Few things are more precious in a democratic society than individual freedom, and few things are easier to take for granted. In this timely, provocative essay, Philip Slayton argues that Canada, in ways large and small, is frittering away the liberties on which a free and open society depends.

We give too much power to our politicians and unelected judges. We paper over our divisions and stifle voices that challenge conventional wisdom. We tolerate inaction on the most pressing issues of the day. It is time, writes Slayton, for Canadians to throw off their self-imposed chains, to stand up and fight for what we believe in before we lose our ability to do so—a prospect, he warns, that is far more likely than we realize.

Born in England and raised in Manitoba, PHILIP SLAYTON is a Canadian lawyer and the former dean of law at the University of Western Ontario. He is the best-selling author of Lawyers Gone Bad: Money, Sex and Madness in Canada’s Legal Profession, and Mighty Judgment: How the Supreme Court of Canada Runs Your Life, among other books. A Rhodes Scholar, he has been a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and President of PEN Canada. Married to the writer Cynthia Wine, he lives in Toronto and Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia.

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