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cjfe
The journalists that pressured the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression into censorship should be ashamed of jeopardizing their work.
It had said "admitting Trump for any occasion, summit or state visit presents a threat to Canadian values of pluralism and inclusion."
Forget the election debate over budget deficits and tolerance of the veil. We have another deficit in Canada and it is neither looming nor veiled. We're in the midst of an incrementally created democratic deficit that after nine years of accumulated budget cuts, abuse of power, and muzzling diverse voices has now arguably put at risk our democracy's health and vigour.
Not terrorists, white-collar crooks, or climate change -- it seems the real threat to Canadian society hides behind a much friendlier face: charities. Or to be more specific, charities critical of the Canadian government. This week it was made public that the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) is auditing PEN Canada for its "political activities." In 2012, the Canadian government earmarked $8 million of the CRA's budget for auditing political activities, and then upped that amount again to $13 million. In a time of austerity, there is still a plenty of money to go after enemies of our federal government.
We need a strong voice from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. If members across the country take an interest in the integrity of the organization, they can elect a board that would oppose a close relationship with corporate Canada.
After 65 years, Canada doesn't do too badly on the right to speak freely, but terribly when it comes to the flow of information from our governments about what they have done. Proud Canadians should blush in horror when they learn that last year the country ranked number 55 out of 93 countries that have laws that allow requests for documents about what their governments have done. Canada ranks so low because our law passed 31 years ago needs a major overhaul. Journalists, people interested in public policy, and others have been asking for years for changes to make the law and the Access to Information (ATI) process really work. Why?
