Dear editor:

We’re again facing irony during Freedom to Read Week.

While we’re being “encouraged to think about and reaffirm our commitment to intellectual freedom,” the town has announced it will be restricting information given to the media. Intellectual freedom and censorship are incompatible.

There have been many interesting and insightful editorials and letters to the editor about this situation with many comparing the town’s announcement to censorious behavior south of the border. In fact, we don’t have to look to the U.S. for similarities because we have much to compare within our own borders.

I encourage everyone to read the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom’s report, “Manufacturing consent: Government behavioural engineering of Canadians.” The summary reads as follows:

“This report examines how the Government of Canada has incorporated behavioural science and legislative mechanisms to shape public attitudes, restrict expression, and manage dissent. Through the Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) in the Privy Council Office (PCO), federal officials have implemented strategies drawn from so-called nudge theory to influence citizen behaviour under the guise of ‘evidence-based policy.’ The Justice Centre urges thorough scrutiny of such behavioural programs to preserve transparent, representative governance in Canada.”

Thank you to The Lake Report for protecting democracy by holding those in power accountable.

Cathy Simpson
NOTL