John Dixon

John Dixon teaches philosophy at Capilano College. He serves on the Executive Committee of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. He has a special interest in freedom of expression issues, and has instructed counsel in the line of Little Sisters Bookstore cases since 1985. Dixon is co-author with Stan Persky of On Kiddie Porn: Sexual Representation and the Robin Sharpe Case (New Star, 2001), winner of a $10,000 Donner Prize for best book of the year on Canadian public policy. Four of Dixon’s essays on law and public policy were published this spring in In the Agora: The Public Face of Canadian Philosophy, ed. by Irvine and Russell (U of Toronto). In 2003 he was honoured with a Doctor of Laws Degree from Simon Fraser University in recognition of his contributions to public life. Dixon occasionally writes on topics far removed from civil rights, and a version of the essay reprinted here first appeared in The Globe and Mail newspaper.