Steve Harper announces freedom of speech no longer exists in Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, January 8, 2015, on Charlie Hebdo shootings:

“When a trio of hooded men struck at some of our most cherished democratic principles, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, they assaulted democracy everywhere . . . They have declared war on anybody who does not think and act exactly as they wish they would think and act . . . . they have declared war on any country, like ourselves, that values freedom, openness and tolerance.”

CBC, today:

“Ottawa threatening hate charges against those who boycott Israel”

The Harper government is signaling its intention to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups that encourage boycotts of Israel.

Such a move could target a range of civil society organizations, from the United Church of Canada and the Canadian Quakers to campus protest groups and labour unions.

If carried out, it would be a remarkably aggressive tactic, and another measure of the Conservative government’s lockstep support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. . . .

The government’s intention was made clear in a response to inquiries from CBC News about statements by federal ministers of a “zero tolerance” approach to groups participating in a loose coalition called Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS), which was begun in 2006 at the request of Palestinian non-governmental organizations.

Asked to explain what zero tolerance means, and what is being done to enforce it, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney replied, four days later, with a detailed list of Canada’s updated hate laws, noting that Canada has one of the most comprehensive sets of such laws “anywhere in the world.”Has a #JeSuisBDS hashtag started trending yet on Twitter? Under the new Charlie Hebdo standard — it’s not enough to defend free speech; one must praise and even express the speech targeted with suppression — have all of the newfound free speech crusaders begun organizing pro-Israel-boycott rallies in order to defy these suppression efforts? In a zillion years, could anyone imagine the popularity-craving officials who run PEN America bestowing one of their glamorous awards on advocates of the Israel-targeted Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions movement? The answer to all of those questions is and will remain “no,” because (as I discussed last weekhere with Bob Wright) the Charlie Hebdo ritual (for most, not all) was about many agendas having nothing to do with the free expression banner under which it paraded.

In that regard, Stephen Harper is the perfect Poster Boy for how free expression is tribalistically manipulated and exploited in the West. When the views being suppressed are ones amenable to those in power (e.g., cartoons mocking Islam), free speech is venerated; attempts to suppressthose kinds of ideas show that “they have declared war on any country, like ourselves, that values freedom, openness and tolerance.” We get to celebrate ourselves as superior and progressive and victimized, and how good that feels. But when ideas are advocated that upset those in power (e.g. speech by Muslims critical of Western nations and their allies), the very same people acquiesce to, or expressly endorse, full-scale suppression. Thus can the Canadian Prime Minister pompously parade around as some sort of Guardian of Enlightenment Ideals only, three months later, to act like the classic tyrant.As I’ve argued many times — most comprehensively here — all applications of hate speech laws are inherently tyrannical, dangerous and wrong, and it’s truly mystifying (and scary) that people convince themselves that their judgment is so unerring and their beliefs so sacrosanct that it should be illegal to question or dissent from them. But independent of that, what we see here again is the utter foolishness of endorsing such laws on pragmatic grounds: they will inevitably be used against not just the ideas you hate but the ones you like, and when that happens, if you cheered when such laws were used to suppress the ideas you hate, then you will have no valid ground to object.

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/11/canadian-covernment-exploiting-charlie-hebdo-attack-threatens-prosecute-advocates-israel-boycott/

[video="youtube;lo3aLzkYieo"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo3aLzkYieo[/video]

sorry i made a mistake in the title : its not steve harper, its steve harper's government.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

MatureStudent36

I'll wait until a reputable news source writes about it.

Reply 2

Arkasia

Can I have a tl;dr please?

Reply 3

Okorange

Freedom of speech can be dangerous, I think safety is the number one priority, this means that hate speech laws are ok.

While I do think Steven Harper is being a bit too pro-Israel, just a tad, I think because he's managed the economy so well and because this is such a minor thing I would let it go in the grand scheme of things.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 4

SotonianOne

He's only doing what is right. Criticising Israel is wrong and leads to extremism anyway. We should be teaching Muslims that Israel is our second greatest friend and ally, not an enemy.

