All parties agree: Free speech is bad

Despite their partisan differences, the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP all seem to agree on one thing: free political speech is bad and should therefore be limited, regulated and strictly curtailed.

Indeed, three MPs Conservative John Baird, New Democrat Pat Martin and Liberal John McKay recently defended the need to squelch free expression.

Video: U.S. city reeling from political TV ad crush

Mind you, they didnt exactly put it that way.

Rather, they all concurred that Canadian democracy was better than the American variety because our election laws severely restrict the ability of Canadians to spend their own money for the purpose of expressing their own opinions.

For instance, Canada has an election gag law.

Enacted by the Liberals in 2000, this law makes it illegal for third party groups meaning any organization thats not a political party to spend more than about $150,000 on national political ad campaigns during federal elections.

For their part, the Conservatives passed a law that stops citizens from contributing more than a $1,200 annually to a political party or leadership candidate. (And, yes, contributing money to a political party is an exercise in political expression.)

At any rate, Mr. Baird, Mr. Martin and Mr. Mackay, all believe these laws make Canada superior to the United States, which has relatively fewer infringements on free political expression.

Yet, I suspect these MPs have not really thought through their opinions.

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All parties agree: Free speech is bad