17th Century puritanism has come back to life in the Alberta Government. Last week, its Minister of Education, Demetrios Nicolaides signed a Ministerial Order that is jaw-dropping.
Concerned that some Alberta school libraries have books that are too sexually explicit, he decided to solve the problem.
Leading Canadian legal and human rights scholars released an open letter today calling on the Regional Municipality of York to reinstate a long-time member of its Paramedic Services fired for a Facebook comment deploring the Government of Israel’s bombing of Iran and its killing of journalists, municipal and health care workers, and fellow first responders in Gaza.
Municipalities across Ontario are being pressured by lobby groups to pass so-called “bubble zone” bylaws to prevent legal protests they do not like. Such bylaws do two things. First, they prohibit already illegal behaviour like violence, threats of violence, preventing access to buildings, and harassment on public property (streets, sidewalks, parks) within a certain distance of designated infrastructure, such as religious centres, school buildings, hospitals, and childcare facilities. Second, they prohibit legal free expression on public property within the restricted zone.
