The federal government and media have been saying misinformation is a threat to democracy. Why the silence on Singh’s decision to lie?
Supposedly, we face a real ‘threat’ to democracy from ‘misinformation.’
That’s what the Liberal government has been saying for quite a while, as they seek to justify their increasingly draconian internet/social media censorship legislation.
They’ve also used the threat of misinformation as a justification for using our tax dollars to prop up establishment media outlets.
And, they love to accuse Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives of spreading misinformation, though those criticisms just so happen to be levelled after some sort of Liberal scandal has been exposed.
So, if misinformation is such a big deal, why the silence on the man who is currently spreading more of it than anyone else in Canadian politics right now?
Of course, I’m speaking about Jagmeet Singh, who has lately managed to surpass even Justin Trudeau when it comes to dishonesty, which is no easy feat.
The Tweet below is about par for the course in terms of Singh’s recent comms:
“Let’s be clear, with private health care.
You will get a bill.
You will wait longer.
And the staffing crisis will get worse.
A private system is not innovation like Justin Trudeau claims — it will make things worse.”
Let's be clear, with private health care.
You will get a bill.
You will wait longer.
And the staffing crisis will get worse.
A private system is not innovation like Justin Trudeau claims — it will make things worse. pic.twitter.com/v8k9PmfbjZ
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) January 21, 2023
Make no mistake about it, Singh is deliberately lying here.
Expanded private surgical clinics operate under the universal healthcare system, and patients ‘pay’ by using their government health card.
The government is billed, not patients.
The expansion of private clinics is in response to huge wait times within the public system, and other provinces – including B.C. where Singh’s House of Commons seat is located – have long used private clinics within the universal system to reduce waits.
And on the issue of staffing, Canada’s public system is in the midst of a severe staffing crisis, a crisis that has gotten worse despite public health spending rising year after year.
Compared to many other countries, Canada’s healthcare system is top-heavy, with a disproportionate number of administrates compared to front-line staff.
Singh offers no acknowledgment of this, and offers no solutions, and instead choses to lie about how private healthcare works within the universal system.
Dangerous misinformation
Misinformation can indeed be dangerous, especially when a country is seeking to solve a real crisis.
If a politician like Jagmeet Singh is able to lie and manipulate Canadians into opposing needed healthcare reforms, than Canada may remain stuck in the current broken system.
That would cost real lives.
But the media and the Liberal government are largely silent on Singh’s healthcare misinformation.
That’s because many within the Liberal government are glad to have Singh pushing them in a more and more socialist direction, and because both the Liberal government and the media have a common-interest in weaponizing the fear of misinformation against centre-right Canadians for political purposes.
So, I won’t call for Singh to be blocked from speaking, even though he is lying.
Instead, we need to keep calling out his dishonesty, and help drown out his lies with the truth.
The real power of free speech is that sooner or later the truth wins out, and we must ensure that those who lie about healthcare in Canada are confronted and defeated in the realm of ideas.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
