Centre for Free Expression

📣 Check out our latest blog post, “Information Poverty and the Cost of Prison Library Cuts” by Toni Samek.

What happens when meaningful access to information is treated as expendable? In this piece, Toni examines proposed cuts to prison library services in Canada and argues that eliminating professional library staff risks creating conditions of information poverty — undermining rehabilitation, education, and reintegration for some of the country's most marginalized people.

🔗 Read here: https://buff.ly/pA2UoTi

In the CFE’s latest blog post, Director James L. Turk warns Alberta’s Bill 28 gives the provincial government unprecedented control over public libraries, including the power to restrict materials, programs, and services.

🔗 Read here: https://buff.ly/m9WD6zY

In CFE’s latest blog post, Robert Diab asks: would banning children under 16 from social media and AI even be constitutional in Canada?

As governments push for tougher restrictions, Diab argues a total ban would likely violate Charter free expression rights, and that stricter safeguards are more likely than an outright prohibition.

🔗 Read here: https://buff.ly/wDohfPl

Democracy is an ongoing public discussion about what is legitimate in our society — and what is not. That conversation doesn’t belong to any one group, and it cannot be settled once and for all. Democracy prospers when everyone has the right and opportunity to be informed and to participate in public discourse.

At the Centre for Free Expression, our live public panels and events have long been available as full-length recordings on YouTube. Now, we’re bringing those conversations into a new form.

We’re pleased to introduce The Centre for Free Expression Podcast — a thoughtfully edited and produced series that adapts our event recordings into a format designed for listening, and includes additional special conversations.

Every two weeks, the podcast explores important questions people have about our society, their rights to be engaged, their opportunities to be informed, the challenges to these rights and opportunities, and how we can overcome those challenges.

Find The Centre for Free Expression Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Episodes will also air on Met Radio CJTM 1280 AM, Toronto Metropolitan University’s campus/community radio station.

Our first episode, “Can American Media Survive Trump and Billionaire Owners,” is available now. Our second, "Islamophobia on Canadian Campuses: Why and What to do," will be posted tonight.

New from the CFE blog: James L. Turk responds point-by-point to Alberta MLA Nate Glubish’s defence of Bill 28, which would allow provincial override of public library decision-making.

For a close reading of what the government is saying, and what the legislation actually enables, click here: https://buff.ly/psXyGYZ

Join the award ceremony and the winner’s reception speech by Dr. Kaitlin Stockton, recipient of the 2026 Peter Bryce Prize, on May 6 at 7PM EST.

The prize is named after Dr. Peter H. Bryce, an early Canadian whistleblower who in 1907, spoke up about appalling public health conditions in residential schools. It honours those who serve the greater good by courageously speaking up about wrongdoing or abuses of public trust.

🔗 Zoom link: https://buff.ly/OnTIKTb

This is a free event and no registration is required.

Please contact [email protected] if you require accommodation to ensure inclusion in this event.

CFE thanks the Zita and Mark Bernstein Family Foundation for its generosity in providing the cash award that accompanies the prize.

Join the award ceremony for the 2026 Peter Bryce Prize on May 6 at 7PM EST, and catch the winner's reception speech by Dr. Kaitlin Stockton.

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2026 Peter Bryce Prize for Whistleblowing | Centre for Free Expression Peter Bryce Prize for Whistleblowing

In the CFE’s latest blog post, Senior Fellow David Hutton says Canada’s federal whistleblower law — introduced under Pierre Poilievre — promised “ironclad” protection but delivered the opposite.

Nearly 7,000 public servants have reported wrongdoing since the law took effect in 2007, with more than 700 reprisal complaints filed. However, not a single whistleblower has ever been compensated.

A new Treasury Board–commissioned review proposes 35 reforms, including dismantling the Tribunal and expanding oversight powers. Now, it’s up to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to decide whether to act.

🔗 Read here: https://buff.ly/7kTuJxD