Recently, I was a panellist at the Canadian Association of Journalists conference in Calgary. The session was titled, “Local Journalism in the Age of Cutbacks.” A great headline, sure, but that’s not why I was there. I was there to talk about our $8-billion class-action lawsuit against digital advertising giants Google and Facebook.
Alongside Sotos LLP, I launched a national class-action lawsuit in 2022. I’m the representative plaintiff in a case filed in the Federal Court of Canada on behalf of all Canadian newspaper publishers, big and small, independent and chain owned. We allege that Google and Facebook have engaged in anti-competitive practices in digital advertising and siphoned billions in ad revenue from Canadian journalism.
If we really want to talk about cutbacks, then let’s talk about what’s causing them. The bleed of advertising dollars away from Canadian newsrooms and straight into the pockets of two unregulated tech giants is the reason we are all hurting. We can’t stop the drain without getting to the root of the problem. That’s what this lawsuit is about.
Our case is one of the first of its kind in the world. Countries like Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have also picked up the cause, some with their own legal action, others with groundbreaking legislation forcing Big Tech to pay for journalism.
On that panel in Calgary, I listened to a lot of “woe is me.” Stories of shrinking newsrooms. Struggles to retain talent. Frustrations over government ad policy. It was the same old tune. The media in this country has become far too comfortable living with a victim mentality.
Well, I am nobody’s victim. I’m a fighter. And it’s time our industry remembered how to fight, too. What I didn’t hear on that stage was resolve. What I didn’t hear was fire. We’ve become so used to decline that we’ve forgotten how to push back and stand tall.
We forgot that newspapers aren’t just businesses. We’re institutions. We are the watchdogs. The check and balance. The public record. And somewhere along the way, we let Silicon Valley billionaires convince us we didn’t matter anymore.
Well, I haven’t forgotten. And I haven’t given up.
I run a small-town newspaper in Crowsnest Pass, Alta. I don’t have a national platform or a multimillion-dollar budget. But I have a spine, and I’m not afraid to use it. If a small community newspaper can step up and take on the giants, then so can every publisher in this country. Because if we don’t stand up for our work, our readers and our communities, who will?
Let me remind you: Canadians still believe in us. News Media Canada found that 81 per cent of Canadians read newspapers weekly, and 63 per cent trust newspaper advertising far more than ads on Facebook or Instagram. Even young readers are returning to trusted sources. So why are we acting like we’ve already lost?
This lawsuit isn’t just about money. It’s about restoring a fair playing field. It’s about holding the powerful accountable. It’s about saying “enough.”
If one local newspaper from a mountain town in southern Alberta can take on Google and Facebook, then maybe, just maybe, all of us can fight for Canadian culture and identity.
Under the leadership of its tenacious commissioner, Matthew Boswell, the Competition Bureau of Canada is doing its job and taking Google to court. It deserves our full support and all the resources it needs to protect Canadians from tech giants tilting the field in their favour.
I am a proud, independent, second-generation community newspaper publisher, a proud Conservative, a proud Albertan, but most of all I am a very proud Canadian. This pro-coal, pro-oil, pro-gas, pro-pipeline gal has been pleasantly surprised and impressed by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s willingness and determination to get stuff done and move our economy forward and unlock our promise and potential after a decade of dithering. He, and all of us, have the power to lead the world in this fight if we choose to do so.
Let Canada be the democratic beacon in an increasingly autocratic world by standing up to Big Tech giants and safeguarding local news and our digital sovereignty.
National Post
Lisa Sygutek is the publisher of the Crowsnest Pass Herald.
