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According to the US Supreme Court in the recent case of Janus v. American Federation of State Employees, an individual’s free speech is restricted when she is required to pay dues (or ‘agency fees’) to a union, even when the union is using those dues to support collective bargaining. Alito J.

Claims that the state has improperly or unjustifiably compelled individuals to speak, contrary to s. 2(b) of the Charter (freedom of expression), have recently been made in two cases.

The last time I actually marched in a protest was a Toronto Day of Action organized in resistance to Ontario’s “Common Sense Revolution” back in the 90s. I still have Super 8 film footage of that day, showing happy, angry, determined, crowds at the march’s gathering point near the lake. I recall huge puppet masks depicting government figures of the day. I remember a sign saying “Mike Harris Eats British Beef” – it was the days of the Mad Cow scare, you know.  

Good whistleblower protection could have prevented Phoenix, argues David Hutton. Calling the project an “incomprehensible failure,” Auditor General Michael Ferguson’s recent report on Phoenix describes not just a litany of outrageously bad and irresponsible decisions, but a stunning level of dishonesty among the senior executives responsible. For years—right from the start of the project—they knowingly hid important information and misled their superiors, concealing serious problems and risks. Here are just two examples: