Defence Of Free Speech Must Be Absolute

There's not much that seems to faze Alan Borovoy when it comes to his infallible belief in a person's right to free speech in Canada.
Groups that bash gays, women or religious organizations may be repugnant, but democracies must allow them to speak freely, insists Borovoy, the general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association who will give a speech in Edmonton on Wednesday.

But even for a 40-year veteran of the civil liberties movement, the ideals of free speech can occasionally clash with the realities of one's heart. For Borovoy, such a clash occurred when the CCLA defended Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel's right not to be muzzled.

"I was bothered by the number of Holocaust survivors I knew who would be hurt by what I was saying," says Borovoy, 75.
"To know the things I was saying were so hurtful to people who had suffered so much already -- that bothered me."
But that's still no reason not to support Zundel's rights, he says, immediately afterwards.

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