In Canada, we believe in protecting the strength of our democracy.

We know that the strength of our democracy depends on the right to free speech, including dissent and advocacy. And we know that the ability of the people to express dissent and advocate alternatives to government policy in turn depends on the extent to which the government remains transparent.

If the government fails to remain transparent, the people do not have the knowledge they need to hold the government to account.

In recent years, successive governments have failed to be fully transparent. For example, the Prime Minister tightly controls media relations, Ministers deliberately and systematically avoid the press, access to information requests are undermined with unprecedented delays, and a slew of scandals have plagued the government's reputation on transparency, such as the Afghan torture scandal, the KAIROS defunding scandal, the jet spending scandal, and so on.

Furthermore, Canadian individuals, organizations, and institutions for knowledge that have attempted to provide Canadians with the information they need to hold the government to account have been punished, maligned, and silenced.

The Voices-Voix Coalition is committed to reversing this trend.

We envision a Canada in which the government doesn't deny full and rapid access to information, or punish Canadians who seek to provide the public with the information we need to hold the government to account, but instead remains fully transparent, thus enabling the democratic space, dissent and advocacy that keep our democracy strong.