Trudeau advises against associating a boy’s suicide with government actions in the context of the Online Harms Bill.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserts that it is inappropriate to establish a connection between government actions and the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy in British Columbia, who took his own life last month after falling victim to online sextortion.

During today’s question period, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh raised the issue of the boy’s death in Prince George, B.C., while inquiring about when the Liberal government plans to introduce long-anticipated legislation aimed at addressing online harms.

Trudeau initially pledged to bring forth legislation addressing hate speech, terrorist content, and sexual abuse material during the 2019 federal election campaign. Despite making a similar commitment in the 2021 contest, specifying that a re-elected Liberal government would present the bill within its first 100 days, it has yet to materialize.

Today, Trudeau informed Members of Parliament that the government must find a delicate equilibrium between upholding freedom of expression and addressing the concerns of communities experiencing “discrimination and marginalization.”

The prime minister also advised against linking the tragedy in Prince George to the actions or inactions of any specific government. In French, he emphasized the inappropriateness of establishing such a connection.