Federal probe into Facebook friends in high places
SOCIAL MEDIA EXEC'S OFFER TO POLICY WORKERS `HUGELY PROBLEMATIC'
The federal heritage committee will study the seemingly “cozy” relationship between Facebook and Canadian Heritage after records show the company trying to recruit policy workers from the department co-leading efforts to regulate Internet giants.
“To find out that Facebook appears to have a very intimate relationship with the government's offices is hugely problematic for us,” said the NDP'S deputy heritage critic, Heather Mcpherson.
Last week, Mcpherson brought forward a motion to the federal heritage committee requesting it to “study the relations between Facebook and the federal government.” It was adopted Monday during an in-camera meeting, meaning it was not in public.
The Alberta MP says the need for the study stems from emails obtained by the NDP and first published by The Toronto Star that show what has been described by critics as a “cozy” and “unacceptable” relationship between the government and Facebook.
Earlier this year, Facebook's Canadian head of policy, Kevin Chan, emailed a senior official at Canadian Heritage inquiring about a “promising senior analyst” within the public service that Facebook could hire, according to the emails obtained via access to information.
In his message to Owen Ripley, Chan, who previously held top senior advisory roles in the federal government, says that the web giant is offering a “challenging,” “fascinating” and lucrative job within Facebook's public policy team.
Chan added that he was open to hiring public servants who took a temporary leave of absence from their department to come work for Facebook. That means that they could later return to their public sector jobs if the department allowed it.
“I am happy to circulate to a few people who might be good candidates,” replied Ripley, who is director general, broadcasting, copyright and creative marketplace at Canadian Heritage.
Mcpherson said that reading such emails at a time when Canadian Heritage is co-leading the Liberal government's efforts to regulate web giants makes her “sick to her stomach.”
“To think that a head of Facebook Canada is in fact basically posting a job with the government that is meant to be regulating them. It doesn’t feel good,” the MP said.
As part of the examination, the heritage committee will require testimony from Chan, a former senior executive in the office of the Clerk of the Privy Council and also an adviser to former Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, as well as Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault and Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage Hélène Laurendeau.
It will also order all emails between Facebook and Canadian Heritage that have to do with job postings since November 2015, when the Trudeau Liberals first formed government.
Because the committee’s vote was done behind closed doors during an in-camera meeting, it was impossible to know if the Liberals voted in support or against the study. The motion requires at minimum the support of all opposition parties to pass.
Mcpherson could not say when the study would begin, but insisted that it would happen before the committee studied new legislation reforming the Broadcasting Act that was tabled last week.
Announced last week, the proposed changes to the Act notably give the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) the power to regulate online streaming companies such Netflix.
The CRTC could force platforms to promote more Canadian content and increase financial contributions to the Canadian cultural industry, or face monetary penalties.
News of this study comes two weeks after industry advocates criticized the government for the apparent proximity between senior officials at Canadian Heritage and Facebook Canada.
In an Oct. 30 letter to Guilbeault, independent media advocacy group FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting demanded the minister put an end to ties between his department and the tech giant.
“FRIENDS is alarmed to learn of the cozy relationship between one of Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s most senior officials … and Facebook’s most senior Canadian lobbyist,” wrote the organization’s executive director, Daniel Bernhard.
“This revelation is especially critical as it comes precisely as the Department of Canadian Heritage was drafting legislation that would have major impacts for Facebook.”
Monday, a spokesperson for Guilbeault said both the minister and the department would work with the committee. “Standing committees are free to initiate any study within the framework of the exercise of their mandate and to conduct their deliberations, as long as they do not go beyond the powers vested in them by the House,” Camille Gagné-raynauld wrote in an email.
In response to a letter sent by FRIENDS two weeks ago, Guilbeault’s office reiterated its commitment to taxing web giants and ensuring revenues were shared “more fairly” with Canadian media companies and producers.
Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.