Politics This Morning: Lord Elgin swapped to NCC

Good Tuesday morning, MPs on the House Heritage Committee will meet today to discuss starting a new study into Google’s move to block news content from some Canadians who use its search engine. The meeting will take place while the House is adjourned for a break week. The notice given by the committee says the meeting has been called “to discuss a request to undertake a study of the censoring of news content by Google.” That gives you a sense of how the MPs who called the meeting feel about the web giant at the moment. The Globe and Mail’s MARIE WOOLF covered the background in her reporting last week. Liberals and New Democrats took exception to Google’s move to block news from some users. PTM reached out to the Conservative vice-chair of the committee, KEVIN WAUGH, to get the Tories’ take. We didn’t get a response by deadline yesterday. This all has to do with the government’s online news bill, C-18, which is currently before the Senate at second reading. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is the sponsor of government bill C-18, dubbed the Online News Act. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade The terms of the bill are complex, but it ultimately aims to force large social media companies and search engines that display news stories to subsidize news companies. The news sector has lost a huge part of its advertising revenue to the sort of tailored online ads that are run by web businesses that collect data on their users. News stories are commonly shared on social media and via Google, though those “shares” and displays often provide a link to the news outlet’s website. Google opposes Bill C-18. Its restriction on news viewing for some of its Canadian users is an effort to gauge how users might respond if Google chooses to block them from sharing and viewing news, rather than start paying news companies. A Google spokesperson told The Globe that the company was “testing product responses.” We’ll see what the MPs have to say about it all today. You can watch the meeting here, beginning at 11 a.m. Lord Elgin changes hands The federal government is selling the real estate under Ottawa’s iconic Lord Elgin Hotel to the National Capital Commission. So says an order in council issued by the federal cabinet earlier this month. The Lord Elgin was built in 1940 and 1941. The property belongs to the Crown, and has been administered by Public Services and Procurement Canada. The National Capital Commission is itself a Crown corporation. It acquired the property as part of a long-term plan "which mandates the NCC to secure ownership of assets of national interest along Confederation Boulevard," according to NCC spokesperson SOFIA BENJELLOUN. Benjelloun also noted that the NCC purchased nearby 80 Elgin—the building that hosts the soon-to-be-moved British High Commission—to serve as its new headquarters. As for why PSPC wanted to sell 100 Elgin St., we'll have to guess. The department declined to comment. The hotel that sits on the property is on a long-term lease to Gillen Engineering and Construction, and the deal approved in the OIC would extend that lease until 2099. What’s the cabinet up to? Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT is attending the GlobeXChange conference in Toronto today, where he and Treasury Board President MONA FORTIER will make a “major” announcement about green procurement standards at 11 a.m. He will deliver a keynote speech on the government’s collaboration with the private sector on climate change. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is announcing new government procurement standards today. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Mental Health Minister CAROLYN BENNETT and Revenue Minister DIANE LEBOUTHILLIER will hold a virtual presser today to announce funding for an initiative to develop national standards for mental health services. Public Safety Minister MARCO MENDICINO will make an announcement about preventing crime in Halifax. Rural Minister GUDIE HUTCHINGS and Tourism Minister RANDY BOISSONNAULT are touring Newfoundland and Labrador this week. Today, Hutchings will visit a child care centre in Benton. FILOMENA TASSI, the minister responsible for subsidies in Southern Ontario, will dole out cash for the food packaging companies today in Guelph, Ont. She’ll also announce funding for the aerospace sector in nearby Breslau. Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON will give a speech and make an announcement in Thunder Bay, Ont. Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA will hold a media event to highlight funding for the Port of Saint John. Seniors Minister KAMAL KHERA will announce funding for seniors mental health in Toronto. Finally, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister MARC MILLER will announce the launch of a “collaborative modern treaty implementation policy” and take questions from the press at the Westin Hotel today. In the news Government employees are now banned from installing popular social media app TikTok on their work phones. The National Post’s CHRISTOPHER NARDI has the details. Like other federal employees, Katie Telford is now banned from installing TikTok on her work phone. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Our IAN CAMPBELL dove deep into the work the federal government is doing with provinces on “safe sport.” You can find his story here. Finally, LAURA RYCKEWAERT has the latest on staffing changes in the PMO. What else is happening today? Former cabinet minister LISA RAITT and Globe and Mail columnist ANDREW COYNE are headlining a pre-budget panel talk in Toronto’s Albany Club today. The sold-out event is being organized under the banner of Centre Ice Canadians, a centre-right political advocacy group. Send your news tips to pmazereeuw@hilltimes.com

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Lord Elgin swapped to NCC

Plus, Guilbeault announces new rules for federal procurement.

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