Jail for “misleading information” about politicians is something you would expect to see in a dictatorship, not a free country.
How bad and dangerous is the Trudeau government’s election law?
Even CBC is ripping into it.
Yes, I was surprised to see that even CBC has been raising concerns about the law, with a report by Evan Dyer even making the comparison between the law to what we see in authoritarian states.
The law is the amended Section 91 of the Elections Act, and here’s what it says:
“Elections Act, 91 (1) No person or entity shall, with the intention of affecting the results of an election, make or publish, during the election period, (a) a false statement that a candidate, a prospective candidate, the leader of a political party or a public figure associated with a political party has committed an offence under an Act of Parliament or a regulation made under such an Act—or under an Act of the legislature of a province or a regulation made under such an Act—or has been charged with or is under investigation for such an offence; or (b) a false statement about the citizenship, place of birth, education, professional qualifications or membership in a group or association of a candidate, a prospective candidate, the leader of a political party or a public figure associated with a political party.”
And the penalty for violating the law?
Up to 5 YEARS IN JAIL, and/or a fine of $50,000.
Think about that for a second…
5 years in jail for a Tweet or post or statement about a politician that the government deems to be ‘misleading.’
Here’s what Dyer wrote about it:
“No charges have yet been brought under Section 91 relating to the 2019 campaign, but international experience shows that such laws have become a weapon for governments looking to silence online dissent.
Egypt and the Gulf states have aggressively prosecuted social media users over critical comments, using laws ostensibly intended to prevent disinformation.”
It can’t be emphasized enough that if even CBC is comparing this law to what we see in authoritarian states, then imagine how bad it really is.
And the law has already had an impact, with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation saying they were more wary about sharing things on social media during the election campaign.
Of course, that’s exactly what the Liberals want. They want Canadians to be afraid to criticize the government, afraid to slam Trudeau, and afraid speak out at all.
That’s why we must demand that this law be repealed, and spread the word about how dangerous and authoritarian it is. As I’ve said many times, the Trudeau government is moving in a more and more authoritarian direction, and we can’t just hope that will stop in it’s own. The Canadian People need to demand that it stops, and we need to demand that our free speech and free expression is restored.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
