Most people paying attention to social media, legacy media, general discussions on various podcasts, and elsewhere would be hard pressed to argue that free speech is not in serious danger in Canada if they are being honest. One of the big developments that greatly diminished free speech in recent years was the subsidizing of the legacy media by the Trudeau Liberal government in 2018. There had been previous financial benefits accorded to media with tax credits and other measures, but the massive amount of the subsidy ramped up astronomically in 2018 and continues to increase to the point that it is estimated that up to 50 per cent of a legacy media employee’s salary is now covered by taxpayer subsidy.
There is no question that the legacy media was in big financial trouble prior to this subsidy regime, largely because their longstanding source of revenue, advertising, was getting diverted to the large internet companies. Virtually all industries have been affected by technological change over the years, yet they are typically either forced to adapt to the changes or go bankrupt, not be bailed out to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars. The Liberals’ giant subsidy regime to mainstream media has meant this industry hasn’t bothered to do much to adapt as their obsolete business model is being propped up by we taxpayers. The current model will eventually collapse, and the subsidies just prolong the agony.
When this subsidy regime was first put in place, many prominent journalists claimed that of course this would not affect their coverage one bit, and they would continue to be critical of the government when appropriate. Yet, several years later, we find that the vast majority of legacy media has become absurdly supportive of a clearly incompetent federal Liberal government that continues to preside over a Canada that is declining both economically and societally. Virtually the only legacy media outfit that has held the Liberal government to account is the Postmedia chain, which is now under attack, supposedly due to its “foreign ownership.” You can be sure that if Postmedia bent the knee to Liberals like so many other legacy media outlets have done, there would be no current attack on Postmedia regardless of their ownership structure. Such is the sad state of most media in Canada today. This is a major strike against free speech.
Our education system is another appalling example of the decline of freedom of speech. Examples abound of how highly biased and subjective principles such as critical race theory. gender identity and other leftist political theories are promoted in classrooms as early as primary school, and other viewpoints are non-existent. At the post-secondary school level, students who favour a more conservative viewpoint speak about how they are afraid of expressing their opinions in class, lest their marks suffer or they be socially ostracized. This is a total outrage in a place where different points of view used to be celebrated as a means of helping students learn how to think, problem solve and evaluate varying opinions based on fact, not ideology.
This author ran up against another interesting, related development recently. The business group I head up, the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses Canada (CCMBC), ran a billboard campaign last November and December with the message “Ottawa is more detrimental to Canadians than Washington D.C.” We canvassed a number of billboard companies to see where billboards were available and the costs involved. One company that we had used for a campaign about a year earlier told us that they were taking money from the Liberal federal government now, so could not carry our message. We were shocked. In addition to the legacy media, it appeared that the Liberal government was also making sure they spent money to co-opt other means of communication such as billboard companies. How appalling, and yet another blow to free speech. To add insult to injury, this is all happening with the spending of our tax dollars, which could surely be used more productively on things like actually helping Canadians, not just boosting the federal Liberals’ fortunes.
There are Liberal pieces of legislation now being proposed that would have a further negative impact on free speech. The notable example is Bill C-9, the so-called Combatting Hate Act. All of these types of legislation are given a name geared to elicit support, while not being especially honest about what the bill is actually doing. Canada already has quite stringent hate laws, which are frequently not enforced as we see with the terrorist-supporting hate fests on our streets these days. If they were enforced, there should be no need for any further legislation. What C-9 does is enable government to decide what is hate, which opens the door for all kinds of free speech restrictions. These types of bills have been a hallmark of the current Liberal government, which clearly does want to limit free speech no matter how they claim otherwise.
Anyone looking at social media recently would have to notice the clear, concerted and over-the-top campaign to vilify Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and lionize Prime Minister Mark Carney despite his track record to date of doing almost nothing in about a year as prime minister. This social media attack is obviously very organized as many Liberal social media accounts all come out with the same criticism of Poilievre, or positive comment about Carney, at exactly the same time. Liberal central command is evidently sending out their orders on a regular basis as to which themes should be promoted.
There is no doubt these Liberal trolls are being compensated for their ongoing and relentless promotion of Liberal themes, likely again with our tax dollars. Many of the messages are quite sleazy, accusing Poilievre and his wife of things that are completely untrue and personal. The ironic part is that if Pierre Poilievre was actually as incompetent as they are trying to imply, the Liberals should want him to remain Conservative leader. This barrage of dishonest insults surely means Liberals are actually quite worried about Poilievre and his growing support among Canadians as shown in public opinion polls.
All of these issues are examples of how free speech is on the decline in Canada, and how much of our communication is being controlled by government, at our expense. That being said, it doesn’t seem most Canadians view this as a major problem. Why should we care? After all, we’ve been incredibly lucky in Canada with a decent economy over the years, a relatively peaceful country, geographically distant from most of the hot spots of the world and enjoying much of our good fortune from being next door to the most dynamic economy in the world. Canadians have also enjoyed more or less free speech for decades, and now most of us take it for granted. But current trends are very worrisome for Canada’s future.
A good way to understand the important of free speech is to speak with people who lacked freedom for significant periods of their lives and then regain it again. Many Canadians who originate from countries that were part of the USSR prior to its collapse are a great source of information about how dismal it is to live without free speech and how it limits personal growth, economic success and a productive society. Look at the joyous celebrations among Venezuelans currently, who hope their long suffering under punitive socialist regimes that limited free speech and severely punished those who challenged the authorities, to see the value of free speech. And look at Iran, where people are risking their lives in an attempt to achieve a freer society with free speech as a key component.
Free speech is the foundation of many types of freedoms – freedom of religion, free markets, freedom of expression and even democracy itself. We Canadians have been very spoiled over the years, but we must become alarmed over the slow erosion of our freedoms that are now taking place and threaten to reverse our success as a country and restrict our lives in many unacceptable ways. Freedoms lost are very difficult to regain, so it is well worth fighting to retain them. After all, who would ever have thought that George Orwell wasn’t writing fiction?
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
