Below is my response to the following interview between Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and Toronto Now columnist Susan G. Cole regarding Ann Coulter's scheduled appearance at the University of Ottawa, which was canceled due to the disgraceful behavior of a group of Marxist protesters. Please notice the difference between those who support free speech and those who do not. I call for Ms. Kelly to represent the other side of the debate, while Ms. Cole believes that Ann Coulter should not be speaking on Canadian campuses (that's right, those institutions that are supposed to foster the free exchange of ideas and encourage debate).

Dear Ms. Kelly,

As a Canadian, I would like to apologize on behalf of my countrymen for that pro-censorship authoritarian woman (Susan G. Cole) that you had on your show earlier today. Like many Canadians, I felt a sense of great pride when we hosted the Winter Olympic Games last February. However, the pride and patriotism that I was feeling has worn off after hearing so many of my fellow Canadians speaking out against one of the most fundamental of all freedoms, the right to free speech.

I hope you and your audience do not get the wrong impression about Canada, because we do, in fact, have a long history of free expression and many people here believe very strongly that free speech is necessary to the functioning of any free and democratic society. As you pointed out on your show, Canada does not have the same protections that the first amendment provides, although many people think this is a big mistake.

Our constitution does, in fact, guarantee the right to "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication," but there is a caveat. Section 1 of our Charter of Rights states that our freedoms are "subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." We can thank our former Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (who screwed up this country in more ways than one) for taking such a cynical view of our natural rights as to think that something so basic as freedom of expression should be tempered by politicians and judges. It is clear from watching your interview with Ms. Cole that this way of thinking is still very much alive in liberal circles. This is unfortunate, because some day the liberals will find themselves on the other side of the fence and realize that freedom of speech benefits everyone.

Once again, I hope you and your viewers do not get the wrong impression of Canada. I hope that you will have one of the numerous Canadians who support free speech, such as Ezra Levant (who I understand appeared on Glenn Beck's show earlier today), to represent us Canadians with a little more common sense.

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