As she announced her bid for the Liberal leadership, Chrystia Freeland found herself a victim of the incivility she helped bring about in this country.
Protestors yelled from the gallery and rushed the stage. A masked protestor was removed after getting within inches of Freeland. That is not acceptable.
The National Post wrote, “The protesters, who were apparently anti-Israel activists, shouted that Freeland was a “fascist” and a “genocide supporter” while she tried to deliver a speech.”
To her credit, Freeland handled it well. Others ushered the protestor off the stage and out of the event. She carried on.
NP wrote, “Speaking to reporters after her speech, Freeland said the protesters are free to speak their minds, but not to drown out others.
“’That is not how Canadian democracy works and I know that Canadians are not going to stand for that and neither will I,’ said Freeland.”
We know she won’t tolerate protest. She was solidly on board with freezing the bank accounts of those who participated in or supported what amounted to noise and parking ordinance violations in Ottawa during the trucker protest.
She was A-OK with bringing in the Emergency Act, found by the courts to be unconstitutional.
Protecting others? Not so much.
Civility has devolved especially since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. It is that event that is still riling up protestors across this nation, including at the Freeland event.
Those protests, under the guise of concern for women and children in Gaza, show themselves to be anti-Semitic and hateful. Not one of those protests that I have been made aware of – and I have repeatedly asked for that information on the radio – demanded the return of hostages. It was full-on anti-Jewish hatred.
On multiple occasions, bullets have been fired through the windows of a Jewish day school in Toronto.
In Montreal Imam Adil Charkaoui, speaking Arabic, denounced “Zionist aggressors” and called on Allah to “kill the enemies of the people of Gaza and to spare none of them.”
Vancouver saw a protestor lead an event with, “death to Canada, death to the United States and death to Israel,” while some in the group burned Canadian flags.
Other than lip service to lawful protest and a bit of tut-tutting about hate, what has her government done about it?
They have allowed in a large number of Gazan refugees with what some say is an alarming casualness toward vetting. It is one of the reasons we drew negative attention from President Donald Trump, who voices the fears of Americans that Canada is a conduit for terror in North America.
Nearly every day, the hateful in this country see that they can get away with whatever they want.
As protestors march in the street yelling, “From the river to the sea,” a call for the genocide of Jews, the police seem more interested in guiding the proceeding along like a Santa Clause parade, rather than arresting purveyors of such hateful calls for violence.
The police, as civil servants, react to the tone and leadership they receive and from city halls to legislatures to Ottawa they, and we, have seen a casual attitude toward anyone not directly bothering a politician.
It is a wonder bullets were aimed at an empty building at night, and not directly at Jewish children.
Security protected Freeland. Does she get it now?
Not likely.