More Provinces Are Pushing For Limits to Free Speech

The political trends towards gag laws in Canada are getting serious as more jurisdictions are getting into the action.

The Globe and Mail editorial today of B.S.(not a typo) Premier Campbell “change of heart” on the issue is worth a read.

Then visit Preston Manning’s Op-Ed on the NDP government getting into the limits on free speech bandwagon.

These are political efforts that are missing the point and trying to make their own “communications” job easier by monopolizing the messaging market. We need good governance and that relies on a diversity of opinions promulgated in a variety of ways to anyone who wants to participate in the deomcratic process.

If these old-school stlye of communications constraints survive and become government policy in Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba the Internet will become even more powerful as a source for political and policy information for people. That is not a bad thing. It will show these promoters of political limits on free speech just how wrong they are when the blogosphere and Web 2.0 takes them on and deals with them in the court of public opinion.

The challenge for modern political parties is not to put limits on the free speech of others but to do a better job of communicating their own policies and platforms to citizens in the first place. The opportnities for politicians to connect and communicate with citizens directly has never been easier or cheaper with the ubiquity and accessibility of the Internet.

Get in the new game guys and compete for attention and for credibility of voters in the open market of ideas instead of using your legislative power to rig the rules of the old game in your favour and stifling the free speech of others in the process.

BC Government Limits Free Speech - Shame!

Looks like the BC government has already legislated limitations on free speech at election time.

There are similar musings in Alberta to do something akin to this limitation on third party advertising at election time. Not good.

People are not stupid. They can make informed judgments. In the Internet age limiting third party advertising in elections is a silly and ineffective “solution” that abuses power and adds to political cynicism.

In a time when everyone is potentially a publisher, limits on traditional advertising for third parties is only going to extend and expand the other more effective media like You Tube, the Blogosphere and social networks. Limits like this will only make the "perceived problem" caused by third-party advertising worse. The networking power of the world wide web is enormously more powerful at informing and influencing public opinion and changing voter behaviours than a billboard or brochure will ever be.

Free speech is not free. It must be protected, promoted and used responsibly. That duty to ensure freedom of speech falls on governments and every freedom loving citizen. Premier Campbell's limitiation on freedom of speech in BC is wrong headed and this law needs to be repealed.

Will Bernier to Get the Boot in a Cabinet Shuffle?

The Hill Times is running a front page story this week speculating that Maxime Bernier will be shuffled and demoted due to his poor judgment concerning his biker girlfriend. I suggested in an earlier post that it was time for a Cabinet shuffle. Looks like Harper is considering it at least.

Sources tell me Bernier actually noted in certain documents calling his former biker girlfriend his “spouse” so she could travel internationally with him on the taxpayer’s dime. A classy guy – all the way.

Stephen Harper - THE Small Man of Confederation.

Read this Canada Press story about Mr. Stephen Harper, your Prime Minister and mine, not attending the portrait hanging in the House of Commons recognition of former Prime Minister Joe Clark.

Next ask yourself; couldn’t events and times be changed to enable the current Prime Minister to be there and avoid even appearance of a slight? Even delaying the House of Commons ceremony to accommodate the Prime Minister Harper’s schedule should be simple enough to arrange.

Let face it, the Prime Minister of Canada does not want to be there…for pure and simple personal and political reasons. Too bad Steve. Showing respect is part of the job description of the Prime Minister of Canada.

Canadians indicate in poll results that they are unsure if they like Stephen Harper as a person. Surely this rudeness and slight underscores a personal character flaw in Mr. Harper as a person. This incident is a minor issue in the more complex context of running the country, but it serves as example of the kind of man Stephen Harper is. It makes you think about just how worthy Stephen Harper is, as a person, to serve and represent us in this most powerful and important office in our country.

As for me, I think such incidences of political and personal pique ought to resolve any disquiet in the minds of Canadians about how Stephen Harper ought to be perceived. We have seen him perform as a bully and as a miscreant and as an obfuscator. And now we see just how small minded and petty he can be. Stephen Harper has proven himself not to be a leader and he did not have to spend millions of partisan advertising dollars to substantiate that fact for us.

The Harper Cons have gleefully accused Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario of being a “small man of Confederation.” Prime Minister Harper’s actions here, and there are others, make him look absolutely diminutive as a man. We ought view this event as an opportunity to question if Stephen Harper has the qualities of leadership and the qualities of character to serve the Confederation and Canadians well enough.

Elections Should Be About More Free Speech - Not Less!

If you have some time to reflect on your right of freedom of speech today – and who amongst doesn’t have that topic as top of mind on a long holiday weekend ;~)…read Mark Milke’s piece in the Calgary Herald today.

I agree with him and tried to say so in an earlier blog post. I think it is a mistake to limit third party advertising in election campaigns. Instead I think those who engage in such freedom of speech activities have a duty to be open, transparent and accountable for their actions.

The reforms I suggest are, first, don’t let such proselytizers hide behind screens like “Albertans for Change” when they are in fact the Building Trades Council and the Alberta Federation of Labour. The sponsors of the messages have to state clearly and precisely who they are.

Next we need to consider if they should be registered under the new Lobbying legislation if they undertake such activities in election times. This new law is coming to Alberta eventually. Why does it take so long to draft the regulations and proclaim this Act anyway Mr. Premier?

And lastly perhaps the sponsors should be required to file, in advance with Elections Alberta, a budget indicating what they intend to spend, where and when in such campaigns and this information should be public. I am not so sure on this last thought but the information would help Albertans judge if some special interest group was trying to buy our attention with advertising instead of persuading us based on the merits of their positions.

Political advertising is very effective in the States but not as embedded nor as effective in the Canadian political culture. Americans seem to think the more something is advertised the better it must be. Canadians think if you have to heavily advertise something, there must something inherently wrong with it. My belief is that paid political advertising has a place but it is not the way to win elections. Paid political advertising at the party level is essentially the price you have to pay for being boring or irrelevant. It gets attention but it is not very effective at influencing opinion and is will not ensure the voter behaviour ou want either.

Word of mouth is much more effective in gathering real political support that actually shows up and votes. That is still best done by old fashioned door knocking and face time with citizens. The next most effective way is Word of Mouse. That is an emerging technique using the connective power of the Internet and viral potential of social networking for electronic “door knocking.”