This week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the lightweight, unpopular elected leader of a country with a 93% vaccination rate for those over 60 and a total vaccination rate of 84%, announced that he would invoke the Emergencies Act in order to crack down on the Freedom Convoy -- a group of protesters opposed to government vaccination mandates for truckers. Trudeau breathily announced that invocation of the law was in fact "reasonable and proportionate." His public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, said that the actions were required thanks to "intimidation, harassment, and expressions of hate."
Why the government would need to invoke emergency powers in order to move some trucks remains beyond understanding; after all, the police had just removed trucks from the Ambassador Bridge, reopening that trade artery with the United States. Meanwhile, provinces across Canada have already begun alleviating their COVID-19 restrictions, from vaccine passports to masking. There is no emergency here that would justify use of the Emergencies Act -- as even the BBC noted, "It is so far unclear which scenario Mr. Trudeau would rely on to justify the use of the Emergency Act -- (the relevant threats have not) been clearly present in Ontario."
Nonetheless, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland explained that the government would be extending laws designed to stop terror funding to now encompass crackdowns on political dissent: "Financial service providers will be able to immediately freeze or suspend an account without a court order. In doing so, they will be protected against civil liability for actions taken in good faith." In plain language, this means that the government of Canada has now empowered banks to freeze accounts who give money to political causes the government doesn't like.
The move to de-bank disfavored political actors has already been gaining steam -- in January 2021, PayPal blocked a Christian crowdfunding site from using its services; the next month, Paypal announced it would work with the Left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center to find users to boot. As one of Paypal's original creators, David Sacks, wrote, "when your name lands on a No-Buy List created by a consortium of private fintech companies, to whom can you appeal?" In Canada, it's worse than that: The de-banking has become government sponsored.
And if Trudeau is able to invoke emergency powers to de-bank his political opponents -- people he has labeled racists simply for opposing his vaccine mandates -- where, precisely, does this end? What's to stop powerful political actors from violating liberties on the same pretext?
The answer, of course, is nothing. And perhaps that's the point: from now on, dissent against Left-wing perspectives may be criminalized. Watch what you say -- your bank account is on the line.
Over the course of the past century, the political Left made a promise: that if they were granted more and more centralized power, they would protect their citizens, particularly during times of emergency. That promise was always a lie, but the pandemic exploded that lie in particularly egregious fashion. This left the Left with two options: to abandon that article of faith, an idea central to their entire worldview; or to persecute heretics. Trudeau, unsurprisingly, has chosen the latter. Emergency powers will be necessary until the people enthusiastically agree that their betters in government ought to rule them.
Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of "The Ben Shapiro Show," and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers "How To Destroy America In Three Easy Steps," "The Right Side Of History," and "Bullies." To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS.COM
26 comments:
Trudeau is right.
I don't think the left has fully analyzed the consequences of freezing people's bank accounts.
But they will.
Lmao @ 2 comments
With every succeeding post, Bill Dees reveals not only his irrelevance, but his total and complete disharmony with common sense. Anybody who advocates the seizing of bank accounts based on account-holder philosophy and protest is beyond nuts.
Ben has to have seen the video of Klaus Schwab making the rounds. Not the one with Joe Rogan and Maajid Nawaz. I mean the one from 2015, where Klaus is bragging at the WEF Young Leadership Summit, about how many former alumni are now World Leaders and named Trudeau specifically. Now, why doesn’t Ben ever name Klaus or the WEF in any of his asinine rants?
Could it be that Ben is nothing more than controlled opposition?
Just want to add to my previous comment. If Bill Maher calls out Klaus Schwab before Ben Shapiro then you can assume that Ben is a disinfo agent of the WEF.
Wow KF! Did you get new marching orders from TPTB instructing you to never again approve comments about the WEF? Especially when they are relevant to Justin Trudeau?
The dawn of western dystopia, i.e. Satan is strong on this Earth.
This would happen here but for the fact that we have a 2nd Amendment, which contrary to what the dems/left/progressives/anti-2A crowd bloviate about, was written to protect us from the government, not hunting.
Canada is a sovereign nation. They have different laws, cultural norms, and government than we do. We have no right to say what is 'tyrannical' or not in their country.
Lmao @ 4 comments
@8:56
By your comment i can tell that you’ve never spoken to many immigrants from Eastern Europe or certainly ne we been to Miami area around the Cuban neighborhoods. My family left Cuba to come here. Justin Truneau is a Castro sympathizer and that alone should get him hung. Again most Canadians Europeans and Americans polled show they oppose this tyranny
Burn in hell Fidel and Justin treudeau… let me guess you believe america has a huge civil rights issue compared to the rest of the world and yet you support China and there Muslim concentration camps. Your a spoiled American academic.
@7:56 AM - Bovine scatology - We have EVERY RIGHT to criticize them, because we have a FIRST AMENDMENT. Canada does not, jack wagon. But you are obviously comfortable with Trudeau criticizing us, right?
I bet those Canadians are regretting staying home on voting day ! Oh wait....this clown won the same was our clown won.
So the general tone of liberal minded mental illness includes justification for the endless influx of immigrants because America should save those particular (democratic voting) folks...but according to Bill Dees and 7:56 we should also mind our own business and let Canada be Canada when they are abusing (not even Conservatives...just pro-freedom and fairness) citizens because its none of our concern.
Basically if it supports the vision that your political party is attempting to achieve, we should tolerate it?
Got it.
So why can't we do this to BLM, ANTIFA, etc. You know, those peaceful protestors that we perceived as rioters, looters, etc.
come on 7:56...you don't expect the green teeth rednecks on this site to know the meaning of "a sovereign nation"....do you?
to bill dees at 8:56.....if you think that little fruit treaudeu is so wonderful why dont you move to canada with whoopee ?
ill buy you a one way ticket. surely the eastern canadians would welcome a man of your intellect
to bill dees at 8:56.....if you think that little fruit treaudeu is so wonderful why dont you move to canada with whoopee ?
ill buy you a one way ticket. surely the eastern canadians would welcome a man of your intellect
How do all of the celebrities that moved to Canada when Trump won the election feel about these events? They did move there, right?
Some say Justin Trudeau is the offspring of Castro and Margaret Trudeau. Canada is about 10 years ahead of U.S. in wokeness, so this type of government behavior is coming to the U.S. 20 years ago I watched the Canadian TV show DeGrassi: The Next Generation which was completely woke as the U.S. is now becoming.
The "speech" trap in Britain, Australia, Canada: "Mind what you think and mind what your neighbor thinks" is more common in USA than some here opine, especially among leftists, urbanists, career bureaucrats, media and teacher-unionists.
Didn't half of Boston sail to England just before our War of Independence reached them as an act of loyalty to a tyrant, but there remained those who hadn't the fare for the trip and we still deal with their resulting spawn of spawn...of obedient slavish spawn.
9:14 AM
What is a redneck?
@1:13
An ignoramus driving a lifted 2WD pickup.
Would a person of high intellect driving a lifted 2WD pickup also be a redneck?
Or does one have to provide proof of low IQ AND drive said pickup to qualify?
to 1:13,if you have to ask that question you are obviously one of the beautiful people from southern california
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