This time it came out of the mouth of the prime minister.
Mark Carney danced around the question and in the end, again, gave the impression that the Liberals have no intention of killing the law that got news banned from Facebook and Instagram.
That's Bill C-18, the legislation local media would like to see scrapped so our news can appear on the Meta platforms to rebuild audience and revenues.
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The prime minister was in West Kelowna at Gorman Brothers Lumber to announce a huge aid package for the softwood lumber industry, when KelownaNow asked him, during the question and answer period, if the Liberals were looking at rescinding Bill C-18 because it hurts local media.
The example of last week's wildfire in Peachland, which closed both Highway 97 and the Okanagan Connector and prompted evacuations, was used as an example of how local news outlets couldn't post news to Facebook and Instagram to widely get information to people.
"You may not like this part of the answer," said Carney.
"One of the roles of CBC/Radio-Canada is to provide unbiased, immediate, local information, particularly in terms of situations such as you are referring to (the Peachland fire)."
However, CBC tends not to cover local news as completely and quickly as local news outlets.
"That's one of the reasons we've made the commitment to invest and reinforce and actually change the governance of CBC/Radio-Canada to ensure they are providing these essential services," added Carney.
Bill C-18 was originally introduced to force Facebook and Instagram to pay local media outlets for carrying their news links and stories on their platforms.
It was a good idea that backfired.
Instead, Meta refused to pay a cent and immediately banned news links and stories from its platforms, hurting local media with an audience cut in half and disappearing revenues based reduced audience.
In response, the federal government introduced some funding to subsidize the wages of reporters at local news outlets.
It helps, but local news organizations would rather have their bigger audiences back on Facebook and Instagram and the bolstered revenues associated with more readership.
Mark Carney, asked by @KelownaNow whether the Liberals would help get news back on Facebook, highlights his government's funding of CBC.
— KelownaNow (@KelownaNow) August 5, 2025
'One of the roles of CBC ... is to provide unbiased, immediate, local information.'
He also said he's a 'big believer' in local news. pic.twitter.com/09gFgCLRdy
Not allowed to ask a follow up question of the prime minister, KelownaNow had to make do with a backhanded compliment and vague non-answer.
"Personally, this government is a big believer in the value of what you do," said Carney.
"I'll use you as a representation of the local news and the importance of ensuring that it is disseminated as widely and quickly as possible. So, we will look for all avenues to do that. And, I understand your question and it's part of our thinking around this."
Back in May, Kelowna Liberal MP Stephen Fuhr, who was at the Gorman's announcement with the prime minister, promised to raise the question of scrapping Bill C-18.
There seems to have been no movement there.
Last month, Liberal Pacific Caucus chair Taleeb Noormohamed was in Kelowna with Fuhr and other MPs and said the federal government would prefer to negotiate a settlement with Meta rather than quash Bill C-18.
