The Centre for Free Expression Podcast

Canada’s Access to Information Act’s protection for cabinet secrecy is among the broadest in the world. Has that protection gone too far — denying public access to documents that Canadians should have a right to see? Join Yan Campagnolo, Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa, and Vincent Kazmierski, Associate Professor in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University, in a...

As surveillance technologies expand, the fundamental right to privacy is under unprecedented threat. In this episode, Canadian scholars Alana Saulnier and Evan Light examine the growing footprint of police surveillance across the country. Focusing on automated license plate readers, artificial intelligence, and biometric tools, they explore how mass data collection and AI-enhanced monitoring impac...

Almost everyone sought for extradition from Canada is extradited. Is this a sign of efficiency or of injustice? Join a panel of leading experts on Canadian extradition law and practices who discuss what actually happens when a person in Canada is sought by another country.  Panelists: Donald Bayne (Distinguished criminal defence lawyer and counsel for Hassan Diab), Julianna Greenspan (Senior partn...

Popular trust in the media has been declining fairly consistently over the past decade. In her new book, The Trust Spiral: Why the Media Needs Objectivity, Canadian journalist and podcaster, Tara Henley, explains why. Join her in a conversation with veteran Canadian Press journalist Jim Bronskill about this vital issue for our democracy.

In 'Visitor: My Life in Canada,' Anthony Stewart explores the lack of a recognizable Black anti-racist discourse in Canada and why Canada's lack of expression and commitment to Black anti-racism led him to give up his full professorship at Dalhousie University to move to a small college in the USA. Join Anthony in conversation with Vershawn Young, Professor of Communication Arts and English, Unive...

Whistleblower protection is an essential tool for stopping fraud and wrongdoing in the private sector, as well as the public. While Canadian corporations in some sectors have admirable policies and practices, there is much we can learn from law, policies, and practices elsewhere.  Join a panel of global private sector whistleblowing experts who will examine best international law and practices tha...

Wrongdoing in medicine is all too common, with punishment typically reserved for those who speak up about it, writes leading American bioethicist, Carl Elliott, in his new book, The Occasional Human Sacrifice: Medical Experimentation and the Price of Saying No. Join Carl in conversation with Nancy Olivieri, eminent Canadian physician, medical researcher, and whistleblower as they describe the trou...

In his new book, On Book Banning, Ira Wells begins with his astonishment when the principal in his children’s school wanted to get rid of “all the old books” as being too Eurocentric, too male, too heteronormative. While understanding these concerns, he felt the solution was wrong. In his engaging exploration of censorship and the common goals of censors of all persuasions, Wells looks at the cons...

New corporate technologies for mass surveillance and gathering personal data endanger personal privacy as never before. AI can analyze vast amounts of data, making it easier to identify patterns, infer personal characteristics, and exploit information in ways that were previously impossible or prohibitively expensive. The federal government’s answer is a highly controversial new bill [C-36, the Pr...

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms made Canada a constitutional democracy in which unelected courts, not elected legislatures, have the final say about rights and freedoms. Yet Section 33 (the Notwithstanding Clause) was built in to let governments override the courts on certain matters. That clause has been contentious ever since – never more than now when it is increasingly being invoked to deny...

Governments are increasingly requiring age verification for access to certain online content. In the name of protecting children online, systems for age verification create dangerous new forms of surveillance, censorship, and exclusion. Every system requires users to hand over sensitive personal information linking their offline identity to their online activity — valuable data easily leaked, hack...

When prominent Canadian novelist Lawrence Hill learned his award-winning The Book of Negroes had been banned from classrooms by the London District Catholic School Board because of its use of the N-word, he was deeply troubled. Join Lawrence Hill in his conversation with author and McGill University Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies, Debra Thompson, exploring censo...

In striving for balance and neutrality, does the Western mainstream media end up spreading misconceptions, myths and mistruths about the wars and conflicts in the Middle East? What are news consumers in the West missing about the war in Gaza, the turmoil in Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere? How can we ensure better coverage of the raging conflicts that are shaping our world today?  Paneli...

Islamophobia, like other forms of religious prejudice, racism and xenophobia, are everyday experiences on Canadian campuses despite efforts to eliminate it. Why does Islamophobia persist? What forms does it most commonly take on campus? What can be done to overcome it? Join a panel deeply engaged in eliminating Islamophobia as they explore these questions.  Panelists: Imam Yasin Dwyer (Executive D...

The gutting of the Washington Post. Abrupt changes at CBS. Caving to extravagant but frivolous Trump lawsuits. Are some of the richest and most powerful corporate tycoons ruining American journalism — and will more takeovers make things even worse? Is democracy dying in broad daylight? Three frontline journalists look at the dangers and what lies ahead.  Panelists: Joe Davidson, Veteran former Was...