A Victory For Freedom Of Speech

The framers of the U.S. Constitution wrote that government "shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech." Although these words were written in the context of the American Revolution, the right to freely express political ideas is widely accepted as the backbone of any democracy. Thus, we value that whether a person agrees or disagrees with a position advocated by others, freedom of speech in Canada also cannot be easily suppressed despite the attempts of governments to do so.

Indeed, in the debate between freedom of political speech and government attempts to try to limit that fundamental freedom through provisions like third party advertising restrictions or other provisions, I am always reminded of the following words from the movie The American President, where fictional President Andrew Shepherd said: