Comment: Free speech is indispensable to social justice and democracy

Calvin Sandborn taught ­environmental and public ­interest law at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law for 20 years.

By invoking the right of free speech selectively, these groups undermine their credibility. Our commitment to free speech is not tested when we let our friends speak. The true test is when we let our adversaries speak. Voltaire defined the democratic imperative:Unfortunately, many now reject the necessity of letting adversaries speak. And that augurs ill for democracy.

For example, the orations of runaway slave Frederick Douglass played a key role in abolishing U.S. slavery. As he built the abolition movement, he referred to free speech as: “… very precious … to the oppressed … Slavery cannot tolerate free speech. Five years of its exercise would banish the auction block and break every chain in the South.”

And make no mistake, bans on free speech have often sabotaged progress. Residential schools banned speaking Indigenous languages and advocating culture.

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