Free to Speak Without Fear? The 2026 Diefenbaker Lecture

On Dominion Day, 1960, in a rare holiday session of Parliament, John Diefenbaker brought his Canadian Bill of Rights to the House of Commons. He began his speech with these words: "I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear..."

Two thirds of a century later, with government subsidies to the media and attempts to regulate the Internet, threats to criminalise many forms of speech, efforts to cancel speakers at our universities and elsewhere, and frequent antisemitic demonstrations in our cities, can we still claim with confidence that we are free Canadians, free to speak without fear?

That is the question Dr. Brian Lee Crowley takes up in the 2026 Diefenbaker Lecture.

About the lecturer. Dr. Crowley is managing director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, which he founded in 2010, and founder of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. He served as Clifford Clark Visiting Economist at the Department of Finance and holds a PhD from the London School of Economics. His books include Fearful Symmetry: The Fall and Rise of Canada's Founding Values.

About the lecture. The Diefenbaker Lecture is held each November by First Freedoms Foundation and Augustine College in honour of John Diefenbaker, whose Canadian Bill of Rights became law on August 10, 1960.

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St. Peter & St. Paul's Anglican Church, 152 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, Canada

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