Journal # 3

Freedom of Speech - Should there be limits to this constitutional guarantee?

In today’s society, many people believe that freedom of speech means that they can say anything and everything they want. These people are sadly mistaken. In Canada, the federal government has placed specific restrictions on this constitutional guarantee to limit hate speech, vulgarity and also public threats. In my opinion, the Canadian Government has made the right choice in choosing to activate these basic constraints. Without these limits, I believe society as a whole would not be as diverse and accepting as it is today.
To begin, if hate speech was ever permitted, racists, sexists, ageists, etc. may be able to convince and persuade others into believing their non-sense about how one race is superior to another or how one gender is better. A perfect example of how one can influence a large group of people occurred during WWII. Adolph Hitler was able to successfully convince the majority of people in his country that people who did not have blue eyes and fair hair, were homosexual, did not believe in the Nazi regime, and were physically or mentally handicapped were of less importance than those who were not. In summary, the whole second word war was based on prejudices of those who had power. Now if someone in Canada were to speak this hate publicly they would immediately be charged for hate crimes which would prevent the spread of ones propaganda. Next, one may not speak vulgarly to the public. Although there is no specific example, I believe it is for the fact that swearing is frowned upon and relaying it through a speech that children can hear, may in fact, corrupt youth. Finally, the last restriction exemplified in this entry on Freedom of Speech is speaking of violent threats. For obvious reasons, saying you want someone dead or actually saying you are going to kill them is an illegal act. This is also partially illegal to do the fact that if you say you want someone dead, one of your followers may take it as you asking them to do it and commit the crime. To summarize, this restriction was placed to prevent deaths and save peoples lives.
So in conclusion, the limits placed on the Freedom of Speech are helpful and understandable. These restrictions keep us safe from hate and violence resulting in a better community and country for our great population.