Censorship in the Great White North

From the Great White North comes news that should make all Americans thankful for the First Amendment. Canada's Liberal Party government currently finds itself embroiled in a corruption scandal dubbed "Adscam". As a special commission investigates the issue, the Canadian government has imposed a publication ban on the testimony of three key individuals involved in the scandal. This raises a major conflict of interest, as it gives the ruling Liberals the opportunity to call for a snap election before the report of the investigating commission is made public. Unfortunately for the government, this kind of censorship is increasingly untenable in the Internet era.

While all Canadian media, including blogs, have been threatened with legal action if they violate the ban, American blogs, led by the indefatigable Captain's Quarters have taken up the story. In particular, Winds of Change has published a great overview of the scandal. Also at WOC, Dan Darling has a roundup of the latest developments.

With the testimony in question now available to anyone with Internet access, whatever feeble justification there was for the publication ban is now gone. The ban is a ridiculous example of censorship, and should be lifted.