A Brief History of Freedom of Speech in Canada

So how did we get so very lucky in Canada?  How did we inherit the most valuable of gifts alongside democracy – freedom of speech?

A Legacy of Liberty

It’s thanks to the long tradition of free expression in Canada and the Western world at large that we now have it enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Contrary to what some believe, not all cultures desire what we understand as free speech, just as every nation does not aspire to Western liberal democracy. 

Free speech is not absolute in Canada. One cannot incite hatred against groups or individuals. Most people agree that this is a reasonable limit.

Free speech advocates rightly point out that the media landscape is concentrated in too few private hands, limiting free speech. Some also call out ‘cancel culture’ and ‘political correctness’ which can (at times) stifle genuine open debate. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, we have free speech, and we enjoy freedoms in a way that billions of people today do not. That alone is worth celebrating every day.

Around the world laws exist that make it a serious offense to speak or even tweet freely. Criticizing state institutions like the government, the military, monarchs and heads of state can land you in jail or worse. On the religious front, there are harsh blasphemy laws, laws against apostasy, atheism or religious affiliation. And there are laws against independent publishing and so on. The list is long.  

Canada’s political and legal system was inherited and influenced by the two founding colonies, the British (Common law) and the French (Civil Law). In terms of political systems and rule of law, this was a stroke of good fortune. Both these cultures having been infused with enlightenment values already had (relatively speaking) by confederation a well-developed culture of free speech. Political cartooning for example, still banned or heavily censored in many parts of the world today, was active in England in the early 1700s.  

The right to speak freely without fear of arrest was painstakingly acquired, incrementally, over millennia. Prior to the rise of civilizations, when our ancestors were hunters and gatherers for hundreds of thousands of years, anthropologists tell us that we likely enjoyed free speech within egalitarian societies. With the rise of complex hierarchical societies and civilization, free speech was suppressed, and has ever since, consistently been supressed in one way or another. Rulers have almost always attempted to crush dissent and criticism. The idea that you can disagree and debate vocally has always been the exception rather than the rule historically, and still today much of the world still suppresses open dissent.  

The Ancient Roots of Free Speech

The origins of free speech came down to us from Ancient Athens, where over 2500 years ago, the concept of parhessia(uninhibited speech) emerged, empowering citizens to publicly debate laws and criticize political systems. This was perhaps the most consequential of all events in Western Civilization. It’s no coincidence that with the Greek concepts of parhessia and isegoria (equality of speech) democracy was born.    

 

The Athenian golden age was not to last of course, but those ideas made it into the Roman Republic where libertas (free speech) was an integral and valued virtue of Roman citizenship. The (elite) citizen was free to speak, debate and criticize (as Cicero’s great speeches demonstrate). Although free speech was not absolute, it was still remarkable.  Once again, the freedom to speak freely largely ended with the demise of the Roman Republic and the transition to Imperial Rome under Augustus.  

The Enlightenment and the English Civil War

It’s in England that the idea of free speech was legally codified approximately 1600 years after the end of the Roman Republic. 

This happened thanks to the enlightenment philosophers. And while credit cannot be given solely to one individual – great men stand on the shoulders of giants; John Milton’s seminal work, Areopagitica stands as a landmark free speech document.

Areopagatica was published in 1644 during the English Civil War. The importance of this foundational work cannot be understated. Milton argued that censorship was patronizing, and an insult to free people. Some of his key ideas included the ideas that:

* Shielding people from error makes people and society intellectually weak.

* Exposure to different ideas and even bad ones sharpen the mind.

* Censorship stifles creativity, and truth only emerges when fully tested against falsehoods.  

By 1689 the English Bill of Rights legally granted free speech to parliament.

Nordic Influence and Modern Parliaments

But we need to also credit the Vikings who invaded Britain, Ireland and France. The Viking thing (assembly) was the direct precursor to both the Icelandic Althing (which is the oldest surviving parliament) and the Westminster Parliamentary model in use in the UK and Canada. Nordic culture that valued open discussion (within societal norms) and communal decision making in assemblies certainly influenced the Western world. By the 18^th century, the Swedes and the Danes in particular were promoting free speech principles. Today the Nordic countries consistently score the highest rankings globally in term of democracy and freedom of expression.

The English Civil War, the French Revolution, and the American Revolution (where the first written constitutional guarantee for free speech was created in 1791) were hard fought for and violent. But its thanks to the brave men and women of those times, and on the right side of history, that we can govern ourselves and freely and openly debate.

The Canadian Experience

By the time of Canadian Confederation, Canada had been heavily influenced and shaped by all these events, and the culture of liberty and free speech had taken firm root. Free speech protections developed gradually. In 1937, Alberta’s Social Credit government attempted to muzzle the press with its “Accurate News and Information Act.” The Supreme Court struck it down in 1939, affirming that open public discussion was essential to democracy.

In 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrined freedom of thought, opinion, expression, and the press under section 2(b).

2 Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

The Privilege of Free Expression

Since recorded history began, only a few brief moments of free speech have existed, and even then, only for a minority of humans. Books remain at the vanguard of freedom of expression. As long as they exist and can circulate freely, they will continue to spread ideas, challenge power, and illuminate truth.

If you wish to hold a tangible piece of that legacy, see Milton's Areopagitica and of Education, edited by George H. Sabine (AHM Publishing, 1951), an enduring defence of free expression and the right to think freely.