Freedom of Speech

[Mithrandir]

First, read these articles:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1089737515752_85146715?hub=Canada

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040714/RADIO14/National/Idx

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/freeheadlines/LAC/20040803/CHOI03/national/National

http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc_charest20040727

http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc_choi20040723


We have a radio station called CHOI FM in Quebec which airs mainly rock music. It's the only one airing that kind of music.

Now, the CRTC(which regulates airwaves and telecommunications in Canada) doesn't want to renew their radio license and it's going to eventually shut down if they don't renew it.

There is a radio show with Jeff Fillion (the host) on weekday mornings. During that show (which is more talk than music), he gives his opinions an a variety of subjects. Being a little right-winged, he does bash often unions and left-winged people like homosexuals. I won't say I'm always okay with what he says but he has his right to say what he has to say. And some people do not like what he says, so they want to shut him down. That's the case of the mayor of Quebec City which has problems with Jeff Fillion. I like listening to what he says cause often he criticises things that are just not right. I don't always agree with what he says but often I do.

Now, the want to shut all the radio station and all those people will lose their jobs and us listeners, will lise the only radio that airs rock. Right now the governement doesn't want to do nothing even though thoudands of people walked on the streets to protest against the closing of the station by the end of august. almost 100000 signatures have been collected and the governement refuses to do anything!! If they just let it shut down, then I will have lost faith in my governement, freedom of speech and democracy.

To me, freedom of speech is saying what you want when you want to say it. You have every right to have yout opinion and express it. Of course some persons may be offended by what you say and they have every rigth to sue you...but they can't shut you down. That's the difference. Some say there is a limit to the freedom of speech but I say there isn't.

Now, there is going to be a protest march organised in Ottawa in front of the canadian parliament and if the elected deputies don't do nothing then democracy doesn't work. I will never NEVER (even if I have never) vote for the liberals. It is official.

Now I want to ear your thoughts on what is freedom of speech and also on the case of CHOI FM.

[Kyari]

The issue is simple. Radio is not a medium anyone is forced to listen to; the listener has to physically tune into the station and then is free, during the radio announcer's conversations and speech, to leave at any time he or she pleases. It doesn't matter whether or not freedom of speech is limited or not; listening to the radio is not an inevitable public occurence, it is something you and I do at complete will; even if someone plays this stuff in public, which would be silly, they can ignore it or go somewhere else.

It's one thing to say that censorship of communication is mainly based on courtesy when in a public place, but on the radio, it's a bit different. Nobody should be shut down like that. I may not agree with some of his opinions either, but certainly, that's no reason to get rid of him. I'd heep him, if anything, as a courtesy to the people who do listen, and who do think his opinions count. Because, in a working democracy, opinions are the best thing we have to go on.

[BAMAToNE]

This is my problem with Canadian media who bash the U.S. in everything we do. They hate the way we went to war. They took those Army deserters with open arms and called them "heros." Yet they don't even allow people to speak their mind in a free speech environment. Totally un-democratic. Feel free to move down here anytime. :)

[silverDistortioN]

well, the guy propagates hate. even with the choice of turning the radio off, the groups he criticizes still get the short end of the stick in the long run.

...just kidding! i totally agree with you guys. ^.^

[Mithrandir]

Yeah well, sometimes I grow tired of living in Quebec because the majority of the people are way too much to the left and we end up looking like idiots on some news. Just like this crowd booing the american anthem at a beaseball game. I mean that just completely stupid!!

Unions are too strong nowadays and we end up paying at least 4 times the price it should cost. For god sake, they just got a union in a Wal-Mart in Saguenay. A WAL-MART! I'm like, okay, a job at a wal-mart is a temporary job. I can't see someone working all his life in a wal-mart so why the hell did they get a union in there? The guy does simple task why should he be paid 13 damn dollars to do that? He maybe has gone to high school. He may have never finished it!

Now they all give a warm welcome to all those deserters and I do not agree with that. Why the hell should we accept people who let their country down? They'll jut do the same thing with us. And why do the media idolise them?! WTF is happening and wrong with this country. It's like idoling those f*****g terrorists. If I was prime minister there,s no way those people would have entered in Canada.

And right now I am so damn pissed at Montreal. Oh the great Montreal city, sure there are many things to do that are great but people there just think they're the center of the universe (not everyone but mainly the showbizz world and the so-called "cultural sphere") They always accuse other people of thinking only to them, but that's exactly what they do. Whenever something happens outside Montreal, it's not important but when the same thing happens in Montreal oh god, the media is all over it. So basically they think they speak for everyone in Quebec and Canada.

Now if there was a war tomorrow, those people would wait for the USA to come rescue us. And they would be like: " Why the hell aren't they coming, when we need them they aren't there at all. Damn those americans, they are just so crazy, they let us get destroyed". And those are the same people that are just spitting on the american people and governement. And they expect that USA is going to save them when the time will come. I mean come on.

