Margaret Atwood, the famed Canadian author, has been the target of a predictable backlash for her comments criticizing Bill C-11. Her comments, which came in the aftermath of Senator David Adams Richards forceful denunciation of the bill on the Senate floor, describe the bill as “well meaning”, but express concern about the uncertainty over how it will be interpreted, the role of government officials in determining what counts as Canadian, and the secrecy associated with the CRTC. The reaction has led to columnists suggesting she’s speaking nonsense and one writer group calling her comments “misguided and uninformed”. Yet the reality is that Atwood’s comments are consistent with longstanding criticisms raised by many stakeholders. So why the backlash?
Archive for February 8th, 2023

Law Bytes
Episode 263: The Lawful Access Act Roundtable With David Fraser and Robert Diab
byMichael Geist

March 30, 2026
Michael Geist
March 16, 2026
Michael Geist
March 2, 2026
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Michael Geist on Substack
Recent Posts
Heads They Win, Tails We Lose: What Lies Behind the U.S. Trade Battle For Control over Data
Still Not a Privacy Law: Bill C-25’s Political Party Privacy Provisions Fall Short Again
Could Bill C-22 Make Canadians Less Safe? The Systemic Vulnerability Gap in Canada’s New Surveillance Law
Why the Verdict on Social Media Defective Design Harming Children Gets the Instinct Right But the Law Wrong
Scoping in the Tech Giants: Bill C-22’s International Production Order and the Shift to a Less Privacy-Protective Cross-Border Disclosure System

