It was made clear to Ms Coulter well in advance of her visit that the Canadian definition of free speech is different from the Manichean version enjoyed by the US. It is patently illogical to say you "do or don't" have free speech. Social pressures, constraints of incitement to violence, boundaries concerning sedition and the threat of violence, etc., all combine to make the state of freedomness of speech a relative thing. It is a general consensus that absolute free speech (including anti-social speech such as yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater or inciting people to assassinate government employees or people of certain races or creeds) is not workable.

A