Former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Peckford, the last living first minister who negotiated the constitution, has been repeatedly denied opportunities to explain what it means..Peckford shared his frustrations in a recent post on his Wordpress blog Peckford42 which he shared with his email list. The most recent incident included the denial of an opportunity to speak to a university law class, which was first initiated by a student..“Well, the student was quite excited and was under the impression that the Professor would endorse the idea. When the student approached the Prof about the idea he seemed interested and said he would call me and work out the details,” Peckford explained..“Aware of the strange world we now inhabit I contacted the student to remind him that he should make sure his professor has the endorsement of his bosses on the idea.”.Surprise! Or not — Peckford couldn’t speak after all..“The student has since contacted me to say that the opportunity for me to speak has been denied. The student explained that in the days leading up to the Professor‘s answer the Prof seemed aloof and avoiding him,” Peckford said..According to the blog post, the student wrote Peckford verbatim to say, “To my surprise my professor hinted strongly at the fact that the university had not approved of your presentation, and he had not reached out to you.”.Peckford hoped last fall to speak to the Federal Court regarding a constitutional challenge to the pandemic travel bans. The hearings, launched by the legal action of Peckford and Maxime Bernier, were originally set for September 19, but adjourned at the request of the Trudeau government. On October 21, ten days before the rescheduled hearing date, the court issued a short decision saying the applications were moot and would not be heard..On his blog, Peckford outlined less famous refusals..“Of course, this follows other like rejections this past year including the local high school where approval had been given for me to speak but withdrawn two days before the event , the local Mayor rejecting my offer to brief the city council, and the local Provincial Legislative Representative who put obstacles in the way of me providing my constitutional position on Provincial Mandates and the history of The Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the Provincial Government caucus,” Peckford wrote..“Such is the state of freedom of speech and hence democracy in our country today, one with which sadly, it seems, many Canadians are in agreement.”.Peckford also expressed sadness at the naiveite of Canadians regarding their country’s institutions..“Sadly, there are many Canadians who still believe this kind of thing does not happen in this country. Some would even doubt my honesty in the matter or that surly (sic) there much (sic) be something more to it,” he wrote..“Well, there is not!!”
