Democracy and free speech go hand in hand
Re: “Bill C-10 is an assault on our freedoms”
I applaud Cristina Adam’s recent letter on Bill C-10. Because her parents fled communist oppression during World War II, she understands that “Freedom of speech is an important pillar of democracy.” She warns that when communists take away freedom of speech, that all the rest of our rights and freedoms will soon follow. And when they are gone, we will never get them back.
Adam correctly points out that “we already have strong protections against slander/hate crime within the criminal code,” so we don’t need any more laws to address that. And as for misinformation or disinformation, she believes as I do, that it is “more effective and enduring” to counter with “reason and logic” or even “satire and ridicule” than it is to just shut people up. The truth is never afraid of debate.
So, I agree with Cristina Adam that we cannot let Trudeau sneak in Bill C-10 while we are kept distracted with COVID, just as he did with gun legislation last year. For obvious reasons, dictators have always suppressed free speech and grabbed the guns first, before seizing control. So we must vote out the communists at the next federal election or we will lose that right too. It’s long past the time to defend democracy and the right to speak our minds.
David Work
Lake Cowichan