PNN – Referring to the announcement of the resignation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the American website explained the state of freedom of expression in Canada and raised the question that with Trudeau gone, will the people of the country seek to revive what remains of free speech in the ruins of the Trudeau government or not.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, Hill’s website wrote: Now that the Trudeau government has announced it will step down as prime minister, Canadians are looking for new leadership after a decade of Trudeau policies.
“Jonathan Trolli”, the author of this article in the Hill, added that in his book “The Inalienable Right: Freedom of Speech in the Age of Anger” he wrote about the collapse of freedom of speech in the Trudeau government.
He added: Canada has long been a country under the influence of America and England. This country has common DNA with both of these countries. In dealing with the issue of freedom of speech, Canada follows the British approach and considers freedom of speech more of a privilege than a right of individuals.
Such a dubious tradition has been exacerbated in the last decade by hostile and offensive attacks carried out by various groups.
In many ways, Canada is a cautionary tale for many in America, the author added, as similar voices of censorship and criminalization are on the rise in America’s universities and Congress.
Hale continued: Trudeau showed his true colors during the suppression of the truckers’ protest against the Covid-19 orders in 2022. The campaign was widely supported by the media. Trudeau activated the 1988 emergency law for the first time to freeze the bank accounts of truckers and their supporters; an action that was condemned by civil liberties groups in Canada.
Trudeau is widely criticized for his policies against free speech; among his actions is the amendment of the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. Based on this, any “communication that expresses disgust or insult to an individual or a group of individuals based on the prohibited evidence of discrimination” is considered a crime.
Despite cracking down on the truckers’ protests, Canada’s parliament extended the prime minister’s emergency powers to allow him to continue harassing and threatening the right wing. Despite widespread opposition, the Liberal Party of Canada (led by Trudeau, the New Democratic Party (NDP) and other allies managed to secure 181 votes to keep authoritarian powers alive in Canada. (Canadian courts later belatedly found Trudeau’s powers unconstitutional.)
Many of the same legislators then tried to increase the punishment for some speech crimes to life imprisonment.
One of the saddest comic moments for Canada happened last year; When the Trudeau government blocked the citizenship of Russian dissident Maria Kartasheva because of her conviction in Russia. The Canadian government informed Kartasheva that her conviction in Russia was consistent with a misinformation criminal offense in Canada.
With Trudeau stepping down from power, the question is now, what path will Canadians choose to restore freedom of speech to their country?