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OTTAWA — The idea that crises bring opportunity as well as danger is becoming trite.

But it doesn’t make it less true.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or John Ivison: Liberals should follow the French lead and force tech giants to pay for news content Back to video

Canadian officials are intrigued by what is happening in France and Australia, where governments have moved with alacrity to take measures aimed at forcing Google and Facebook to share advertising dollars generated locally with domestic publishers.

Competition authorities in both countries are devising a new payment for content regime, so that the social media giants pay for the news stories that help drive traffic on their sites.

One Canadian government source said the measures are being studied to see if they could work here.

The Liberals should stiffen their spines and follow the lead of the French and Aussies.