Be sure to question candidates on copyright reform

Update: The Harper Government fell in a non-confidence vote on March 25, 2011 at 2:20pm.

Later this week, the 40th Parliament will be dissolved and an election will be called.  Opposition parties are anxious to bring down the Conservative minority government, whether by voting against the budget or by a non-confidence vote for being in contempt of Parliament.

When Parliament is dissolved, every bill that has yet to be passed, including the current copyright reform bill C-32, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, will “die on the order paper”.  It will be up to the next Parliament to introduce a copyright reform bill, if they choose to do so.

This also means that copyright should become an election issue.  Whether or not you’re satisfied with bill C-32, now is the time to exercise your democratic muscle and express any concerns you may have with your (soon to be campaigning) Member of Parliament.  Be sure to question all of the candidates who are running in your riding about their views on copyright reform, digital locks and fair dealing, and compare their responses.  If you’re not satisfied with their answer, don’t vote for them.

(Interestingly, this also marks the third time that a copyright reform bill has died because of an election being called: Bill C-61 died in 2008 under the Harper minority government, and Bill C-60 died in 2005 under the Martin minority government).

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