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There’s been a concern in Ontario that the Ford government’s new campus free-speech directive could lead to students feeling unsafe or hated.

This worry may be grounded in reality. Indeed, you could argue that part of the reason the directive is needed in the first place is because students have been so mollycoddled, and are so inexperienced with open discussion, that they’ve become trained to feel personally threatened when faced with a differing opinion.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Marni Soupcoff: If only Ontario had kept its free-speech directive simple Back to video

Ontario’s mandate that colleges and universities introduce free-speech policies by the new year is a well-intentioned attempt to combat this problem, and to bring open inquiry and debate back to our institutions of higher learning.

If only the government had kept it simple.

Ontario’s mandate …is a well-intentioned attempt to combat this problem

There was no need to require schools to file yearly reports on their free-speech progress — as Ontario has decided to do.

The problem has been censorship on campus, which is not something you solve with mandated re-education campaigns. At least you shouldn’t.