Remember being in school and learning about how horrible it
was that the Russian government controlled the media? We heard the word Pravda,
and learned it was about propaganda and a corrupt government. Remember how
horrified you were when, a few years later, you studied about how a man named
Adolf Hitler was elected to public office, and about how under his regime the
poor and challenged were persecuted, how books and scientific data were
destroyed, about how people were persecuted because they weren’t part of the
perfect race? We shook our heads in disbelief because in our world, in our
Canada, this could never happen. Remember when elections were discussed, and
how in some countries the process was fatally flawed, making a mockery of the
entire exercise as blatant election fraud ruled the day? Canadians were called
in to help organize and oversee elections because of this, because we so valued
the ability to make that little X on a piece of paper. Remember learning that
in some places in the world, to speak your mind or to stand up for what was
right was a sure death sentence, or at the very least a ticket to jail, with no
legal process, for a lot of years? We actually scoffed at that. In Canada,
individual voices and opinions would always be welcome, and if someone stepped
out of line, if someone broke the rules by trying to silence us or lock us
away, we simply would not let that happen. We were Canadians. We were proud,
and we had reason to be.
Canada had the model health care system. We had one of the
best education systems in the world. We were innovate, warm, caring members of
society. Other countries talked the talk about equality and inclusion, about
fairness, welcoming the downtrodden, feeding the tired and hungry; Canada
walked the walk. When we said we would send disaster aid to countries in the
midst of disaster, we actually sent the money. When we sent Canadian men and women
to protect and defend, promising to take care of them and their families
because of our respect and gratitude for their sacrifice, we lived by our bond.
When other countries needed peacekeepers and mediators, we were the go-to guys,
because we respected human life and humanity. We said those horrible things
that happened in other countries, in those backward countries run by greedy war
mongers and thuggish dictators, could never happen here, because we knew daily,
intimately, thoroughly that the rights and the lifestyle we enjoyed had been
secured for us through the blood, sweat, and lives of other Canadians, and
there was no way in hell we would let them down, or gamble with that precious
gift they gave us. No, this could not happen; not in Our Canada.
Well, now it’s all reality. The mere fact that I write this
blog, once bill C-51 passes, means that I am... wait for it... a terrorist. Let
that soak in for a minute then consider how we got to this point in our world.
The mere mention that our government is wrong, and that we should not sit idly
by as absolutely everything Canada has stood for, and that Canadians have died
for, makes me... a terrorist. Because of this, once bill C-51 passes, I will
not be entitled to any of my legal rights. They can tap my phone, bug my house,
park drones outside my windows, intercept my emails and every private
conversation I have now, requiring no legal justification and with absolutely
no oversight from any judge, because I am involved in terrorist activity. The
government, when asked for a definition of terrorism, thuggishly told us we
should ‘look it up’. Stalin would be giddy! When it was said that ‘of course
legal protest’ would not be included, then why is that not stated in the Bill?
When asked questions about the bill, we are called unpatriotic and it is
claimed that we love terrorists... because we are their brethren. How better to
silence anyone who disagrees with your policies or what you are doing to Our
Canada than to create a law that allows you to circumvent all other laws. We
ridicule countries where bloggers are sent to prison for blogging, where
kangaroo courts are the order of the day because the judges are in the despots’
pockets. We marvel that there are still countries where people are imprisoned
without cause but because they state to someone else a truth, yet we now allow
this in Canada?
Terrorism is a political red herring. Wake the hell up, people. The
attacks in Ottawa in the fall of 2014 were NOT terrorism. The provisions in
Bill C-51 are NOT about terrorism and will do nothing new to stop it. The
authorities already have the tools, the laws and the means to do their jobs.
C-51 is about silencing Canadians, about making us completely impotent to
change our situations or to hold the government to account. C-51 is about controlling
people, allowing them to be locked away without cause, without a warrant,
without regard for any legal right or precedent. Yeah, ISIS exists. Ask
yourself why. In your answer, you will find a large part of the solution. ISIS
exists because our governments let it. War is money – governments know this.
Yes, it costs you and me, the taxpayers a lot of money, and yes, there are
those who pay much more with their lives and their limbs, but war exists
because there is good, easy money to make. All you have to do is fling around
the word ‘Patriotism’ and you can shame people into letting you do anything.
If the governments wanted to stop ISIS, they would simply
turn off the tap. That’s the first step. Stop supplying our ‘friends’ in Saudi
Arabia with weapons, money, and military equipment. Oh, wait... even though we
KNOW they are providing supplies to ISIS, we just signed another deal with
them... even though it is supposed to be illegal for people in our country to
sell any of this shit to any country that has a questionable human rights
record. We did it anyway... brokered by our government... despite our own laws
and our own intelligence. Stop giving these countries money for their oil –
invest in green and alternate energies. This one is a no-brainer. If they don’t
have the oil money coming in, they shrivel up and die. The investment in
alternate energies and green energies, also creates jobs at home, and that
works a long way to the other key component – respect. Respect other religions,
other people, and they have no reason to hate us. Address the issue of
disenfranchisement, of mental health care, of environmental destruction, of a rapidly growing poor population
and give them a reason to now look for alternatives to survive, other than to take drastic steps to stop the government.
Take away the reason for people to want to terrorize us, instead of adding a
dozen more reasons for it.
Terrorism is convenient though. It scares people, and scared
people are blind people. We’re so busy running that we can’t take the time to
turn around and see what the hell we’re running from. It’s convenient for
governments to rule through fear – there is a long list of thugs who have done
that through the centuries. It’s a well-known tactic. If we look at the scary
terrorists, we don’t see the failing the economy, the growing cronyism, the
patronage, the abuse of power, the disregard for human and legal rights, the
destruction of democracy, the lack of jobs, the lack of education and health
care, the growing prisons and the money they generate for so few, the
burgeoning profits of the banks and the oil companies. We so busy being afraid
of beards, and gathering places, and pieces of clothing, and books, that we
absolutely are not looking at what we should really be fearing, before it’s too
late. Sadly, the process adds justification and feeds the terrorists, and the new
definitions of what terrorism now is absolutely insults those who have lost
their lives fighting real terrorists.
Not in my Canada? That was the dream. Now it is the
nightmare, The only way to stop it is to risk everything – by speaking out.
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