HOW TIMES CHANGE — Flash back to a year ago, and major internet platforms used every day by Canadians looked a lot different. ELON MUSK hadn’t closed the deal on buying Twitter or rebranded it to X or started monkeying around with it in an agonizing how-bad-can-it-get-before-the-politics-junkies-leave experiment. The government had yet to pass any new laws on regulating internet platforms. Facebook still allowed the sharing of news (and just like with the Phoenix pay system fiasco, its reaction to Bill C-18 passing led to entirely predictable unintended consequences during Canada’s worst-ever wildfire season that had played out first in Australia). Podcasters weren’t yet dismayed and ready to start an open revolt against the CRTC, Canada’s communications-sector regulator, over new streaming regulations under Bill C-11. Microsoft hadn’t yet started using AI search with Bing. Just give it a little more time. Things could get stranger. — T-minus 2 months & change: 74 days, to be exact, until the C-18 deadline of Dec. 19. That’s when the Liberal government’s online news act takes full effect. And big platforms that share news links face the prospect of mandatory arbitration to fund Canadian publishers. It would be the date Google has circled as a hard stop on news if its concerns aren’t addressed. So far, they are not, as the Globe pointed out this week. It’s one thing for the government if Meta pulls out of news sharing, but it’s another if Google does. — Searching for a fix: Google confirmed to Playbook it remains unimpressed with the draft regulations. So much so, that the government might even need to go back to the legislative drawing board to get the company on board. Otherwise, it sees itself potentially being held ransom by an expansive group of publishers with no cap on its financial liability. — Media lines: It’s not just that it’s “unworkable” for Google — it would be for any company. — Show the cards: The government has yet to publish stakeholder submissions, but will “in due time once initial review is completed,” an official from Heritage said. But some groups have already made theirs public online, such as Unifor. Meta notably didn’t submit any recommendations in the process, since it pulled out of news sharing altogether, and has said for months nothing in the regulations would fix its concerns. — Perma-optimist: For her part, Heritage Minister PASCALE ST-ONGE said the government aims to propose its final regulations “shortly” after considering all the submissions. And she’s not blinking. “I still have confidence that we will come to an agreement with Google,” St-Onge told reporters in French on Wednesday. “The channels of communication are open.” St-Onge may just escape a committee grilling until the next shoe drops. The Commons heritage committee learned Thursday that a hearing with the minister is still nowhere in sight on their calendar. — Still to come: The Liberals’ long-promised online harms bill, which would really turn up the political heat on the heritage file, is still TBA. — Shots fired: Conservative MP RACHAEL THOMAS’ motion to study the “sneaky” CRTC move to register podcasters under the government’s new online streaming rules failed on the floor Thursday, with Liberal MP LISA HEPFNER calling it an “attempt to relitigate C-11.” Did someone forward Ottawa Playbook your way? Click here to sign up for your own edition. It’s free! | 