I do not agree with all what Bush says, and I do find him a little radical on his manner, but not everything he does is bad and not everything he does is evil and planned so he can take over the world. Sometimes people exxagerate so much. I don't know where they get all tose apocalyptic ideas.

If the conservatives would have won, then we would have a better army in case something happens. Cause it's not those WWII Sea Kings that are going to save us god knows that.

Now another thing I don't like is media conglomerates. Too much companies own too much nwespapers/tv stations and radio stations. I just have to think about Quebecor, this big company that owns a tv network, many magazines and newspapers, an internet company, and radio stations. Now, that tv station did something similar to American Idol and now it used all his networks/radio/newspapers/magazines to do marketing. Their songs air on their radio stations, they do interviews on tv and on radio. There are article son those people in the magazines, on the internet .I mean god, on the front page of their newspaper there was during almost a month, titles like: "Corneliu is again endangered" or "Corneliu saved by the public". (Corneliu was a contestant) Was that more important than a murder? That's Montreal and they want to "Montrealize" the entire province by cutting local station programs and airing more Montreal based content so they cut in costs.

And as you might have seen through all my post, I'm a lttle right-winged. Yes I have to admit and I'm proud to admit it cause it seems in Quebec or Canada, being right-winged is being the devil OMG he's to the right, he's evil! He wants the death for everyone. I want everything that's bad for my society. Suuure... Everyone is afrraid to say they're right-winged because the majority is to the left. Id on't have a problem with that and I don't see why people should have a problem with that. I have a freedom of opinion and thought.

Also in Quebec , we are run by some old people who control the society. Young people are getting mroe new ideas and want change but they get stopped by older people in the political parties. I just think as an example of the last youth liberlas congress weh had in Quebec, they took position to abolish the right of unions to take money from workers in a company that aren't even memebers of the union. Just because "they profit" of the negociations made by them. But, the leader of the party (just like many of the ministers) stopped their idea and there cannot be any progress if that works that way. It's the same for the soveerignty party that is run by old people who still have those ideas they had when they formed the party back in the 70's.

Anyway, that is my rant today on Quebec/Canada and I hope you found it interesting and feel free to discuss any of the points I brought.

[Kyari]

Mith, there's nothing wrong with being right-wing :) . I am myself. I think the general notion is that if you are right-wing, then you are against change in general, and therefore you do not want to make any improvements. And God knows, there are improvements to be made.

The major problem with Canada is there's no focus at all. Everyone has what they think are good ideas, but they all have only one idea, and some of them aren't all that good. But heck, Canadians are too lazy to band tohether, eh :emlaugh: ?

I think that all we need to do (and it will be a long time for our current politicans to start doing this) is to start thinking as a whole. We need to stop flat-out discrediting other people's ideas, and start helping develop them with some of our own. I think we all have great ideas . . . but they don't work when political-style pride gets in the way.

Power is not the answer. Solutions are. And that's all I gotta say.

[silverDistortioN]

...the only problem is getting everyone to agree with exactly the same thing.

[Nahkrinoth]

It's nice to see Canada from an insider's point of view.

[Kyari]

Well, that's just the point. You don't want to get everyone to see the same thing; ideas don't develop in a political scene like that. What you want instead is to try and find the best ideas. I think that's where progress is going to start.

Canadian politics is a lot of 'you could do what so-and-so says, but don't forget: because of _________, he's an idiot.' It winds up being a contest to find the least of all evils . . . it's really sad.

[silverDistortioN]

oh, wow... i feel so enlightened all of a sudden.
now i have something to come back with when TDK starts bashing american politics. =)

[Kyari]

Yup :D . If anyone tells you politics in Canada are tame, tell them you spoke to some Canadians who think otherwise.

Canadian politicians attempt to make the Canadian political scene look like what they presume the American political scene looks like. And they do a pretty bad job.

I heard on the radio . . . there's riots and demonstrations and stuff about the CRTC not letting them renew their liscense. They're trying to petition parliament . . . but that's not gonna work; it'd have to be sent to the courts. Sucky.

[Mithrandir]

Well, Kyari, today we learned that the lawyers of the radio station are going to court with this and if they win. (I do hope so) then the CRTC will be have to be reviewed. The governement eems to be waiting for the station to die before they do something. Paul Martin was fishing yesterday and Jean Lapierre and Liza Frulla (Fru Fru as we like to call her :D) still refuse any kind of interviews with people concerning CHOI FM.

What pisses me off too is some people accuse that radio station of propagating hate and people who listent to them are crazy people. (mainly the leftist argument)

But when we had the America's Summit in Quebec City , we had all these violent riots and who the hell were those people? Leftists.

Now, do you see violence in the protests for CHOI? no.