Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
I wasn’t getting hung up internationally recognized. It’s more the level of certainty required to make that statement is unclear. It’s clearly had a chilling affect on speech in the short term and while the law is reviewed. When I read the pathways information I didn’t find anything objectionable about it. Yet it’s gone. Did you find anything specifically objectionable about the content there?
So while you say trust the courts to be reasonable, until there is clear understanding of what reasonable is this will have a chilling affect on speech regardless of if courts are reasonable.
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I think we are seeing several things here. I don't take at face value that Pathways and others are removing info primarily out of legitimate fear of this legislation...it is a prudent move to review and evaluate what they have published, but it also fits nicely into a persecution narrative often proclaimed by O&G (which isn't necessarily wrong, but IMO heavily overblown).
As far as the general downtown Calgarian goes, I suspect most have the impression (because they all repeat it to each other along with news articles without actually looking at the bill in context) that this is completely new legislation with a nefarious new enforcement body (if they even think that deeply into the process), and not a modest evolution to existing laws enforced by the Competition Bureau. I think a similar non-critical game of telephone may be driving some of the removals (rule #1 = CYA). Or it's strategic.
I certainly don't view this as a 'chill on speech'. Food companies have to think carefully about what they claim on a cereal box. Now energy companies have to do the same. Cheerios tells me that "oat fibre helps lower cholesterol*" inside a nice red heart graphic. Then they tell me with the * that 1 cup of cheerios is 35% of the daily fibres shown to help lower cholesterol. I'm sure a nutritionist could talk for several minutes about why those statements are true and probably not totally true at the same time. But it's true enough. "Eat Cheerios to lower your cholesterol!" might be a step too far. Or it might be fine. But this really isn't that hard.