The government imposed
time allocation
yesterday on Bill C-11, a move that will wrap up second reading debate
on the copyright reform bill on Friday and send it to the Bill C-11
committee soon thereafter. While the government's overuse of time
allocation is certainly a concern, the debate is not over and several well
coordinated tweets
of support hardly mask the huge
public concern
with the bill's digital lock rules and proposed SOPA-style amendments
proposed by several copyright lobby groups that has generated tens of
thousands of emails to MPs in recent days. As described further below,
the opposition stems from rules that will have an impact on the
legitimate activities of millions, creating barriers to creators,
students, journalists, researchers, and the visually impaired.
During yesterday's
debate,
several Conservative MPs emphasized that the copyright bill is one of
the most consulted pieces of legislation in recent memory. For
example, Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore stated "this is my 12th
year as a member of Parliament and I can tell her that except for the
Liberal government's Bill C-2, the response to 9/11, this legislation
will have had more consideration at a stand-alone legislative committee
and parliamentary and public consideration with all of the tens of
thousands of submissions we received from Canadians in person and in
writing and the consultations we did across the country before we
drafted the bill."
The government is right when it says there has been wide consultation
(a recap of the 2009 copyright consultation here).
The question is whether it has taken the public comments into account
and conducted a full analysis of the implications of its current
proposal. There is reason to believe that it has not.
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