CFE Blog

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?

Only a few months removed from last fall’s mass cancellation of X accounts following the US election results (see James Turk’s piece on that here), it looks like we may be in for a similar exodus from META’s Facebook, Threads, and Instagram.

Canadian libraries don’t exist to coerce anyone’s beliefs or commitments. However, varying opinions about what should or should not be available in Canada’s publicly funded libraries surfaced as a constant topic in the Canadian media in 2024. I’ll point to a small sample of this coverage to make the point, as well as identify a few expressive freedom features on the 2025 landscape we can see through this library-focused lens.