Democracy

Criminal Justice
Shaping criminal charges, bail decisions or prison sentences around an accused person’s political or religious beliefs is utterly odious – a hallmark of tinpot tyrannies and totalitarian hellholes. Such practices have no place in any constitutional nation, let alone a mature democracy that presents itself as a model to the world. But that is increasingly the situation in Canada, writes Gwyn Morgan. Comparing the treatment of protesters accused of minor infractions to those of incorrigible criminals who maim and kill, Morgan finds a yawning mismatch that suggests political motivations are increasingly a factor in today’s criminal justice system.
West vs. the Rest?
Western countries have thrown no end of kind words, large sums of money and aid, and a considerable panoply of armaments into helping Ukraine survive Russia’s invasion. All accompanied by unending Angst. Could Ukraine go too far with that latest weapons shipment? What might Vladimir Putin be thinking? Can we help him engineer a dignified way out of Ukraine? How much land should Ukraine give up? Perhaps, suggests Borys M. Kowalsky, the West should instead mount a more serious effort to understand Putin not through psychological projection but according to Putin’s words and deeds. Clearly evaluating the aggressor, Kowalsky proposes, is critical to developing a counter-strategy that is realistic, achievable and responsible – helping Ukraine survive while avoiding nuclear war.
Democracy Undermined
During the October Crisis in 1970, Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, a draconian response that relied on the use of force and suspension of civil liberties to quash separatist terrorism. At least that was a real crisis – with bombings and murders. Fifty years later, in the face of peaceful and at times even joyful protests in Ottawa, Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, giving his Cabinet extraordinary powers to declare literally any act to be criminal. Now Trudeau is evading accountability using the very Cabinet secrecy law his father brought about. Christine Van Geyn explores the dark symmetry of father and son: of heavy-handed government overreach, civil rights abuse, and the use of secrecy laws to avoid oversight, and explains her organization’s current court challenge – headed for a hearing later this month – of Trudeau Jr.’s disturbing practices.
Creeping Authoritarianism
To hear their ads tell it, Canada’s banks share your values, respect your business and want you to feel very, very comfortable leaving your money with them. That is, until the federal government tells them otherwise. Such was the case in February during the Emergencies Act, when Ottawa told the banks to freeze the accounts of their beloved customers and the banks meekly complied – afterwards claiming hardly anyone even objected to the move. Peter Shawn Taylor reveals how Canada’s chartered banks allowed themselves to become the tip of Justin Trudeau’s spear in his campaign against Canadians who supported last winter’s Freedom Convoy. Perhaps, as one credit union ad now declares, “It’s Time to Unlike Your Bank.”
Democracy or Dictatorship?
The world’s nations have endured and discarded dictators and despots of virtually every shape, size and ruling style since the dawn of organized society – only to have them reappear in new form. In the early 1990s it briefly seemed that the era of the dictator had ended for good. That dream proved tragically illusory, as country after country has found out. Might not even Canada be immune? Was our nation recently saved by the bell, or was this just a brief reprieve? Dictators take many forms, after all, including the visage of grinning buffoon who seems happiest dressed in ludicrous costumes. How could such a thing occur during a pandemic through which we were “all in this together”? Gwyn Morgan employs the droll form of the traditional folk tale to remind us of what has come to pass and to issue an all-too serious warning.
The International Scene
As Canada’s Conservatives evaluate leadership hopefuls and ponder what their party is about and which path might lead to electoral victory, it’s easy to ignore international politics. They should take a look, for the world holds dozens of established centre-right democratic parties, and many are tackling challenges of relevance and adaptation at least as steep as those burdening Canada’s Conservatives. John Weissenberger travelled to Washington, D.C. for the annual conference of the International Democrat Union (IDU) and provides his assessment in this essay. Later this year, once international travel is restored, Weissenberger heads to Vienna to deepen his understanding at the IDU’s 2020 Forum.
Charter Rights
A French schoolteacher was beheaded for showing his class cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed. This barbaric act has finally compelled Justin Trudeau to defend free speech, reversing his previous equivocation. Fergus Hodgson warns that government and the media are already complicit in restricting speech under such guises as “hate speech,” “discrimination” and “misgendering.”
Book Review
Ronald Reagan never wavered in his conviction that America was a great country that would prevail over enemies of democracy and freedom. His fundamental optimism and determination carried his nation to victory over the Soviet “evil empire” and his personal rags-to-riches experience breathed new life into the venerable American dream of limited government, personal liberty, and individual self-reliance. Sadly, Reagan’s current successor governs on the premise that America is no longer great, and he has no discernible, consistent convictions about anything. Mark Milke laments the loss of U.S. self-confidence, and leadership, in a review of a new book about the “Great Communicator”.

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