Bruce Pardy: You have free speech, so long as you think the right thoughts

National Post
A statue of Justice is seen outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver James Alexander Michie

A statue of Justice is seen outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver in a file photo from May 5, 2016. Jason Payne/Postmedia News

It is clear that each person has freedom of expression, as long as they think the right thoughts. According to the Court, equality means that you can argue in favor of voting for transgender people, but you cannot argue against voting for them.

Equality means that you can argue in favor of voting for transgender people, the Court wrote, but you cannot argue against voting for them. You cannot say what you think unless you think the right thing.

It should be noted that at the heart of Western legal culture is the principle that the law applies equally to everyone. That being the case, justice must be blind, according to the idea, which means that it should not matter if you are rich or poor, male or female, gay or straight, black or white. All are subject to a common set of rules. In the last 30 years, the courts and courts of Canada have rejected this idea. Headed by the Supreme Court of Canada, the equal application of the law has been supplanted by the opposite proposition: different rules must be applied to different groups to produce equal results.

The same rules for all

Clearly, there should not be different versions of equality and, in the same way, they are incompatible. In this way, if the same rules apply to everyone, different standards cannot be applied to different people. It is considered that freedom of expression does not have to make sense. You are free to express your thoughts not because they are rational or correct, but because they are yours.

Of course, freedom of expression is never absolute. “Your money or your life” is a speech, but it can also be an assault. Announcing that your colleague cheats your taxes is defamatory unless you can prove it is true, while relentlessly harassing the object of your desire with unwanted propositions can constitute harassment. But exceptions make the rule: freedom of expression does not depend on the social approval of its content. In Canada, commitment to that idea is eroding.

If you believe in freedom of expression, except for comments that are hurtful, then you do not believe in freedom of expression. “I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”, wrote Voltaire’s biographer, Evelyn Beatrice Hall, trying to summarize Voltaire’s beliefs. Voltaire could defend you, but not the Tribunal.

Source: Bruce Pardy | National Post

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