“Cancel Culture”

In a free society, should government-owned facilities be available only to people who hold the “right” opinions? The Superior Court of Quebec has given a clear “non.” Justice Alain Trudel has ordered Quebec Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx to pay $60,637 in general and punitive damages to Harvest Ministries International after she ordered the cancellation of its contract to use the Centre des congrès de Québec for a Christian conference.

This case is about whether government officials can use their control over public property to censor (and effectively punish) citizens who hold what are deemed controversial opinions.

The recent backlash against a now-retracted Amnesty International report on “the anti-rights movement in the U.K.” can be considered a case study in Canadian complacency.

Here’s what happened: On July 8, Amnesty International published a report naming dozens of registered charities, businesses and groups they accused of forming an “anti-rights movement targeting the rights of women and LGBT+ people in the U.K.” The report categorized these actors as either anti-abortion, “ultra-conservative” Christian, involved in “conversion practices,” or gender critical. The list included lesbian and gay groups, like Gay Men’s Network UK, and Lesbian Strength, as well as For Women Scotland (the group responsible for the landmark U.K. Supreme Court ruling stating that women are female) and even Beira’s Place, a women’s crisis centre founded by J.K. Rowling. The groups were accused of “fostering moral panic” with an “aim … to restrict human rights by undermining human rights protections in law and practice.”

Peaceful protest is a right that was exercised by some (not all!) of the demonstrators at Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia on Wednesday afternoon, July 15 — the location where Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston was speaking to the Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce about his government’s economic plans.

Complaints ranged from local library closures to Mi’kmaq treaty rights and marijuana sales to environmental concerns around potential fracking and (uranium) mining. 

CBC Nova Scotia #NovaScotia Premier Tim Houston was in Wolfville on Wednesday when protesters surrounded his vehicle, smashing the glass. This happened following a speech to the Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce. The CBC’s Michael Gorman reports #Good pic.twitter.com/JQG8IN46kD

— DecolonizeMyself (@DecolonizeMyse1) July 15, 2026

This summer, thousands of teenagers taking one of the UK’s most popular English A-level courses will have the opportunity to write about George Orwell’s groundbreaking exploration of poverty and homelessness.

Down and Out in Paris and London, published in 1933, is still lauded for its unflinching depictions of destitution. One contemporary described it as “a genuine human document, which at the same time is written with so much artistic force that, in spite of the squalor and degradation thus unfolded, the result is curiously beautiful with the beauty of an accomplished etching on copper”.

The Guildhall Museum in Rochester exists, in part, to present the work of one of the greatest writers in the English language, Charles Dickens, to the public. It will come as no surprise to discover that in 2026, this consists of denouncing him. Dickens had an “idea of racial superiority”, according to internal guidance produced by the museum. “Today we reject his views… Dickens’s views on race can have no place in our society,” it adds, pointing to “a vociferous intolerance which he expressed in grossly offensive terms”.