Sarah Chung is a former immigration and foreign service officer, economist, teacher, Olympian, and PhD candidate, Sarah is currently running this election in Ontario's Markham-Unionville riding for the Let's Not Forget About Free Speech This Election
For supporters of free speech in Canada, this year has certainly been a nervy one. From Prime Minister Trudeau’s signing of the “Christchurch Call to Action” and the “Digital Charter” against “hate speech”, to the Justice and Human Rights Committee’s draconian recommendations for combatting “online hatred”, 2019 has presented the biggest potential for rolling back Canadian speech rights to the pre-Section 13-days.
The reinstatement of that law, in fact, which to remind had barred online speech that could expose identifiable groups to mere contempt, had been front-and-centre on the Justice Committee’s recommendations-list. Going by Andrew Scheer’s treatment of fellow MP Michael Cooper following that Committee’s hearing on the issue and his general silence on the Liberals’ speech-restriction push this election, concerned Canadians have much reason to be on edge.
- Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Multiculturalism has gone well ahead of the assimilation process in Canada and it has to be made an issue this election. Public opinion polls—see here, here, and here—show most Canadians agree and want less immigration and more integration for the country.
This includes many immigrants like myself. Neil Bissoondath, Salim Mansur and former B.C. Liberal premier Ujjal Dosanjh, for instance, have for years chastised Ottawa’s elevation of multiculturalism above integration.