Regardless of the names of the parties that continue to assault freedom, they are pushing a socialist authoritarian agenda.
One of the most disturbing aspects of recent times is that the more power authoritarian states like China try to exert, the more ‘leaders’ in free nations want to follow in their footsteps.
That can especially be seen when it comes to climate change and the response to Covid.
As we know, emissions in Canada are already dropping, and were dropping without carbon taxes.
Emissions in the United States and most of Europe are also dropping.
As societies reach a certain level of advancement, they become far more efficient at utilizing energy, and with more and more of our economy becoming digitized or ‘dematerialized,’ countries like Canada simply aren’t a big source of emissions.
By contrast, countries at a different stage of development such as China and India are – understandably – still increasing emissions by a large extent.
So, any ‘solution’ to climate change requires either massive emissions cuts in countries like China and India – unlikely to happen – or a recognition that technological advancement and the innovation generated by free individuals is the best way to mitigate the issue.
Of course, this is already happening, with much of the innovation in terms of efficiency and cleaner energy usage taking place in relatively free nations. For example, the Alberta oil industry has become much more efficient and has among the highest environmental standards in the world, something the Trudeau government ignores.
Additionally, advances such as Bitcoin (despite what statists claim) hold the possibility of making energy usage far more efficient than ever before, by helping store the value of energy and enabling the transfer of that value in a way that until now hasn’t been possible.
With all that in mind however, the last thing socialist politicians want to hear is that free people are solving a problem themselves through innovation.
Instead, they seek to impose their will over the populace, acting as if everything would fall apart without the intervention of the rigid centralized state.
Statists & Socialists abhor letting people make their own choices, and despise free enterprise. So, when the public doesn’t make the decision they want, they seek to directly impose a different decision.
That’s what radical environment minister Steven Guilbeault is doing, as he pushes for the imposition of electric vehicle purchase quotas:
“Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says he wants a national mandate that would force auto dealers to sell a certain number of electric vehicles to be in place by the end of next year.”
“This (mandate) will not come into effect in the next few months but it will come into effect very soon,” he said. “We’re at three, maybe four per cent. We have to get the 50 (per cent). It’s a lot of heavy lifting.”
Note how Guilbeault first creates the problem for the auto industry and the Canadian public by issuing a mandate, and then talks about how everyone needs to do ‘heavy lifting’ to address the problem he himself created.
What he should instead be doing is absolutely nothing.
It’s not the job of the government to tell people what kind of car to buy.
That should be up to the free market.
While there are a few limited areas where government intervention is necessary – military procurement, protecting the supply of essential minerals and resources in case of possible global conflict – intervention in the civilian auto sector isn’t the place for government at all.
And the results will be quite damaging.
If it was massively profitable for companies to sell electric vehicles, and if consumers wanted them in large numbers, the market already would have arrived at that point.
It likely will arrive at that point, but at a time when it is efficient to do so.
By artificially trying to move that moment up, Guilbeault’s mandate will generate a shortage of combustion engine cars, and drive up the price of vehicle ownership overall.
Combined with continued massive deficits and inflation, this will further drive up the cost of living and make Canadians poorer.
Thus, even as rising emissions are due to countries like China, not Canada, Guilbeault will adopt a communist-style, statist centralized planning system to enforce government demands over what kind of cars can be bought and sold.
Ford’s ‘indefinite’ move
Throughout the past year-and-half, politicians across Canada and much of the world have used the strategy of dangling a ‘return to normal soon’ in front of the population to weaken resistance to authoritarian measures.
Then, once the populace gives in and complies, the return to normal is put off, with more measures imposed instead.
In Ontario, Doug Ford has done this once again:
“Ontario is extending its pause indefinitely on moving to the next step of the reopening plan as COVID-19 cases continue to increase.
On Nov. 15, capacity limits were supposed to be lifted in remaining high-risk settings where proof of vaccination is required.”
“Ontario has announced changes to the proof of vaccination system after a “sudden escalation” of Omicron cases and data suggesting it will be the dominant strain by January.
Effective Jan. 4, Ontario will require people to use their QR code and the Verify Ontario app in settings where proof of vaccination is required, the government announced Friday.”
“Extending its pause indefinitely.”
Interesting wording there. What it really means is that since the government has decided that it will choose how much risk individuals and businesses can take, and since it has turned rights and freedoms into mere privileges, it has total power to endlessly delay a ‘return to normal’ for as long as politicians decide.
And make no mistake, despite efforts to claim that public health officials are behind these decisions, the fact is that true power rests with premiers. Public health officials are unelected, and they serve at the discretion of provincial premiers. At the end of the day, they are offering advice.
Consider that in many provinces, and in other jurisdictions around the world, public health officials have often given quite contradictory advice, meaning they aren’t speaking from one perfectly coherent set of ‘scientific principles,’ but – as are all government officials – subject to the whims and ultimate control of their bosses.
Doug Ford – not public health officials – is responsible for the continued imposition of the state on the rights and freedoms of people in Ontario.
Socialism & Statism
What does Guilbeault’s EV mandate and Ford’s ‘indefinite delay’ have in common?
Both substitute state power for individual decision making.
This is why, while some find the use of the word to be hyperbolic, it is reasonable and legitimate to talk about how this represents a shift towards socialism.
A key issue in Canada is that we have socialists masquerading as ‘Liberals,’ and Conservative parties who are too weak to resist.
Liberalism, or more accurately Classical Liberalism used to mean an emphasis on individual rights, economic freedom, and limits on the power and size of the state. Under Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party, and thus the Liberal government, bears far more resemblance to a socialist party than they do to the Liberals of the past.
It’s no coincidence that the Liberals’ previously most resembled a socialist party under the rule of Pierre Elliot Trudeau, a noted Communist sympathizer.
As a result of the Liberals turning into a socialist party, the centre has shifted far to the left. The mistake being made by Conservatives is to think that they should then move left. That only validates the leftward shift, and entrenches statist dominance.
Unfortunately, the combination of fear-based narratives on both climate change and Covid has driven many ‘conservative’ governments to massively expand the power of the state, abandon whatever principles they had, and make themselves completely indistinguishable from the socialists they once railed against.
We must wholeheartedly reject the rise of socialism, regardless of what mask it happens to be wearing.
What Canada needs to do now is remember the foundational values of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government – the classical liberal values which fueled the democratic capitalist nations that emerged as the wealthiest and freest places on Earth.
Spencer Fernando
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