From: djones@CIM.McGill.CA (David Jones) Newsgroups: alt.censorship,alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk,can.general Subject: Re: Decision made to arbitrarily censor Usenet at McGill Date: 2 Feb 1994 13:04:33 -0500 Organization: Centre for Intelligent Machines, McGill University Lines: 45 Message-ID: <2iopvh$co2@ghost.McRCIM.McGill.EDU> References: <2i18kh$cvm@eff.org> In article , John McCarthy wrote: >Americans reading this sad news about Canadian censorship should take >comfort in the fact that our Constitution contains an explicit Bill >of Rights, and by gradual court decisions it has been extended to >provide a basis for lawsuits against policies at Government supported >universities like Toronto and McGill. Moreover, the existence of the >Bill of Rights has substantially intimidated administrators at private >universities that may not be legally bound by the Bill of Rights. Canadians reading this sad news about Canadian censorship should be *concerned* about the fact that, although our Constitution contains an explicit "Charter of Rights and Freedoms", by gradual court decisions it has been *eroded* to reduce the basis for lawsuits against policies at Government supported universities like Toronto and McGill. Moreover, the existence of the notorious "escape clause" (1) in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has substantially *emboldened* administrators at private *and* public universities that consider their policies a "reasonable limit" to the Rights and Freedoms "guaranteed" in the Charter. From the Charter: ----------------- Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms 1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. ------ The complete Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is available on the EFC gopher: gopher ee470.ee.mcgill.ca Community Information/ EFC - Electronic Frontier Canada/ Charter... ------- >-- >John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA 94305 David Jones, CS Phd, Stanford '91