Freedom to Offend

Freedom to Offend

The Narcotic of Reassurance

Why the Toronto Star’s David Coletto prefers schoolyard taunts to evidence

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Freedom To Offend
Sep 27, 2025
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If you believe in free speech, here’s the bad news: it isn’t actually free. It costs $5 a month. That’s less than the latte you complain about, less than the Netflix shows you’ll never watch, and far cheaper than your last regrettable bar tab.

For that, you get three essays a week, open comments, and the satisfaction of knowing you’re funding uncensored writing in a world addicted to censorship. Everyone says, “It’s just a cup of coffee.” Fine. But here’s the pitch: give me your coffee money and I’ll hand you something stronger—essays with bite, arguments with teeth, and the freedom to say what others won’t.

Subscribe today. Because silence is free—and it’s worth exactly what you paid for it.

The state of Canadian media is a slow-motion tragedy. The Toronto Star? It still fields a half-decent sports section, but beyond the box scores, it’s a padded cell of columnists scribbling the same sermon every week, each mistaking their own hubris for a functioning brain. And if Shree Paradkar is s…

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© 2025 Paul Finlayson
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