You Have The Right To Shut The Hell Up

- jim Young

“People demand freedom of speech as compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” - Soren Kierkegaard

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I first saw this meme posted on Facebook.

The irony here is, I think the only people likely to be offended with this statement are perhaps the bigots who are not aware that this is already a requirement for citizenship in Canada. Or if not English - French which is our other official Canadian language.

Try going to some places in Quebec and pull your “Everybody must speak English crap there!”

On the Government of Canada’s webpage in the section that lists the eligibility requirements for applying for Canadian Citizenship you’ll see the title,“prove your language skills”.

And when you click on the title “prove your language skills”, the drop down menu describes the minimum language requirements that anyone wishing to become a Canadian Citizen must acquire in either French or English before becoming a Canadian Citizen.

I have had the opportunity to review all of the Canadian Citizenship requirements and I would challenge any natural born Canadians that have this holier-than-thou attitude towards new Canadian Citizens to check their eligibility. Many of them I’m sure, would quickly find themselves without a country to call home. 

Where would they go? This is not a particularly good time to try to emigrate to the U.S.

Of course there is no provision that says that anyone who has become a Canadian Citizen is under any obligation to prove to any racist individual’s satisfaction that he or she has “adequate knowledge” of French or English as defined in the Canadian Citizenship Act.

And while English and French are the only “officially recognised languages” in Canada there is also no law explicitly banning the use of any languages within Canada. 

This would fall under the jurisdiction of Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms. 

But before you go saying and posting things carte blanche you should also remember that with great freedom comes great responsibility. Freedom of expression does NOT give one the right to promote things like hate speech or even the WILFUL spreading of misinformation or making false accusations.

Not all of these are covered under the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms. Some of these things are covered under differing regulations such as the Criminal Code, Human Rights Legislation and the Online Harms Act.

Finally, it’s interesting to note that while your Freedom of Expression may be well protected in Canada, so too is your right to NOT express yourself.




The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms will also fully protect your right to just “Shut The Hell Up!”

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