John Carpay:

Bad laws are the result of bad politics. Bad politics result from a rotten culture. A rotten culture emerges when too many people embrace bad ideas. A complete description of all the bad ideas that are now wrecking Canada’s culture, society, and economy would fill many volumes. But here follows a partial list.

“Most parents are dangerous and abusive.” This bad idea is leveraged by political activists who seek to push a destructive and utterly unscientific transgender ideology on children of all ages, from kindergarten onwards, without notice to parents. Only if most parents are dangerous and abusive can teachers and principals legitimately keep parents in the dark about what is happening with their own kids at school.

“Racism is good if directed at the right target.” This bad idea is part of the neo-Marxist oppression narrative that views society and culture as a never-ending struggle between oppressor groups (male, straight, white) and victim groups (women, gay, dark-skinned). The “Diversity-Equity-Inclusion” folks are racists who demand that people be hired based on race rather than based on qualifications and merit.

“Legal rights should be based on ancestry.” If my ancestors have lived in Canada for six generations while your ancestors have lived in Canada for only two generations, should I enjoy superior legal rights? Should race, ancestry, ethnicity or descent determine what a citizen can or cannot do? Under Canada’s Constitution, aboriginals have superior legal rights to non-aboriginals, leading to never-ending conflicts and resentments.

“Government is Santa Claus.” Many Canadian voters think that government, like Santa Clause, can provide free goodies to us, without demanding anything in return. Naïve, childish voters believe that governments somehow create wealth, when in fact governments merely rob Peter to pay Paul.

“Politicians spend other people’s money wisely.” When people spend their own hard-earned money, they tend to think carefully about their purchases, donations, and investments. Conversely, politicians and bureaucrats rarely, if ever, suffer direct consequences when they waste taxpayers’ dollars.

“Stealing other people’s money is OK, if done for a good cause.” Most people recognize that it would be wrong for me to steal money out of your wallet and then donate your money to a really, really good charity. Theft is theft, even if its proceeds benefit a good cause. Strangely, some voters lose their common-sense grasp of morality when politicians promise an endless stream of “free” goodies which are paid for with money taken from taxpayers by force.

“People control the weather.” We were pathetic in medieval times, when we believed that a small number of witches controlled the weather. But today we are enlightened, knowing that all eight billion of us are witches who control the weather. If only we turn down the thermostat, wash our clothes in cold water, and drive our cars less often, we can persuade the earth goddess Gaia not to raise temperatures back to the very safe and very pleasant levels of the Medieval Optimal (one thousand years ago) when humans farmed in Greenland. Oddly, those who would push us into poverty (and prevent Third World countries from acquiring prosperity) fly around the globe to attend international conferences in person, rather than using skype, zoom, and email.

“Safety is our highest priority.” Safety is a good thing. Prosperity, opportunity, adventure, fun, freedom, and living life to the fullest are also good things. When safety is worshipped as the highest good, we end up with less prosperity, opportunity, adventure, fun, and freedom. Over-emphasizing safety, such that we do not live life to the fullest, is dangerous to our well-being.

“Free speech for me, but not for thee.” Throughout history, people have abhorred restrictions on their own speech, while at the same time demanding that others’ speech be supressed. People pursue truth by exploring, discovering and debating different ideas in the realms of politics, philosophy, religion, law and science. Censorship and cancel culture make it very difficult for people to hear, listen, think, speak and participate in a healthy, thriving democracy.

“Life is not worth living.” The promotion of suicide and abortion is a symptom of a sick culture in which people lack a sense of purpose, meaning and significance. If the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing, then we all have a responsibility to speak truth and live out the truth, no matter the circumstances. In so doing, we will find – and help others to find – the truth that life is worth living.

John Carpay is president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (jccf.ca).