FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION :

1. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: “ A persons right to express their opinions, and ideas freely through speech, writing, and other ways of communication, but without purposely causing harm to others with false or misleading statements. “ Yllka Leku

2. TIME LINE Freedom of Expression • 1938 -Manitoba passes a new Libel Act. This is to stop people from publishing written work "hate literature”, or pictures stating harmful, false or misleading statements about a persons religious beliefs, or race. • 1937-Ontario’s community halls can’t prevent an organization from using the space just because of religious, union or political reasons. • 1937 -"communism" is a very bad word. Many fear that communism will spread into North America and repress rights and freedoms - such as the freedom of expression. Ironically, the Québec government chose to fight fire with fire by trampling the very rights it was trying to protect. • 1940 - A fear of communism and the Soviet Union's ties to Germany encouraged the federal government to pass the Defense of Canada Regulations which outlawed the Communist Party of Canada under the authority of the War Measures Act. Communism -Something that, in theory, is a good idea. It is an idea that believes that everyone should share everything, so that poverty wouldn’t exist, and there wouldn’t be a gap between richer and poorer people. The problem is that communist governments become corrupt, because basically people are greedy, so it just doesn’t work in reality. • 1944 -Ontario enacted the Racial Discrimination Act . The Act prohibits the publication or display, on lands, premises, by newspaper or radio, sign, symbol, emblem or other representation showing racial discrimination. • 1948 - The UDHR is the first comprehensive agreement among nations as to the specific rights and freedoms of all human beings. UDHR - Universal Declaration Of Human Rights

3. EVENTS Freedom of Expression 1948 The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights - It came directly from the experience of the Second World War and has been translated in 375 languages and dialects. Its not really a treaty itself, but made for the purpose to define the meaning of “Fundamental Freedoms” and “Human Rights” The Universal Declaration certifies that everyone is entitled to fundamental rights without regard to distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status. Among the rights guaranteed are - • equality before the law and equal protection of the law, without discrimination • freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy, family or home • freedom of opinion and expression • freedom of peaceful assembly and association “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

4. EVENTS Freedom of ExpressionPersecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada: During World War One the Jehovah’s Witnesses were pretty much targeted because they were anti war, and did not want to take part in military services. Pacifism / Pacifist– Anti war, believing everything should be solved peacefully, apposing to war or violence. Instead of being banned or charged, they had to face censorship of their literature during the war, and courts refused to recognize them as a real religion, this making them unable to claim the right of what was called “Conscientious objector” During the late 1930s, Witnesses were taken to court for “sedition” because their literature attacked the political leaders of the country. “Hate literature” In 1940, one year following Canada's entry into World War 2, the Jehovah's Witnesses religion was banned under the War Measures Act. This ban continued until 1943. During this period, some of their children were actually even expelled from school because they refuse to sing the national anthem and salute the flag during patriotic events some were event taken away from parents and put in juvenile detention centers. In July 1940 the government of Canada banned the Jehovah's Witnesses. Overnight it became illegal to be a member, but they still continued spreading their word about god through literature and pamphlets even thought they weren't actually allowed to do so. Finally from 1936 – 1959 they tried to pretty much get rid of Jehovah's Witnesses, this issue was taken all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. The legal issues concerned freedom of speech as much as it concerned freedom of religion. The Supreme Court held that there can be no freedom of religion without freedom of speech.

5. SOURCES Freedom of Expression • http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/en/index.asp • www.cbc.ca • http://www.worldlingo.com