I swear, I didnt want to write about this. Much as it may shock some of my critics, Im a big believer in freedom of expression. If Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants to participate in a white grievance festival with people like Conrad Black, Rex Murphy, Brett Wilson and Jordan Peterson, well, she has that right. If she wants to share a stage with Tucker Carlson, a man who clearly appreciates the political leadership in Russia more than Canada, she has that right too. And if she wants to smile as he makes homophobic jokes about Justin Trudeau in order to delight a crowd filled with luminaries like Theo Fleury, Pat King and Maxime Bernier, well, you get the idea.
Just because you can do something doesnt mean you should, though. Carlson has made a career out of trading in dangerous and deranged conspiracies, whether its the great replacement theory (not surprisingly, the audiences at his two events were overwhelmingly white) or the notion that the 2020 U.S. election was stolen from Donald Trump. Hes referred to Canada in the past as Americas retarded cousin and suggested more recently it should be liberated from the tyranny of its democratically elected government. If Smith had even a single patriotic bone left in her body, she didnt show it.
It was embarrassing enough as an Albertan to see Smith tweet out a picture of her posing gleefully with Carlson, Peterson and Black. Her dig at the mainstream media was both predictable and ironic: Black and Peterson, after all, are inextricably linked with the National Post, which receives millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies every year. As former environment minister Shannon Phillips said, This is beneath the dignity of the office.
Get daily news from Canada's National Observer
But Smiths decision to involve Carlson in her petty feud with Canadas environment minister crossed a clear and bright line. I wish you would put Steven Guilbeault in your crosshairs, she told Carlson, effectively inviting him to turn his heavily armed audiences attention towards a fellow elected official. If she didnt know what she was doing by using that language, she should have. And if she did, well, then we have a much bigger problem on our hands.
In Canada, free expression has limits. Thats written right there in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document that conservatives seem to be awfully fond of citing lately. Inciting violence towards another Canadian seems like a pretty clear test of those limits, especially coming from someone with a platform as large as Smith. But there are apparently no limits when it comes to how far Smith will go in order to own the libs.
Anyone tempted to excuse her words ought to reflect first on what happened in Edmonton earlier this week when a heavily armed man stormed city hall and discharged an automatic weapon and Molotov cocktail before being subdued. The accuseds apparent motivation? In addition to mentioning the war in Gaza, he listed off a number of tropes and topics that are standard fare on the right. Im just tired of seeing the tyranny and corruption taking over our society and our lives, the 28-year-old security guard said in a recorded video that has since been deleted. Good, honest and God-fearing men and women must be our doctors, law enforcement, diplomats, politicians and teachers that rise up against this wokeism disease thats leading our generation into deception. We need good men and women in all workforces to promote a pro-human life.
Sound familiar? His stated concerns about inflation, the housing crisis, immigration and the unrest thats happening between us because of multiculturalism should, too. Theyre all popular topics among conservative rage farmers in Canada and the politicians who keep enabling them. This is what so-called stochastic terrorism looks like and were lucky this particular example of it didnt have more lethal consequences.
The next one could, though. Thats especially true when Canadian Conservatives seem determined to invite MAGA-style politics into our country. Keeping their supporters hopped up on fear and loathing of the other might help generate cash and clicks just ask Carlson and his former employer, Fox News but it can also create an addiction thats hard to break. With all the vitriol and venom that people like Pierre Poilievre and Smith keep heaping towards Justin Trudeau and some of his senior cabinet ministers, its only a matter of time before someone tries to put those words into action. Maybe they already have.
Given that, it would be nice if Smith walked her comments back and turned down the temperature on some of her disagreements with Ottawa. It would be nice if conservatives turned their backs on the sort of divisive rhetoric and dangerous revenge fantasies that have come to define the Republican Party. Im not holding my breath for either of those things to happen. Instead, Im resigned to waiting for the next outbreak of politically motivated violence and hoping it doesnt happen for a long, long time.
See the original post:
Danielle Smith's dangerous dance with Tucker Carlson | Canada's National Observer: Climate News - Canada's National Observer