The Senate on Thursday evening passed Bill C-18 with amendments. The legislation will now return to the House of Commons to consider the changes. (The Logic)

Talking point: The bill would force the operators of online platforms like Facebook and Google to bargain for or be arbitrated into deals with individual or grouped publishers whose content is posted to their sites. The Liberal government says it’s essential to keeping journalism going; other lawmakers call it a link tax, or worse. During Thursday’s debate, Sen. Paula Simons called C-18 “not a bill that saves Canadian media, but a bill that leaves us impotent and at the mercy of the whims of Alphabet Inc. and Meta, two slightly sclerotic giants.” (The Logic’s CEO David Skok has spoken in favour of the legislation at House and Senate committees, while other publishers oppose it.) Still, the Liberals have enough opposition votes to get the legislation over the line. The government will likely strip out one amendment, which would assign a value to news content ahead of the negotiations the bill requires.