Speech Must Remain Free
What a week, and it’s only Thursday.
On Monday, we were with the above group in front of the U.S. Consulate in Montreal, standing up for Canada’s sovereignty. Similar demonstrations took place all across Canada, at consulates in every province. I met some good people. One woman had come in from the Eastern Townships, motivated by the controversy over the small library in her community that straddles the border. As of Oct. 1, US officials will prohibit direct Canadian access to the main entrance of the Haskell Library and Opera House, which has been used cooperatively by local residents of both countries for over a hundred years. The border is marked on the floor of the library, but library patrons have always come from both sides, with patrols making sure everybody goes back where they came from and nobody unknown goes out the wrong door. Soon, Canadians wishing to use the library will be required to go through U.S. customs first.*
Citizens of the communities on both sides of the border expressed shock and sorrow at the provocative actions of the Homeland Security chief Kristy Noem, and the subsequent change in access for Canadians. According to the president of the library board, “When Noem visited she stood on the American side and said ‘U.S.A. No. 1’ and then, after crossing onto the Canadian side, said ‘the 51st state;’ she did this repeatedly.” A symbolic gesture in one small place, but it says a great deal. (CBC, March 21, 2025)
Like so many of us, each day I feel pummeled by the news. The “SignalGate” scandal of classified texts handled illegally and dangerously by the incompetent cabinet ministers and staff of the current administration has at least moved some Republican representatives to break ranks and call for investigations and accountability. One op-ed writer, who served in the military, wrote that proper handling of security issues was one of the very first trainings he received — and that if he had been responsible for such a breach, he would have been court martialed.
But to me, this breach, serious as it is, is not as chilling as the noose that is being tightened around the concept of free speech: the arrests and attempted deportations of international students who have legal status in the U.S., the withdrawal of funds and curriculum interference against institutions of higher education, the attacks on the free press and on both law firms and the judiciary itself.
There is spillover, not just across a border line on a library floor. For example: in Quebec, at the end of 2024, the provincial government’s Higher Education Minister launched an investigation into the curriculum teaching about Palestine at Dawson and Vanier Colleges. Both faculty and students have continued to protest this interference into the freedom of education at colleges, and free speech in general, noting that the Higher Education Minister has a conflict of interest: she was a former board member of the Quebec branch of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). (CBC news, Feb 19, 2025)
According to the CBC, “Québec Solidaire introduced a motion at Quebec's National Assembly, condemning all forms of political interference in CEGEP classrooms. The motion was supported by the Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois, but the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) majority voted against it.”
I think of the remarkable city of Montreal where I am privileged to live, and how most of us view diversity as one of its strongest aspects. I live in the very mixed-ethnic neighborhood of Cote-de-Neiges. When I enter a metro car, I am always — as a white person — in the minority. This is, frankly, a good experience, and if more white people had it, the world would be different. Around me are people from all over the world, speaking many languages, wearing all sorts of clothing, from elderly to newborns. As we observe each other going about our daily lives, we see our similarities and commonalities: everybody’s cold, tired of winter, bundled up, sniffling -- in another month, we’ll all be smiling because it will be spring. We’re tolerant and accepting, as a city; we eat each other’s food and love it, we learn languages as a hobby, we travel a lot, we all share the parks, the river, our bike paths and transit system, our crazy northern climate. In the very rare events when there is a racist incident such as an attack on a mosque or a synagogue, the reaction from our city leaders and population has always been, “This is not who we are in Montreal, we won’t tolerate this kind of hatred.” This ideal of tolerance and protection includes all oppressed groups, from women to indigenous people to those of various sexual orientations and genders. When accusations of racial profiling by police arise, citizens push back. Of course racism and prejudice exist here. However, we do pretty well as a city, living together.
How I wish that more of the world could be this way — and how worried I am that it could so easily be lost! All we have to do is read the news to see what’s at stake. Last night’s video of a Tufts University graduate student being arrested on a Boston street and abducted in under four minutes by a swarm of masked, black-clothed ICE agents was absolutely terrifying. Her crime, so far as we know? Co-authoring, with three other students, a letter to the Tufts administration criticizing its position on Palestine/Israel and calling for the university to divest. She and other students and professors across the U.S. have been doxxed by Canary Mission, an organization targeting pro-Palestinian (they use the term “pro-Hamas”) activists on college campuses. This likely led to her arrest. Canary Mission also has a website in Canada, which exposes the names and faces of 431 Canadian professors, university staff, and students that the group similarly accuses.
Free speech is the bedrock of our human rights; when it’s gone, our humanity goes with it.
With Canadian federal elections coming up soon, I’m relieved to see that under Mark Carney’s leadership, the Liberal Party has climbed dramatically in the polls. I look forward to voting both on the federal level, and eventually in our province, to help ensure that our sovereignty, democracy, and the human rights of all citizens are protected to the greatest extent possible.
*It was recently announced that $140,000 in donations has been given to fund a new Canadian entrance to the Haskell Library, including $50,000 from acclaimed mystery writer Louise Penny. It’s not clear to me how access will work after Oct. 1.
