Juno News - February 06, 2021Canadians’ rights are at risk
Episode Stats
Words per minute
163.66525
Summary
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees us all the freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom of movement. Somehow, governments across the country have managed to ignore the Charter and impose restrictions on all those freedoms. But governments aren t done yet. Federal Heritage Minister Stephen Gilbo introduced Bill C-10 in November, and it's working its way through readings in Parliament.
Transcript
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There's been a steady erosion of our rights since the pandemic began.
00:00:09.240
It has evolved from restricting our freedoms to mandating masks.
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The Toronto Police took it a step further in the past few weeks as they arrested some people
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just exercising their right to free speech while participating in anti-lockdown protests in downtown Toronto.
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The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees us all the freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom of movement.
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Somehow governments across the country have managed to ignore the Charter and impose restrictions on all those freedoms.
00:00:40.180
Federal Heritage Minister Stephen Gilbo introduced B-C10 in November,
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and it's working its way through readings in Parliament, such as it is.
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This week, Gilbo appeared before the Standing Committee on Heritage to explain the legislation and what's coming,
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which is two more aspects of the law expected to be introduced in the spring.
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But Gilbo also let slip a couple of tidbits of information which should chill everyone.
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One of the stated aims is to ferret out hate speech.
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Who will determine what constitutes hate speech is yet to be seen, and who is the arbiter.
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It totally ignores the fact there are already hate speech provisions in the criminal code.
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But it's not just hate speech, although that's nebulous enough.
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Gilbo also said his monitors will be looking for speech that causes harm, which in itself is not defined.
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But it seems to include any speech on social media that causes offense.
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And as with anything else, offense is in the eye of the beholder.
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Gilbo also said his speech enforcers will be able to levy fines to companies and individuals who breach the rules.
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The potential for government overreach in all of this is huge.
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As the government continues to flub their COVID response,
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and God knows whatever they are doing to provide vaccines to Canada,
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it's hard to know why something like this is a priority.
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The rights of Canadians will seemingly continue to be eroded.
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There is no provision in the Charter to suspend any provision of the law.
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It is the paramount law of the land and supersedes all others.
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Yet governments continue to push the boundaries,
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even though any breach of the Charter is clearly against the law.
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What Gilbo is pushing is clearly just another breach of our rights.
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Thus far, though, no one seems to be making much of any noise.
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He had barely been in Ottawa a month when he found himself with his feet underneath the cabinet table.
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He hasn't done anything of note in his life other than being an environmental activist.
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His most notable achievement was staging a protest where he was part of a team that scaled the CN Tower.
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I really enjoyed that photograph of him in an orange jumpsuit after being handcuffed by Toronto police.