Government by Citizen Preference.

Freedom of Informef Choice for every adult citizen is not only desirable but essential to preserve the very essence of democracy, and it is entirely possible in the Digital Age.

I recommend the Law Bytes podcast.

Recently, I listened to several episodes of Law Bytes, a podcast with host Michael Geist.

Bills C-11 and C-18 were the focus of his attention. His guests provided the background stories that explain all of the fuss this past year about Canada’s news and information sector,  the public policies regarding the legacy media bailout,  and the federal Heritage Minister’s efforts to coerce Facebook and Google to subsidize Canada’s obsolete legacy news organizations and institutions.

Freedom of Informed Choice in the Digital Age.

In March, I published a “citizen white paper” called Digital Direct Democracy - A Libertarian Antidote to Digital Communism, a Kindle ebook available on Amazon.

In it, I offered a technology solution - an online Citizen Preferences Registry - that will enable every adult Canadian to register his or her desire to opt-in or opt-out of public policies.

The purpose is to legally exempt citizens from paying the taxes and complying with the policies and regulations of which they disapprove.

The example I used was Climate Change and all of the taxes and regulations that are associated with it. In a truly democratic society, no one should pay for, or comply with, those policies if they disagree with the premises upon which they were created and enforced.

Other potential applications.

The same Citizen Preferences Registry could be used for bills C-11 and C-18. If Canadian citizens and/or business owners prefers to opt-out of compliance to requirements imposed by the federal government, then they…

… should be able to exercise their Freedom of Informed Choice guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and register their opt-out status.

Any tax collector or regulatory enforcement officer who wishes to know this status can readily check the Registry from a mobile device.

A democratic choice for CBC funding.

One practical application for this direct democracy approach is the use of the Registry for funding the CBC. Either convert CBC’s funding to a subscription model (preferred option) or use the Citizen Preferences Registry to authorize the tax authorities to charge a tax that is equivalent of a CBC subscription fee while offering an equivalent tax credit for those citizens who have Registered an opt-out preference.

The size of the tax, and tax credit, can be calculated per capita using the total amount of funds paid the federal government to the CBC in the prior budget year to cover all of its operating expenses including salaries and benefits.

The Citizen Preferences Registry has enormous potential.

There are many application possibilities for the Citizen Preferences Registry which can enable citizens to opt-out of specific government programs. Every Canadian should have the ability to reduce the portions of the high cost of living that are attributed to taxes and compliance with undesired regulations.

I could identify many that are appropriate to my personal preferences, but only you can name the opportunities that match your preferences and priorities. This is the true nature of the Freedom of Informed Choice that Digital Age technologies can offer to everyone.

SWOT+ Analysis.

The Digital Direct Democracy ebook offers a start at analyzing the Citizen Preferences Registry proposal for it's strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The (+) denotes the special challenges that arise when attempting to implement a new idea within the authority jurisdictions of public institutions and the special interest stakeholders therein. These incumbents hold enormous power, but not omnipotent power.

The buck stops with out citizens. Unfortunately, this proposal will never be realized until the majority of Canadians elect a majority of federal MPs who are fully committed to passing a Bill for the Citizen Preferences Registry. In addition, we must ensure that it is designed, implemented and operated OUTSIDE of the federal bureaucracy far from the potential for tampering by power people within the Deep State.

Canada is our country, NOT one ruled by a World Government.

China is creating a digital economony and governance structure based of “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland seem to be following China’s lead with the support of the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Health Organization.

We have the unprecedented opportunity to create a “Democracy with Canadian characteristics”, and to employ the Citizen Preferences Registry as a powerful first step towards achieving that goal. Unfortunately, we currently have the wrong people in leadership positions for this to succeed.

An informed voting public is the key.

The onus must be placed on the voting public for acting to preserve and protect whatever remains of democracy. They must choose and empower the right leaders who can fulfill the promise of “Democracy with Canadian characteristics”.

Only the Will of the People can exercise their Freedoms of Informed Choice to choose the best leaders and representative for this purpose at the election polls. They key word is “Informed” - THIS is the major challenge!

Bills C-11 and C-18 are examples of the obstacles that the federal power elites have systematically put in place to prevent out citizens from understanding “how the sausage is made” in the corridors of power in this country.

For now, platforms like Substack and Rumble are outside the scope of these Bills, but how long will it take before they too are in the scope’s cross hairs?

There is no rest for the wicked is a popular expression. The federal Liberals have been “busy beavers” trying to restrict our freedoms of speech, association, the press and even our ability to think and make choices for ourselves. Are they the “wicked” in this saying?