Next week (Feb. 22-28), Freedom to Read is celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Freedom to Read is part of the Book and Periodical Council, and discusses censorship issues in Canada. The following is taken from their position statement:
“As writers, editors, publishers, book manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and librarians, we abhor arbitrary interpretations of the law and other attempts to limit freedom of expression. We recognize court judgments; otherwise, we oppose the detention, seizure, destruction, or banning of books and periodicals – indeed, any effort to deny, repress, or sanitize. Censorship does not protect society; it smothers creativity and precludes open debate of controversial issues.”
The only problem with this is that sometimes the materials that are being repressed by court decisions also limit the freedom of expression in a way that is potentially harmful to marginalized groups. For example, as Pat Califia wrote at the beginning of Forbidden Passages: Writings Banned in Canada, materials with the word “anal” are frequently prevented from crossing the border, to the detriment of information on gay safer sex practices.
Or look at Richard Warman trying to censor a student newspaper (my student newspaper, in fact) in April of last year. Or Richard Warman suing Ezra Levant. Or Ezra Levant nearly getting sued over republishing the infamous Danish cartoons — and it goes on.
Time and again, Canada has argued over whether or not it actually agrees with its own Charter: “Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: [...] freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.” And time and again, it seems the answer is a whishy-washy “sort of, if we feel like it. But I wouldn’t show my conservative grandmother [insert material here], so I guess we can restrict it just a little.”
Heading into Freedom to Read Week, it’s important to not only remember the banned materials that are now available, but also those that are still suppressed. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again: freedom of expression is also the freedom to offend. Until more people realize, and codify, that, Canada cannot be justly said to be a democratic society.