The assassination in the United States of far-right conservative Charlie Kirk last week has shocked many people in the United States, in Canada, and indeed around the world. It has underlined a serious propensity for political violence from which Canada is not immune.
Bernie Sanders is a veteran American Senator. He is about as far on the left of the political spectrum as one can get. He sits as an Independent in Congress as the Democratic Party is too far to the right for him.
It never occurred to me that I would ever be quoting Bernie Sanders because I differ from him in many ways. However, he has expressed far better than I can the horror and danger related to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Here is part of what he said a few days ago.
“I want to say a few words about the terrible murder yesterday of Charlie Kirk. He is someone I have disagreed with on almost every issue, but he was clearly a smart and effective communicator, organizer and someone unafraid to get out into the world and engage the public.
“A free and democratic society, which is what America is supposed to be, depends upon the basic premise that people can speak out, organize and take part in public life without fear, without worrying that they might be killed, injured or humiliated in respect to their political views.
“In fact, that is the essence of what freedom is all about and what democracy is all about. Freedom and democracy are not about political violence, are not about assassinating political officials, and are not about trying to intimidate those who speak out on an issue. Political violence in fact is political cowardice. It means that you cannot convince people of the correctness of your ideas and therefore you must impose them. “
I agree with Bernie Sanders. There can be no excuse, no rationalization, for the murder of Charlie Kirk. There was little about his extremism that I agreed with, but he was a champion for debate, dialogue, and free speech.
Charlie Kirk was not an evil man, but he was a man of strong purpose. No individual should be harmed or killed simply because of their opinions. Those people who celebrated online or otherwise over the death of Charlie Kirk should be ashamed of themselves.
The death of Charlie Kirk is a wake-up call to the systemic hate and anger that has become prevalent in the United States and in other parts of the world. It was, in my view, a moment in time when leaders had the ability to reset the public mood and call for more reasonable dialogue and political action without violence. Sadly, that did not happen.
Instead, people on the left and the right blamed each other for the murder of Charlie Kirk. MAGA influencer Steve Bannon viewed it as a declaration of war.
Donald Trump, who could on this occasion have called for national unity, instead did the opposite. He stirred the pot and divided the country.
When asked recently by a reporter, in relation to Charlie Kirk’s murder, to disavow radicals on the right, as well as those on the left, he responded, “I couldn’t care less. The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. The radicals on the left are the problem.”
Any reasonable research about the rise of political violence in the United States would prove that it crosses party lines. In recent years, the husband of former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi was critically attacked. Republican President Donald Trump came close to being assassinated. Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, a Democrat, came close to being kidnapped. The Speaker of the Minnesota Legislature, Melissa Hortman, also a Democrat, was mowed down along with her husband, and another lawmaker and his wife were stalked and threatened. Also in Minnesota, just weeks ago, an assault on a Catholic Church resulted in the death of two children, and 17 others were injured, mostly youngsters. Charlie Kirk, a conservative, was assassinated. It goes on and on.
The murder of Charlie Kirk appears to be fairly straight forward, the killer identified, charged, and arrested. I am not convinced that is all there is though.
Former FBI Agent Stuart Kaplan said, after the murder but before the killer was identified, “This was a very well planned, well-orchestrated plot that was put in motion days before. This assassination is indicative of a professional hit.”
It is entirely possible that the public murder of Charlie Kirk was the act of a radicalized college student without any help. It is also possible, in my view, that there could be more to it than that, an organized exercise, where there was a single shooter involved, but behind that, the resources and training of a cell of radicals whose sole objective was to create havoc and chaos in the United States. We will probably never know the truth about that.
The bottom line here is that political violence in our society is far too common and must be stopped. But it cannot be used as an excuse or campaign to cut down freedom of speech or the expression of opinion.
There are those who are blaming the assassination of Charlie Kirk on hate speech and advocating for a limitation on free speech. There may be an element of truth in that, but how does one differentiate between hate speech and factual information, which may be very unpleasant?
As an example, there are legitimate comparisons between the Hitler/Nazi regime of years ago and what is taking place in the United States today under the Administration of Donald Trump. If we truly believe in the importance of free speech, how can this be addressed without an accusation of hate speech? How, too, can we address the serious issue of immigration without it being labelled as racism or hate speech?
Clearly, we are in an era of increased political violence. To a lesser degree, but still a real matter of concern, we can see this in Canada as well as in the United States and in some other countries.
Elected politicians are requiring more security. Whipping up partisan political bases with extreme and apocalyptic language is often evident. Also, a lack of dialogue between people with different ideologies leads to a vacuum where those with different viewpoints stop talking to each other and other less desirable and hurtful strategies emerge.
