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In Parliament, Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne has introduced Bill S-210 to restrict young people’s access to sexually explicit images on the internet. The bill’s short title: Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act. The first reading of Bill S-210 occurred in the Senate on November 24, 2021. THE BILL Read the text of the bill: https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/S-210/first-reading THE BILL’S STATUS 

Freedom to Read Week — Canada’s annual celebration of the freedom to read — began on February 20 and ended on February 26, 2022. Here is another sample of the news and opinion columns that appeared in Canada during the week. REPORTAGE In Discover Weyburn in Saskatchewan, Marna McManus reports: You're free to read whatever you want - DiscoverWeyburn.com - Local news, Weather, Sports, Free Classifieds and Job Listings for the Weyburn, Saskatchewan

In British Columbia, a defamation lawsuit filed by author Steven Galloway against a woman he says falsely accused him of sexual and physical assaults can go to trial. Galloway, who was once chair of the University of British Columbia’s creative writing program, filed the lawsuit three years ago. The woman’s identity is protected by a publication ban, but she is referred to in court documents as A.B. Galloway’s lawsuit also names more than 20 other defendants.

Engaged as I am in the endless fight to protect the rights of creative professionals, I spend way too much of my time reading ridiculous claims by folks who just want free stuff. Ask any writer, musician, artist of any kind; approximately four out of every five interactions around our work involves us explaining that we can’t work for free or give away the product of our work without compensation. The pressure for free cultural product is relentless and exhausting to those who are trying to make a living in culture.