Comments

1. Flea

   Tuesday 19 February 2008 at 19:29

   The Pearl Eliadis piece is absurd on too many levels to enumerate without rewriting the piece line by line.

   Suffice to say:

   If these longstanding laws were truly a threat, they would surely have diminished freedom of speech in Canada by now. Instead, after three decades, Canadians enjoy the highest levels of free speech in the world.

   The fact only two Canadian publications chose to run the Mo-toons suggests threat of prosecution or threat of violence have done their work. Even MPs are reported to have remained silent on the issue fearing for the well-being of their families. Anyone who thinks these fears are idle or overblown need only look to Theo Van Gogh. That is our future unless the fascists and their apologists are confronted firmly, in every medium and at every turn.

   I do not see this as a “freedom of speech” issue and I do not characterize it in libertarian terms. I believe this is a matter of whether or not we are going to return to laws against blasphemy at the behest of forces of reaction.