand of creators of electronic device applications, social media websites or businesses to respect the citizens of Canada by encouraging appropriate restrictions, systems for verification, usage and rules of usage that reflect such regulations.
Response by the Minister of Canadian Heritage Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Chris BittleThe Government would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their concerns regarding protecting vulnerable persons online – a very important issue. The Government is committed to making the Internet a safer and more inclusive place for Canadians. As you know, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has been mandated to work with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to develop and introduce legislation as soon as possible to combat serious forms of harmful online content.The Government is committed to getting this right. From July 29 to September 25, 2021, the Government of Canada held a public consultation on a proposed legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online and released a What We Heard Report titled ‘The Government’s Proposed Approach to Address Harmful Content Online’ on February 3, 2022, outlining the key takeaways from the consultation. As a next step following the release of the report, the Government announced the creation of an expert advisory group to generate advice on a revised legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online on March 30, 2022. The advisory group’s objective will be to provide the best advice to support the Government in developing legislation on online safety. Engagement with the expert group will be done in an open and transparent manner.All Canadians should be able to express themselves online without being subject to hateful or threatening attacks. The Government will take some time to further engage with experts, stakeholders and interested parties to reframe the proposal.
LegislationSocial networking sitesVulnerable persons
44th Parliament223Government response tabledMay 3, 2022441-00224441-00224 (Media and telecommunications)ArnoldViersenPeace River—WestlockConservativeABMarch 21, 2022May 3, 2022March 2, 2022PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLEDWe, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:WHEREAS: Vulnerable Persons (which may include: any individuals who are susceptible to mistreatment because of the individual's circumstances, as a result but not limited to the individual's age, physical or mental disability, illness, or otherwise, who cannot protect themselves from violence, abuse or neglect) may not be adequately protected on social media platforms on the Internet, and where some persons in Canada or abroad may have intentions to exploit, sexualize or otherwise harm others located in Canada;Vulnerable Persons may be bullied, targeted, threatened, blackmailed or otherwise harassed by others on the Internet and in particular on social media platforms; There are currently inadequate controls that exist within existing legislation to sufficiently mitigate the risk of harm to Vulnerable Persons on the Internet and on social media platforms;Parliament recognizes that the harmful effects of unrestricted access to Vulnerable Persons on the Internet and on social media platforms may include: the creation of sexually explicit material of young persons, online bullying, the proliferation of fraud, child luring instances and long lasting mental effects for victims of these actions;Parliament recognizes neglect of these issues may cause an increase in public health and public safety concerns;Social media platforms on the Internet continue to introduce and provide more opportunity for harms to occur to Vulnerable Persons;Online age-identity verification technology is increasingly sophisticated and can now effectively ascertain the age and identity of users without breaching their privacy rights;Age-identity verification on social media platforms can significantly reduce: the creation or proliferation of child sex abuse materials, online bullying, instances of fraud and child luring; andSocial media platforms have a responsibility to control access to their platforms by Vulnerable Persons for the mitigation of harm reduction.THEREFORE, we, the undersigned, call upon Parliament to:1. Commit to protecting Vulnerable Persons from harm whilst using social media platforms;2. Create, implement and enforce an Act, Statute, Legislation or Regulation to empower ISPs (internet service providers) to prevent access to social media sites or platforms that ignore or fail to implement reasonable systems to ensure the age and identity of all its users; and3. Demand of creators of electronic device applications, social media websites or businesses to respect the citizens of Canada by encouraging appropriate restrictions, systems for verification, usage and rules of usage that reflect such regulations.
Response by the Minister of Canadian Heritage Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Chris BittleThe Government would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their concerns regarding protecting vulnerable persons online – a very important issue. The Government is committed to making the Internet a safer and more inclusive place for Canadians. As you know, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has been mandated to work with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to develop and introduce legislation as soon as possible to combat serious forms of harmful online content.The Government is committed to getting this right. From July 29 to September 25, 2021, the Government of Canada held a public consultation on a proposed legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online and released a What We Heard Report titled ‘The Government’s Proposed Approach to Address Harmful Content Online’ on February 3, 2022, outlining the key takeaways from the consultation. As a next step following the release of the report, the Government announced the creation of an expert advisory group to generate advice on a revised legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online on March 30, 2022. The advisory group’s objective will be to provide the best advice to support the Government in developing legislation on online safety. Engagement with the expert group will be done in an open and transparent manner.All Canadians should be able to express themselves online without being subject to hateful or threatening attacks. The Government will take some time to further engage with experts, stakeholders and interested parties to reframe the proposal.
LegislationSocial networking sitesVulnerable persons