CFE Blog

On Monday, May 26th, 2025, Alberta Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides announced that the government was bringing in new rules to ensure only "age-appropriate" books are available in school libraries in the province.

I recently returned from a visit to Mexico, staying for a few days near the Zocalo, the historic centre of Mexico City. Seeing this part of the city was a significant challenge. The great square that is the Zocalo, as well as most of the streets feeding into it, were blocked by hundreds of tents. The tents were strung up between buildings and covered by large tarpaulins, protecting the thousands of people in the tents from the intense heat and the occasional rain. After we left, the protesters marched on the airport, finally receiving international media coverage. Who are these people?

Supporters of the recently enacted bubble zone by-law in Toronto argue that the law is necessary to protect individuals, who are entering and leaving places such as synagogues and religious schools, from harassment and intimidation by protestors. While very little was said in these debates about the protection of “captive audiences” from speech they find objectionable, this concern is, I think, implicit in the claim that the speech of protestors, and more particularly pro-Palestinian protestors, is harmful. 

On 11 May 2024, in the predawn hours, members of the Edmonton Police Service walked onto the campus at the University of Alberta dressed in riot gear to execute the direction of the University of Alberta’s president, Bill Flanagan, that they clear away a Palestinian solidarity encampment that had been set up just two days before. Flanagan’s choice to exercise coercive force against the protestors, whose encampment was peaceful, so outraged the University of Alberta community that there were numerous calls for Flanagan’s resignation.

Canada’s Freedom to Read Week (FTRW), an annual event inspiring us to think about and confirm our commitment to intellectual freedom, takes place from February 23 to March 1, 2025. 

Valentine’s Day has arrived, that heart-shaped holiday that distills love into a weird brew of compulsory couplehood, performative romance, and decaying flowers. Thankfully, the day has been reimagined to honour a broader spectrum of human connection, with celebrations like Palentine, Galentine, and Broentine. But what about self-love and pleasure?