Say Anything Blog

It’s still conditional speech, not free speech.  I don’t know that facing prosecution for disseminating ideas is any sort of “martyrdom”, either.
I have yet to see any factual refutation of anything that Steyn wrote.

If life doesn’t begin at conception, why do they call it birth control?

Oh come off it Mike.  That these commissions even exist shows there’s a problem.  Steyn et. al. weren’t just looking for martydom, jackass.  They were pointing out very real problems with freedom of speech in your country.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Sure, free speech is off of life support, but only if one doesn’t cross the undefined “extreme nature” threshold.

In reality, simply writing an opinion that a protected group doesn’t like is enough to land one with enormous legal bills to defend what is, essentially, free speech.

So, nice try but no cigar, Mike.

In the end, we’ll never know if these are your real opinions, since you’re a Canadian who doesn’t have free speech. Your system is broken.

To be truthful, it wouldn’t bother me too much if the Commissions didn’t handle cases like this as I prefer obnoxious and hateful opinions be confronted in wide open debate rather than a quasi judicial setting. That said, nobody with half a brain expected Macleans magazine to lose the case and the posturing of some writers and bloggers who suggested that free speech in Canada was under assault really was just that...posturing.

It’s true that speech isn’t as free in Canada as it is in America but most Canadians don’t lose much sleep over it. I’m sympathetic to the view that any restriction on speech is too much but in practical terms Canadians feel well served in this area.

"The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced if the nation doesn’t want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”
Cicero, 55 BC

...but in practical terms Canadians
feel well served in this area.

Well, as long as they “feel” that way…

If life doesn’t begin at conception, why do they call it birth control?