All the political parties in the upcoming election are talking about the economy, the environment, tax cuts, foreign policy and so on. But one issue we don’t hear enough about is the erosion of our rights and freedoms. If we lose them, then it won’t matter whether we have elections at all. Our democracy will have disappeared.

 Recent Events are Disturbing

 If you’ve been following the national news, you probably remember some of the incidents I’m about to describe. The federal government told us we had to agree with their views on abortion, gay marriage, and euthanasia if we wanted to get Summer Work grant funding for our churches and their support groups. In Victoria,city council decided that any memory of Sir John A McDonald and his link to residential schools had to be eliminated. So they removed his statue from city hall !

Remember Christian pastor David Lynn who tried to share the gospel on Toronto streets? He angered some LGBTQ people living nearby. They accosted him and called him nasty names and then called the police. Who got arrested? The Christian pastor of course! Does that seem right to you? So much for our rights to free speech, peaceful assembly and religious expression.

 When the euthanasia debate raged in Parliament, some MPs wanted to guarantee conscience rights for medical professionals who did not want to perform assisted suicide. The government blocked every attempt to put this into legislation. Another brick fell in the citadel of democracy.

 These are just the more obvious incidents. There are many more. Unfortunately, this short essay doesn’t permit us to list them all. The important thing to remember here is that this situation is incredibly serious! We are losing our democracy and that’s not right !

 Our Government Uses Our Own Money to Shut Us Down

 Last year the federal government gave media outlets $600 million of your tax dollars. Why did they do that? They said they needed to help out an ailing  national industry. But what they really wanted to do was bribe the left leaning media to support them. They know, as you do, that the mainstream media covers events from a left leaning pro government perspective. Do you think that is right? Absolutely not!

 What Should We Do About This?

 A democratic election gives us the opportunity to send a message to the political power structure of our nation. Make sure that you challenge candidates about the erosion of your rights and freedoms. You can do this in many ways: by writing letters to the editor, posing challenging questions at all candidates meetings and initiating face to face interactions with political figures. Also, please continue to support groups like Freedom Defence Canada. Our organization is dedicated to getting the word out to Canadians about the serious problems facing our country. Tell your government, and any political organization failing to uphold the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that it’s time to wake up and change their behavior.

 The Most Important Issue

 There’s no doubt about it. The most important issue in this election is the erosion of our rights and freedoms. Think long and hard about it. It’s so important! Study the platforms of the various parties. Understand what they are advocating and above all,  Vote! because every vote counts in what could be tightest election in Canada’s history. Vote for the party that will best support your rights as a Canadian citizen. And if you are not prepared to do so, then don’t complain about the kind of country Canada will become after the election is over and the dust has settled.

 Reed Elley

Chair       

Freedom Defence Canada