“If we look at the narrative over the past few years, there has been an emphasis on cancel culture. Free speech has become a rallying call for the far-right,” she said.
An “expert on hate crime and right-wing extremism” said that free speech is a “rallying call for the far-right” that has been “amplified by the emergence of the alt-right” in Canada.
The comment came after the findings of a survey that polled Canadians on their beliefs around free speech. The survey, which was conducted nationally via phone calls by the Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research at the University of Saskatchewan, found that there was a strong corelation between a person’s political leanings and their views on the state of free speech. Those who lean right had a higher likelihood of believing there should be no limits on speech, (which would make it “free”) including the right to express opinions considered offensive.
Research director Jason Disano said that the survey was conducted to get a sense of where people stood on the matter “given the prominent role that the phrase ‘freedom’ has been playing in the current Conservative Party of Canada leadership campaign,” he told The Canadian Press.
Roberto Wakerell-Cruz Montreal, QC