Most Canadians would likely never have heard of conservative American Christian singer Sean Feucht had city councils and government officials not spent their summers shutting him down. But this latest exercise in censorship would hardly be possible, explains constitutional lawyer Josh Dehaas, had Canada’s courts not spent the last few decades arbitrarily expanding the definition of harmful expression. In this perceptive and accessible essay, Dehaas walks through the legal decisions that have eroded the simple, clear conception of free speech that once guided the English-speaking democracies and exposes the flawed thinking that has made Canada what it is today: a country where a performer can be banned before he has said – or sung – a word.

The New York Times had an award rescinded after its reporters were conned by the Canadian fabulist Shehroze Chaudhry, who claimed he had committed atrocities in Syria on behalf of ISIS. Scrutinizing the claim that racism is rampant in Canadian journalism, Josh Dehaas concludes the real scourge is identity politics.

With nearly 190 million downloads per month, Joe Rogan is arguably the world’s most popular podcaster. Yet employees of the streaming platform Spotify want to exert editorial control over his show. Josh Dehaas looks at the rise of censorship of social media and Big Tech’s banishment of people who hold certain views.

The aviation industry may take years to recover from the pandemic. Half the world’s airplanes are in storage, and international seating capacity has dropped by almost 80 per cent. Yet with every disaster comes an opportunity. Josh Dehaas reports on the reviving airship industry, a mode of transportation uniquely suited to Canada’s enormous geography.

A recent study says the proportion of women, visible minorities, and disabled people in the RCMP remains static. Josh Dehaas argues than rather than chase after such illusory goals as “gender parity” or achieving some artificial ratio through quota hiring, the RCMP should continue to hire whoever’s best.

Earth Day triggered the usual round of apocalyptic warnings and crazed publicity stunts, this time accompanied by the sad sight of schoolchildren warning adults that the world is doomed and today’s kids are destined for an early death. The facts, however, speak powerfully in the opposite direction, writes Josh Dehaas. He too endured eco-brainwashing as a schoolkid but eventually grew out of it, living proof the affliction is survivable.

Dalhousie University interim president Peter MacKinnon is a rare bird – a blue-chip member of the Canadian academic establishment who is standing up for free expression against campus social justice bullies. The mob is trying to get him fired, writes Josh Dehaas, because of the politically incorrect opinions expressed in his new book University Commons Divided. But MacKinnon has the stature and courage needed to take them on and, perhaps, the ideas needed to restore true academic freedom on the nation’s university campuses.

Canadians got a glimpse inside the country’s racially segregated justice system this fall when they learned that one of the perpetrators of a hideous child rape-murder had been quietly transferred from a prison to an Aboriginal “healing lodge”. The public outcry forced Ottawa to put Terri-Lynne McClintic back behind bars, but raised all kinds of questions about Canada’s efforts to reduce the “overrepresentation” of Aboriginal Canadians in jail. The obvious big one is, are they working. And the answer, reports Josh Dehaas, is no.

What a year 2015 was for female political empowerment! Women ruled the big provinces of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, and feminist Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a majority government promising a gender-equal cabinet. When asked why, Trudeau imperiously replied, “Because it’s 2015”. It felt like the dawn of a Gelded Age – until Donald Trump, Andrew Scheer, Jagmeet Singh, Patrick Brown and a bunch of other men defeated women in high-profile electoral contests. The male resurgence climaxed in Ontario’s just-passed election with the crushing defeat of Kathleen Wynne by the big lug Doug Ford. As the Liberal campaign tanked Wynne’s team tried to play the gender card, writes Josh Dehaas, but it was a bust.