Canadian State Media Labels ‘Freedom’ a ‘Far-Right’ Concept
'Freedom is a slippery concept'
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Following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to invoke emergency powers to crack down on anti-vaccine mandate protesters, CBC wrote that "freedom" is now a “far-right” concept.
According to the CBC article, freedom is now a “malleable term” and is “open to interpretation.”
The outlet cites it used by the Canadian trucker convoy, suggesting it is a "far-right" movement.
CBC quotes the director of the Centre on Hate, Bias, and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, Barbara Perry, who claims freedom “is a term that has resonated….
"You can define it and understand it and sort of manipulate it in a way that makes sense to you and is useful to you, depending on your perspective.”
lol the Canadian Anti Hate Network, chaired by the head of the del boca vista anti-nazi condo association, @BernieFarber pic.twitter.com/K8MaqOHAbR
— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) February 14, 2022
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Perry then compared the protest to Jan. 6:
“I think it… maybe takes some inspiration from what we’ve been seeing in the U.S. over the last year and a half or so, leading up to the last election and events of Jan. 6.”
The article also quotes Elisabeth Anker, an associate professor of political science at George Washington University, who says that “Freedom is a slippery concept.”
Anker states:
“On the far right, [individual freedom] is often translated into somebody who refuses to be bound by norms of equality, treating all people equally or norms to remedy inequality, whether that’s trying to remedy racial discrimination or gender discrimination.”
"On the far right, [individual freedom] is often translated into somebody who refuses to be bound by norms of equality, treating all people equally or norms to remedy inequality," says Elisabeth Anker, author of Ugly Freedoms.https://t.co/eY8mslpYFy
— CBC Radio (@cbcradio) February 13, 2022
The “professor” also said that when right-wingers exercise their rights, it is “violent freedom” that can easily lead to danger, discrimination, and be anti-democratic.
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CBC also claimed that the truckers are really Russian agents.
Another Canadian media outlet, the Globe & Mail, also jumped aboard the "freedom is hate" bandwagon.
The author Gary Mason states that freedom is “a word that has become code for white-identity politics and the far-right’s weapon of choice in the culture wars,” adding that it “has not always been a concept usurped for selfish, malicious purposes.”
Earleir this week, Trudeau threatened to freeze assets and suspend insurance of the truckers involved in the Freedom Convoy protests.
Trudeau’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said:
“This is about following the money.”
"This is about stopping the financing of these illegal blockades.”
“We are today serving notice if your truck is being used in these illegal blockades, your corporate accounts will be frozen.”
After threatening to freeze truckers’ corporate accounts, Freeland warned vehicle insurance would also be suspended.
