Well, luckily the Liberal/NDP’ers are bringing in legislation to combat what they consider FAKE News, so Phew!! There’s already threads on those though.
C-372, also known as the Fossil Fuel Advertising Act, was tabled Monday as a private member’s bill by Charlie Angus, the MP for Timmins-James Bay and a longtime member of the NDP caucus.
“Today, I am proud to rise and introduce a bill that would make illegal false advertising by the oil and gas industry,” Angus
announced in the House of Commons.
An NDP bill is seeking to criminalize the “promotion” of fossil fuels, and prescribe jail time even for Canadians who say scientifically true things such as how burning natural gas is cleaner than burning coal.
As a private member’s bill introduced by the member of a party with only 25 seats in the House of Commons, Bill C-372 has almost zero chance of passing. But as written, the act would technically apply to any Canadian who is found to be speaking well of the oil industry, or of oil generally.
“It is prohibited for a person to promote a fossil fuel, a fossil fuel-related brand element or the production of a fossil fuel,” reads the act.
Violate this as a regular citizen, and the act prescribes summary conviction and a fine of up to $500,000. Violate it as an oil company, and the punishment could be as strict as two years in jail or a fine of $1,000,000.
He added that the oil and gas sector was trafficking in “disinformation” and “killing people.” Angus also twice framed his bill as the dawn of the industry’s “big tobacco moment” — an apparent reference to Canada’s blanket federal ban on tobacco advertising.
C-372, also known as the Fossil Fuel Advertising Act, was tabled Monday as a private member’s bill by NDP MP Charlie Angus
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Angus defines “promotion” so broadly that it could technically apply to something as simple as a Facebook post or even an “I Love Canadian Oil and Gas” bumper sticker.
Promotion, according to Bill C-372, means “a representation about a product or service by any means … that is likely to influence and shape attitudes, beliefs and behaviours about the product or service.”
The act also criminalizes a laundry list of common pro-oil and gas arguments, even ones that have a reliable basis in fact.
Section 8 of the act makes it a crime for “a person” to argue that a fossil fuel is “less harmful than other fossil fuels.”
Natural gas, for instance, generates energy with far fewer emissions or pollutants than diesel, coal, bunker fuel or any number of “dirtier” fuels. This is why the federal government taxes natural gas at a lower benchmark than higher-emission fuels.
Nevertheless, according to C-372, anybody making such an argument should face a jail term of up to two years or a “fine not exceeding $500,000.”
Private Member's Bill C-372 (44-1) - First Reading - Fossil Fuel Advertising Act - Parliament of Canada
www.parl.ca