The Latest

 

In early June, the New York Times ran a piece by Michael Powell entitled “Once a Bastion of Free Speech, the ACLU Faces an Identity Crisis.” So what’s new? The author claims that there is a schism in the American Civil Liberties Union whereby the old or “classic” civil libertarians stand up for free speech, no matter the content of that speech, while the younger or more “woke” activists want to see the organization focus on anti-racism action.

Many community groups are debating and challenging transit plans by Metrolinx, the powerful Ontario agency created to supplant municipalities in Southern Ontario.

Everything is connected, as they say.  The University of Alberta has been in the news recently for its partnerships with Chinese researchers. A Globe and Mail article in early May suggested that partnerships with China in the areas of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence might be a national security concern.

Marcellus Turner, CEO and Chief Librarian at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, and Carla Graebner, Data Services and Government Information Librarian at Simon Fraser University, are the newest members of the Centre for Free Expression Working Group on Intellectual Freedom. Turner spent the past ten years as the Executive Director and Chief Librarian at The Seattle Public Library in Seattle, Washington which, in 2020 under his leadership, was awarded the prestigious 2020 Library of the Year by Gale/Library Journal.