Don’t Let Them Strangle Us With Our Own Wires

A Civic Manifesto for Public Social Infrastructure

This is a proposal for a government-backed platform to offer a public option for email, announcements, and discussions.

Just like we have public education and public health, this is a proposal to carve out a space before no space exists.

How Can I Share Without Being Shared?

How can I post that I’m going to an event or that I saw something beautiful, interesting, or worth noting—without handing over my soul to do it?

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest: it’s always a Faustian bargain. A moment of connection in exchange for surveillance, manipulation, and monetization. We post, they profit. We connect, they calculate.

If the devil is the only game in town, don’t we owe people another option?

Should the City of Brampton have to use X (formerly Twitter) to tell citizens about a road closure?

Should school boards be forced to rely on Instagram to warn of a lockdown?

Is this how we want those messages to go out? Can we even trust it?

What happens when there's a commercial incentive not to share something?

When a company like 3M doesn't want you to hear that your town's water has been poisoned? What does the algorithm do with the boiling water warnings from your small-town water authority?

How much do they pay to suppress the truth?

And why is any of that possible in a democracy?

We Propose a Public Platform Built on a Civic Protocol

We propose a simple idea: that the basic right to post and communicate have a lowest common denominator people can take part in without having to enter the marketplace.

Citizenship in the digital age should come with public infrastructure to match it. That every Canadian should have a lifelong digital identity, a secure civic mailbox, a way to post, communicate, receive services, and participate—without being owned, tracked, or monetized by anyone.

We propose a platform designed, operated, and governed by our democratic institutions. One that is:

Accountable to Parliament

Open in standards

Permanent in design

Grounded in real civic identity

That this platform is built atop an open protocol is not a point of differentiation—it is its core virtue. Like email or the web, it means longevity, interoperability, and public ownership.

This will be:

Your public ID: name@canada.ca

Your civic dashboard: for taxes, passports, alerts, and more

Your place to speak: verified, real-name, identity-secure social posting

Your connection to others: posts, groups, messages, under your control

Governed by Canada, with standards open to the world

We are building a platform to serve the people. And we are making sure it is founded on open standards that serve everyone.

This Isn’t a Proposal. It’s Job One.

If we don’t build this, we will inherit the worst timeline.

From Dorsey to Musk, we’ve already seen what happens when a public square becomes a billionaire’s toy. It only gets darker from here. We’re not trending toward decentralization. We’re trending toward Truth Social.

That’s why we build this. Not as a gesture. Not as a proof of concept. But as Job One.

We must build a secret garden:

Safe from commerce

Safe from bro-code fascism

Safe from the panopticon of outrage

And to the first objection—no, this does not replace any platform. In fact, it takes the pressure off them. They seem uncomfortable with the responsibility we’ve placed on them, so let them be 100% about the dollar. Once there is an alternative, they can build any kind of gladiator academy they like.

This is about government bonds—and what the world would be without them.

We saw in 2009 how something that looked like a safe harbor—mortgages—had become twisted and dangerous. In that moment, there was nowhere to put your money that wasn’t distorted by greed and leverage, except government bonds.

We ask no less for our digital lives. To have at least one stable, civic space immune to corruption by design.

What Are We Proposing?

Starting with your government identity—like an alias for your social insurance number—this is meant to give you a place to receive your mail and post your thoughts. It is a place for people, businesses, and government departments.

We are building public digital infrastructure that is as real and foundational as roads and water pipes.

But instead of transporting cars or water, it carries identity, communication, and civic presence.

We are not just proposing a platform.

We are proposing a platform that rests on a protocol—as essential to its mission as HTTP is to the web.

This protocol will define:

What a post is

What a friendship is

What a group is

What moderation looks like

How emergency alerts are transmitted

How civic identity is verified

It will be:

Open: Any government can implement it. Any developer can build on it.

Federated: Nations can interoperate. Citizens can connect across borders.

Permanent: No terms of service can revoke your existence.

Accountable: Every identity is real. Every post is yours. Every action has traceable authorship.

The first national implementation will be in Canada.

But the standard—the Civic Protocol—will belong to the world.

This is the backbone of the digital public square.

This is the future of responsible online presence.

This is how we stop being tenants in a house we paid to build.

How It Would Work for Canadians

Every Canadian would be issued a civic identity at birth, tied to their existing government records—like a social insurance number but modernized for public life. This identity would include a secure, verified email address (e.g., firstname123456@canada.ca) and a login to access a public digital platform hosted and maintained by the Government of Canada.

For Individual Citizens

At birth: An account is created automatically. As the child grows, parents or guardians manage access and visibility.

As teens: Platform access expands gradually. Education modules, digital literacy, and school integration prepare them for civic participation.

At age of majority: Full access is granted. Posting, messaging, connecting, and accessing government services all happen here.

Privacy and control: Users manage who can see their posts. Content visibility is configurable by friend group, civic region, or public broadcast.

For Businesses and Nonprofits

Registered Canadian businesses and nonprofits are issued verified civic identities.

These accounts are used to post public announcements, respond to local civic issues, and connect with residents.

No advertising tools. No algorithmic reach manipulation. Communication happens on equal civic footing.

For Provinces and Territories

Each province and territory operates its own content stream within the federal structure.

They manage health alerts, education policies, and provincial program announcements—all tagged and archived for transparency.

Local governance tools can plug into the platform’s back end to customize delivery for specific audiences.

For Municipalities

Cities, towns, and villages use the platform to post alerts, events, closures, and emergency info.

Municipal employees may post under verified department identities (e.g., @cityofottawa/parks).

Integration with local services allows posting to update in sync with existing tools (e.g., garbage pickup schedules, road closures).

For Social Institutions and Stakeholders

Schools, universities, unions, libraries, and civic clubs all receive verified identities.

They can manage circles of followers (e.g., students, parents, members) with targeted communications.

Content posted by these institutions is permanently archived, searchable, and immune to the whims of ad algorithms or engagement hacks.

How This Extends to the World

The Canadian civic platform is not just a digital service. It is built on an open, shareable foundation: the Civic Protocol—a public standard designed for replication, adaptation, and interoperability.

An Open Standard, Open Source by Default

The underlying software and protocols will be open source, licensed for civic use and freely available to any government, academic institution, or nonprofit that wishes to build their own implementation.

Every post, every group, every message, every relationship is defined by a shared schema.

Core infrastructure—from identity verification to content moderation metadata—will be visible, inspectable, and adaptable.

A Global Protocol, Grown Through Civic Consensus

Like the internet's foundational technologies (HTTP, SMTP, DNS), the Civic Protocol will evolve through a transparent, international standards body—a civic version of ISO.

Canada will provide initial leadership, but not control.

Competing implementations will remain interoperable through required baseline compliance.

Federation Without Fragmentation

Countries that adopt the Civic Protocol can build their own platforms but still connect through shared standards.

Like email or passports, nations can negotiate mutual recognition and data-sharing agreements for civic participation.

Foreign Access to Canada’s Civic Platform

Foreigners can apply for verified civic access (e.g., user.visitor@canada.ca). These accounts come with limited permissions and stronger monitoring.

Alternatively, users can access the system in guest mode—able to follow and view public posts but not post unless invited or verified.

Civic Friendship Across Borders

Canadian users can follow foreign friends, invite them into groups, and collaborate—within the bounds of moderation and protocol compliance.

Commercial Platforms Welcome—Under Civic Rules

Any company can build a Civic Protocol-compliant platform.

But the rules are civic, not commercial. If they want to compete, they build better tools—not walled gardens.

Real Identity Means Real Accountability

It’s easy to threaten, harass, or dox when you’re wearing a mask. This system ends that.

Here, every identity is verified. You are always findable.

Think of how driver’s licenses work across borders. I can drive in New York with my Ontario license. But if I don’t pay a New York toll, my home province will suspend my license. The privilege of interoperation requires accountability.

That same principle applies here.

You have free speech. But you also have civic responsibility.

Extending the Franchise Beyond Governments

Much of the world may not adopt this system. But for those willing to prove who they are, there is room.

A person in China who wants a Civic Protocol identity can apply. If they provide valid documentation, they can get a monitored, lower-trust account. Like an international driver’s license from a non-aligned country, they can participate—with the understanding that their privileges are provisional and monitored.

These global accounts are not under Canada’s jurisdiction. They are governed jointly by the participating nations in the protocol alliance. Each country decides who they accept. But the shared system means real interoperability with real checks.

A Platform for Life

From the moment of birth, a Canadian citizen’s civic identity is created.

As they grow, their access grows with them—first with parental guidance, then with school-based learning and digital civics.

By the time they reach adulthood, their civic identity is fully formed—not a profile to be sold or mined, but a tool for participation, connection, and expression.

This is a platform designed to carry you from childhood to elderhood.

Not as a product.

But as a public good.

It Has to Be Us

We face unique challenges as Canadians—and we bring special strengths.

We are a country of groups: provinces, municipalities, languages, lineages. We were many before we were one. And we were founded on the belief that everyone could belong, as long as no one was left out.

We have a strong Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We have incredible physical distances. We were early pioneers of remote education because we had no choice.

We built the tallest radio tower in the world because we needed to reach far.

We invented time zones because we needed a shared clock to cross the continent by rail. That leadership made the world run better.

We value the marketplace, but we don’t worship it. Our public traditions run deep.

Our next blue helmet is digital.

Our next peacekeeping mission is civic.

And Canada—Canada the Good—can lead.