for Caution

Who have we become?

We Canadians need to take a hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves some even harder questions.

Who have we become? Do we like what we see? Is this really what we want?

If we’re being honest, our answers will be as painful and difficult to hear as it will be to look at the reflections staring back at us. We will hear things about ourselves that we never imagined were possible in this country. We will see that the Canada trapped in that mirror is virtually unrecognizable from what it was only a few short years ago.

Up until then, we were viewed by most as a proud country, one of promise and possibility. Not a perfect country, not without our challenges and shortcomings, but a decent country. A peaceful country. A country striving to embrace diversity and tolerance, freedom and dignity. A country constantly seeking to better itself, often succeeding, sometimes not. But even when we didn’t live up to our expectations or achieve our goals, there was always a sense that they could be achieved. That they were worth achieving. That Canadians were willing to try, and keep trying, even when we fell short.

Sadly, no longer.

To be blunt, Canadians are now in danger of losing everything we cherish about our country. The values and ideals we once treasured as Canadians - as a decent and peaceful country - are being cast aside at a horrifying rate.

The rule of law currently hangs by a thread in Canada. The conduct over the last several years by our top federal and provincial officials demonstrates how little they know about its fragility, and how little they care about its preservation.

Meanwhile, over the last two years our leaders have implemented laws and policies in flagrant disregard of Canadians’ fundamental rights and freedoms. No effort has ever been made to justify such grotesque violations.

Further still, in many cases unelected public health officials across the country have unilaterally enacted policies and issued sweeping orders entirely by fiat. Their orders and directives often include no oversight mechanism by legislatures whatsoever. They exercise absolute power.

And, for the past two years at least, neither the media nor any of the official opposition parties in our various legislatures have done a thing to meaningfully hold the government to account. Instead, these two institutions - necessary for the proper functioning of Canadian parliamentary democracy as we know it - have done virtually nothing but stoke fear and panic and castigate those among us who challenge the accepted narrative or question whether the direction that has been charted for us is the right one.

As a result, our economy is in tatters. Our collective mental health has been devastated. Our families and friends have been torn apart. Our loved ones have died alone. Our children have needlessly suffered.

Instead of embracing hope and optimism, Canadians live in fear and doubt.

Instead of treating each other with tolerance and empathy, Canadians choose blame and distrust.

Instead of using common sense and rational thought, Canadians fall victim to speculation and groupthink.

The bottom line is this. Our country is in serious trouble. If we don’t do something about it - soon - we may one day wake up and find that we are living in a very different country than we once did. Someplace less free, less prosperous, less decent, less peaceful.

Is this really what we want?