To the Editor:
I don’t recall signing anything that gives the current Harper Conservative government the right to give away my freedom as a Canadian. I don’t recall directing my Kootenay-Columbia MP to restrict my freedoms as a Canadian so that perceived terrorist activities can be curtailed. Did we pass martial law and I missed the news that night? Or was the media mesmerized by a loss of human rights in another country and felt that story superseded my need to know about what was going on right here in my nation? Either way, true to recent form, there has been no “real” debate in the House of Commons regarding the details of the bill and that very much concerns me. We appear to have a prime minister who is using fear-mongering to achieve his own agenda. It certainly is not my agenda. Or my neighbour’s. It is a Stephen Harper agenda. Much of what has transpired in Ottawa in recent years has been legislation of this type. So why should I be concerned about this, you ask?
With Bill 51, I have now a newfound concern about what I say in private as well as in public. Will it place me on a watchlist? Should I monitor what sites I visit on the Internet because I may be invaded by CSIS in what I thought was the privacy of my own home? Should I listen for telltale “clicks” on my home phone indicating that I am being tapped by federal authorities? Should I be “on guard for thee” — and by that I am referring to avoidance and covering up of my opinions in case Big Brother is watching and poised to enter my home, seize my computer and place me under arrest because I am making anti-government comments? Because I could be perceived to be fraternizing with what the government considers to be dangerous elements?
My Canada is gone. Not by the actions of a few who are supposedly threatening my freedom. But by the very head of our own government who is hell-bent to destroy everything Canada stands for. Everything that past and current veterans have fought to protect. Freedom. Rights. Democratic honesty. We are indeed under attack and drastic means are necessary. By that, I am referring to getting this person who thinks he is above the rest of us out. Out of office, out of Parliament and out of politics. And in so doing, we will rid ourselves of the American influence on behalf of whom he postures.
Yes, it is time for more careful scrutiny. For seeing intent before intent becomes reality. But it was time for this three terms ago. Before we allowed this person to claim such powers and do so much damage. To use lies and subterfuge to take away our freedoms. It is my sincere hope that Canadians will look back on this dark time and realize how quickly and how without defense we can lose everything.
Canyon