In the news today: Online Harms Act among bills stuck in House

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Online Harms Act among bills stuck in House

Justice Minister Arif Virani is unapologetic about the money it would take to set up new regulators to tackle online harms under his proposed legislation.

Canadians want children to be safe online, “and if that costs money to set up and to enforce, so be it,” Virani said.

Read More:

• Parties agree on the need to act on online harms, but time is running out for new law
• Justice minister says controversial online harms bill to be split in two
• Trudeau could stay or go, but Canadians should brace for a spring election

The cost of those bodies, which the Parliamentary Budget Officer has pegged at $200 million over five years, is a bone of contention for the Conservatives, who say the bill would create a “massive” bureaucracy.

Even if the Online Harms Act manages to somehow make it through a months-long impasse at the House of Commons and become law before an election, the Conservatives have pledged to repeal it should they form government.

Both the Liberals and Conservatives agree it’s time for something to be done to tackle online harms. They have both introduced bills to do so. But with no apparent common ground, legislation doesn’t have a path forward, even as parents whose children died because of online sexual extortion plead with MPs to act.

Virani said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press that it “seems the Conservative Party of Canada has a problem with investing money to keep Canadians safe. And that to me is not a morally tenable proposition.”

Here’s what else we’re watching…

All signs point to spring federal election

Canada appears to be barrelling toward a spring election now that the NDP is vowing to vote down the government early next year — whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stays on or not.

Political watchers are abuzz over the possible scenarios that could play out in the coming year following last week’s drama that rocked Trudeau’s government, and a springtime national campaign is the one that’s solidifying the fastest.

The exact timing is very much up in the air, but the best bet is for the government to fall by late March, and then a general election day would fall in April or May, said Yaroslav Baran, co-founder of the Pendulum Group and former chief of staff to Conservative house leader Jay Hill.

“The greatest likelihood would be that the government would fall at some point between late February and late March,” he said, making April or May the “most likely scenario” for the election day.

If the government falls on a non-confidence vote, the prime minister would then be obliged to go to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to inform her and advise her on election timing. The window for a campaign is a minimum of 36 days and a maximum of 50 days, according to Elections Canada.

Manitoba premier faces challenges in new year

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew’s popularity shows little sign of waning more than a year after he led the provincial New Democrats to power.

But there are some tough choices ahead as he tries to fulfil promises to improve health care, address poverty and get the government’s finances in order.

Kinew has carried through on election promises to hire more health-care workers, expand school nutrition programs and temporarily suspend the provincial fuel tax for a one-year period that is to end Jan. 1.

The NDP government has also announced extra funding for the arts, policing and other items. Opinion polls continue to rank highly the NDP as a party and Kinew as a premier.

What Kinew has yet to show is a plan to control spending in order to balance the budget by 2027 — another campaign promise — and end a long series of deficits in Manitoba, said political analyst Paul Thomas.

Ontario animal welfare body eyes more transparency

Ontario’s little-known team of taxpayer-funded animal cruelty investigators recently issued its first-ever news release, years after launching in 2020.

The small but meaningful step toward increased transparency comes after sustained pressure from The Canadian Press — along with animal advocacy groups and opposition politicians — for Animal Welfare Services to open up publicly about its years-long probe of Marineland.

Earlier this month, the organization housed under the Ministry of the Solicitor General issued a short statement about the death of five dogs and the “distress” of 24 more. It said that it had laid 96 charges against a Hamilton woman.

Chief Animal Welfare Inspector Melanie Milczynski has shared little else about the case but said its significance, along with questions from locals about the organization’s investigation, played a role in going public about the charges.

But Milczynski admitted that Animal Welfare Services has been under fire to be more open about its work.

B.C. mountain biking royalty go beyond the extreme

Betty Birrell expertly guides her mountain bike over an elevated wooden ramp, catching some air, then lands smoothly on a trail she’s ridden countless times before.

At 76, the local legend has spent three decades tackling the rugged slopes of Vancouver’s North Shore mountains, beginning in about 1993, when she says it was an anomaly to see another woman racing through the lush forests.

Birrell sums up those early days as “lots of gnar, lots of jank, not much suspension” — for non-riders, that roughly translates as steep, tight, rocky and generally sketchy terrain on bikes that were a far cry from today’s high-tech machines.

She’s still tackling some of the most challenging trails the North Shore has to offer, but after many years of mostly riding alone, Birrell has found community in the Shore Sirens, a group for women and nonbinary riders formed in 2023.

Shore Sirens president and co-founder Jessie Curell describes Birrell as an elite athlete who shows up “to shred almost every time,” not just enjoy the fresh air.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press