“The most fundamental freedom in Canada is the privilege of thought, belief, opinion, and expression. Let me explain. This freedom summarizes most of the other freedoms, including freedom of conscience, religion, to speak English or French, even peaceful assembly. Canadians have the right to say anything about the government. They are allowed to share their thoughts, and opinions about the government. They cannot be put in jail or be killed for their thoughts and opinions about the government. However, some countries used to have – and still have – this problem. In the novel, Breaking Stalin’s Nose, the Chairman used to put the people into jail or kill them if they said anything unpleasant about the government.
“Of course, there are limitations to this fundamental freedom. No injuring others, no endangering others, and no being mean to others, including animals. For example, do not hit others, do not carry guns in public, do not swear in public. No one can use their freedom to injure or be mean. They should not say they were using their freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression to hurt others.” – Gunit in grade six
The Most Important Freedom
“The most important fundamental freedom is the right to think your thoughts and opinions, believe in your own beliefs, and be able to express yourself. This is the most important freedom because almost all other important freedoms can be included in this one freedom. For example, the freedom of conscience and religion falls into thought, opinion, belief, and expression. Another example is the freedom of peaceful assembly, which will go into the thought and expression category. There are many more rights that fall under this one. The freedom of the press and media fall into the freedom of thought, opinion, and expression. Freedom of association falls into the freedom of thought and opinion. The freedom to speak English or french in all government institutes is under opinion and expression. The freedom of being able to vote and participate in fair elections comes under thought, opinion, and expression.
“Of course, everything has limits. So does this freedom. There are three main limits to this freedom. Number one: do not endanger anyone. This includes animals. For instance, during this pandemic, if someone comes to your house, that would be endangering you and your family. If someone has a weapon in public, that would be endangering others. Number two: no being unkind towards others. If you call someone names or do something hurtful to someone it would be unkind. The third and final limit is no injuring others. This also includes animals. Injuring others does not count as expressing yourself. These are the limits in Canada because we believe that peace is the most important thing, even though the most important fundamental freedom is the right to think your thoughts and opinions, believe in your own beliefs, and being able to express yourself.” – Tamisha in grade six
Freedom
“The most important freedom in Canada is the freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression. For instance, many freedoms can be included in this right. Let me explain. Freedom of conscience and religion can be included in freedom of thought and opinion. The freedom of religion can be put into the freedom of belief. The freedom of peaceful assembly can be part of expressing your thoughts and opinions. Another important freedom is to be able to petition the government to redress grievances, but since this freedom includes having a thought and opinion to fairly deal with injustices, it can be included, too. So, as you can see, many other freedoms can be a part of this fundamental one, meaning this freedom is really the right with the most benefits.
“Of course, there are limitations to this freedom. The limits of this great freedom include no endangering others by carrying any weapons without a permit or any sharp objects that can harm others. This leads us to the second limit, which is no injuring others. You cannot hurt somebody and claim it was allowed because you wanted to express yourself. Reckless driving can also endanger people and possibly injure someone. Another limit is not to be mean to others, not to say mean words, hurting people’s feelings, mocking them or making fun of them. No sending mean texts or messages on the internet. When expressing yourself, do it the right way. Most certainly, do not hurt others in any shape or form. Even though you have the freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression. ” – Ravneet
Freedom
“The most fundamental freedom is the freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression. Let me explain. This primary freedom is important because it sums up all the other freedoms. Without this right, most of the other freedoms are invalid. For example, freedom of conscience and religion goes into thought and expression. This primary freedom is also important because if you have no opinion or expression, you can’t vote or make a decision. If you have no beliefs, you can’t practise your religion. Many more rights go into this fundamental freedom: the right to speak other languages, the right to disagree with the government, the right to participate in a fair vote and the right to enter and leave our country.
“Of course, there are limitations to this freedom. You may not endanger others. For example, you cannot carry guns. Right now, you may not peacefully assemble due to the dangers of Covid-19. You can have peaceful protests, but you may not riot. You should also not injure others, including animals. Do not drive on the wrong side of the road because you could get into an accident. Do not threaten others or hit them. Do not be mean to others. Do not say, “I hate you,” and then say that you have freedom of opinion. This also applies to social media: Do not cyberbully someone on Twitter or Facebook. Do not say something that hurts other people. Do not lie about other people and make them look bad. In conclusion, the most fundamental freedom is the freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression.” – Mehtab
Freedom In Canada
“There are many rights and freedoms in Canada, but the most important right is freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression. All other rights cannot be enjoyed if we do not have this basic freedom. Freedom to peacefully assemble, for instance, comes under freedom of thought and expression. Freedom to speak English or French in all federal institutions is a part of freedom of opinion and expression. Freedom of conscience and religion is a part of freedom of belief and expression. Freedom to petition the government is also a part of freedom of expression. Freedom to participate in fair elections is only possible if people have freedom of opinion and expression. If we did not have freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression, then we would not be allowed to think for ourselves. For example, in Stalinist Russia, the people didn’t have this freedom; therefore they were forced to say that they liked the government. In China, nowadays, people are also forced to say that they like the government because they don’t have freedom of opinion.
“However, there are limits to our freedom in Canada. Firstly, nobody is allowed to injure others, including animals. Nobody is allowed to hit somebody or call them names because they feel angry, even though that could be considered as freedom of expression. Nobody is allowed to hurt others mentally or physically, saying that they are using their freedom of belief, opinion, and expression. Secondly, nobody is allowed to endanger others, including animals, because of their actions. For example, nobody is allowed to carry guns, without a permit, because that could endanger other people’s safety. These two limitations – not injuring and not endangering others – justly restrict our rights in Canada and should be respected. Freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression is important because without this fundamental right, we would not be living in a democratic society today.” – Gurmuskaan, grade six
