Madeleine Thien's Trip to Ottawa
Award-winning author to meet with MPs
To discuss Bill C-10
Madeleine Thien, a Toronto-based author who won the prestigious Giller Prize in 2016, will be part of a group of authors traveling to Ottawa on Thursday to demand changes to the Liberal government's Bill C-10.
The authors fear the bill will harm freedom of expression in Canada by giving the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) the power to regulate online content.
"Bill C-10 is flawed," Thien said, in a recent interview with Maclean's magazine. "It would give the CRTC the power to censor online content, and that's a dangerous precedent to set."
Authors and creators from across the country have expressed concerns about the bill. They argue that it is vague and overly broad, and that it could be used to stifle dissent and silence marginalized voices.
The government has said that the bill is necessary to protect Canadian culture and to ensure that Canadian content is discoverable online.
Thien and the other authors traveling to Ottawa will meet with MPs from all parties to discuss their concerns about the bill.
They are hoping to convince the government to make changes to the bill before it is passed into law.
