Two civil liberties lawyers hope their new book will help Canadians advocate for a freer future.
“Free Speech in Canada: A Beginner’s Guide from Ancient Roots to Current Controversies” is published by the Canadian Constitution Foundation and written by two of its lawyers, bestselling author Christine Van Geyn and former journalist Josh Dehaas.
The book educates readers on the history of rights in the Western world, landmark legal cases in Canada, and current challenges Canadians face.
The book was funded by donations to the Canadian Constitution Foundation, a nonpartisan constitutional rights group that aims to protect the rights of all Canadians.
In an interview, Dehaas told True North that because of the two writers’ experience, the writing should be “pretty snappy,” and he thinks people will enjoy it.
“It’s a short book, and it’s something that people can sit down and read in less than an hour,” he said. “It’s not meant to be like a textbook.”
He said the two wanted to write a guide for Canadians concerned with their freedom of expression, suggesting there have been a number of situations in Canada that could make people wonder where things stand.
“Maybe they heard about the freezing of bank accounts during the trucker convoy, or the (College of Psychologists of Ontario’s treatment of) Dr. Jordan Peterson or the internet censorship bills like the Online Harms Act and don’t necessarily have a lot of time to research the case law, but want to know how free speech works, and where it came from, and what the limits on those rights might be,” he said.
The book starts in ancient Greece, where Western concepts of free speech first emerged alongside democracy before it was “quickly snuffed out” and later had its renaissance. It carries through to the continued battles defenders of free speech face still today.
“The general thrust of the book is that free speech is fragile, and it is always at risk of being lost unless people push back,” Dehaas said. “It’s something that a lot of Canadians are interested in, but they don’t have all of the facts or know necessarily how their free speech rights work. So that’s what drove us to write it right now.
He said it delves into hate speech and discriminatory speech cases, which set the bounds for what the government is allowed to limit when it comes to free expression in Canada.
The book looks at landmark cases such as that of the Canada Human Rights Commission v Taylor and the R v Keegstra, which found that the state can impose reasonable limits on the freedom of expression of Canadians.
“We get into some of the risks that come with potentially putting people in jail for their words or fining them for speech that other people decide is hateful,” Dehaas said. “So the impetus was to try and explain where the law stands for people and also how they can fight back.”
He said he hopes Canadians will read the book and understand that protecting free expression is essential to democracy and that people are still allowed to express their minds on controversial issues today.
“Throughout history, the received wisdom has often proven to be wrong. That’s why we have freedom of speech.” Dehaas said. “So that we can get along with each other in a democracy and figure out how best to govern each other peacefully, and work together to build our country by expressing ourselves and discussing things.”
The 75-page book will be available on Amazon on Monday in digital and paperback formats, with physical copies costing around $10.