Reply 5

CancerousProblem

Original post by SotonianOne

He's only doing what is right. Criticising Israel is wrong and leads to extremism anyway. We should be teaching Muslims that Israel is our second greatest friend and ally, not an enemy.

brainwashed much?

'Criticising Israel is wrong'

are you ****ing serious? How brainwashed are you?

Reply 6

TheAbyss

I agree O.P I am genuinely scared about what the world is going to be like in 20 years time.

The extent to which the society is so money driven and the way in which propaganda is used to influence the opinions of many people to carry out capitalist agendas is a genuine cause for concern.

Reply 7

Illiberal Liberal

Original post by SotonianOne

He's only doing what is right. Criticising Israel is wrong and leads to extremism anyway.

Wtf is wrong with you? :lolwut:

We should be teaching Muslims that Israel is our second greatest friend and ally, not an enemy.

Why not teach Jews that Nazi Germany was a great nation too...

Reply 8

KimKallstrom

Original post by Arkasia

Can I have a tl;dr please?

The Jews did this.gif

Reply 9

Arkasia

Original post by KimKallstrom

The Jews did this.gif

Got it

Glad I didn't waste my time reading it now.

Reply 10

SotonianOne

Original post by CancerousProblem

brainwashed much?

'Criticising Israel is wrong'

are you ****ing serious? How brainwashed are you?

Are you Muslim or a latte liberal?

Reply 11

GnomeMage

Original post by MatureStudent36

I'll wait until a reputable news source writes about it.

The Harper government is signalling its intention to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups that encourage boycotts of Israel.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-cites-hate-crime-laws-when-asked-about-its-zero-tolerance-for-israel-boycotters-1.3067497

The Harper government is signalling its intention to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups that encourage boycotts of Israel.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/05/11/ottawa-considering-hate-charges-against-those-who-boycott-israel/

Reply 12

GnomeMage

Original post by MatureStudent36

I'll wait until a reputable news source writes about it.

http://www.newslocker.com/en-ca/region/ottawa/ottawa-threatening-hate-charges-against-those-who-boycott-israel-cbcca/view/

Reply 13

GnomeMage

Original post by MatureStudent36

I'll wait until a reputable news source writes about it.

a few more here

In line with being the most enthusiastically pro-Israel government in the world, Ottawa is now bidding to become the world's most anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) government, too, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported Monday.Following a series of statements by cabinet ministers pledging vigilance against the country's many pro-BDS groups (mainly aligned with churches, universities and unions), the spokeswoman for Canada's chief law enforcement official pointed out to CBC recently that the country has some of the toughest laws against "hate crime" on earth.It was the latest statement from the government promising a crackdown on the BDS movement, which includes university groups, churches and labor unions.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.655958

Canada’s government has indicated it may begin applying hate crimes legislation against groups that support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement seeking to put economic pressure on Israel regarding its treatment of Palestinians. The move, which could potentially target organizations ranging from campus protest groups to the United Church of Canada and the Canadian Quakers, would mark one of the most assertive measures in support of Israel’s government by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

http://www.ibtimes.com/canada-bds-hate-crime-charges-israel-boycott-groups-including-united-church-would-be-1916899

Reply 14

MatureStudent36

I've always thought highly of Harper.

Good for him.

Reply 15

Observatory

GnomeMage

“Ottawa threatening hate charges against those who boycott Israel”

These hate speech laws are not new, so in what sense has freedom of speech ceased to exist just now specifically? I totally agree that banning people boycotting Israel violates their right to free speech and association, but how about banning people criticising Islam, which has been going on in Canada for years?

Reply 16

CancerousProblem

There's a fine line between banning people from saying this
"I think it was morally wrong for Israel to do this action"
and from people from saying
"I think all people of X race should be executed"

From what I'm reading, he's banning both statements, which is completely absurd