Whatever else one may want to say about Charlie Kirk, he was an advocate of free speech and debate. It truly says something horrific about the state of democracy when one can be brutally murdered for that, regardless of their political views.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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What troubles me most is how faith is being weaponized in politics. Scripture was never meant to be a tool of rage or division — God’s heart is always for restoration, not for making martyrs out of others. When Christians twist the gospel into a political weapon, we lose sight of the Cross: all sin is covered in Christ’s blood, and only the refusal to recognize God’s own Spirit stands apart. Politics and scripture were never meant to be joined in this way. When they are, the result is not righteousness but self-righteousness. If we truly follow Christ, then the call is to humility and peacemaking — not rage or scapegoating.
That’s why I am proud of a Canada that is diverse and inclusive, a nation that strives to be a moderating force in the world instead of falling into U.S.-style partisanship. We need to stop following their grievance politics. Our strength has always come from building bridges, not walls. Economically too, the path forward is growth that includes rather than excludes — because stability at home and credibility abroad come from communities that feel seen, safe, and valued. We still have the chance to choose restoration over rage, but only if we refuse to let faith or politics be twisted into weapons.
I keep the lyrics of “Imagine” going through my brain at the moment. It’s all too disturbing…..the violence in the name of religious beliefs.
TY Hugh McKenzie for this timely article.
Personally, whether one does or does not agree on political divisions it is mute when addressing basic humanitarian needs: Godliness, righteousness, lovingkindness and respectfulness to others and self are a few virtuous examples.
When a nation(s) forsakes and turns away from our Sovereign God, there is no vacuum. Governments and people begin serving other gods that take hold to subtly deceive, lie and ultimately destroy humanity: whether through idolatry, lust, power, manipulation, and human sacrifice. We do have choice and it is our free will to choose.
This day I rediscovered what I remember singing in school. It consisted of 2 verses. Let me sing it to you! Do all who read this know that tune? Do sing with me then:
O Canada, Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada.
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Lord of the Lands
Beneath thy bending skies,
On field a d flood
Where’er our banner flies,
Thy people lift their hearts to thee
Their grateful voices raise,
May our dominion ever be
A temple to thy praise.
Thy will alone, let all enthrone
Lord of the Lands, make Canada thine own.
Lord of the Lands, make Canada thine own.
You see Canada does have identity; in Him.
The Gideons International in Canada, Guelph, Ontario distributed The NASB, New Testament which contained these two verses too.
AsKing that our leaders turn around, and that our people come together to this call!
Please share and sing if it inspires you to.
For those in grief; pray, For those in Joy; sing Psalms.
My comment/thoughts may not quite fit into the theme here. I do know Canada in general needs more well trained police officers.
No matter what the cost is, we need safety. Muskoka is starting to feel a bit uncomfortable.
I am thinking about the words we use and the labels we paste on people to simplify a representation of a complex human being – especially if we do not personally know them. Like “Far Right” and “Far Left Radicals.” “Immigrants.” As if “they” are all the same. I know “Hate Speech” spreads hurtful, untruthful, unsupported beliefs that result in prejudice that become barriers to opportunities, services and genuine relationships of trust and healing and sometimes ends up creating a cycle of fear and violence. Fear births anger and aggression. We even get the”fog of war”- not a solution. No good for anyone.
Hugh, why do you refer to Charlie Kirk as a “far-right conservative”? This has a pejorative connotation. What specifically about his actual views or statements position him as “far right? Or is this a label that has been attached to him by the legacy media or detractors on the “far left”?
So what are you supposed to feel about the events playing out in the US. Can all that vitriol cross the border as a media event? Likely. I wasn’t that aware of Charlie Kirk. The ultra level preaching of the young man never impressed me when I did hear some of it, but you never know what is getting through to some people; what they are accepting. Would the preaching of Matthew got through to Kirk? “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. He never came across as ‘meek’. But maybe the earth was not his plum.
But he was a supporter of ‘the donald’ who fancies himself a peacemaker. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God”. If ‘the donald’ ranks as that, then my belief has been erroneous, adrift and wasted.
I can’t imagine the extent of the convulsion this assassination will cause in the US. I imagine a lot of the ‘lawmakers’ will be looking over their shoulders, upgrading their security and as the one lady politician said, travelling armed. It all indicates other than peace and tranquility.
Utah is a ‘death penalty’ state. The president of the US was one of the first to start spreading the news. Would he not have better served to hold his tongue and allow justice and the law to deal with this unfortunate event? Apparently not.
And, he claims to be the ‘peacemaker’. My ass!!
When people and politicans stop preaching hate and racist comments, then the world will be a better place.
Thank you Hugh for actually mentioning Charlie Kirk, so many won’t. I absolutely agree nobody deserves to die for their opinions or beliefs. Shame on those individuals who celebrated his death, shame on anyone that wishes anyone dead, look in the mirror maybe your part of the “hate” we see.
Politics in the USA was toxic but only made worse when Trump got back in. I’m afraid it is only going to get worse after this. Today is the first day back for our parliament. It worries me that the rhetoric from the opposition will carry on from where they left off. We need both parties to work together. If not, PP and the Conservatives will never get my vote again.
This is the man the media called “hateful and divisive,” and who Hugh thinks was “far right” and extreme: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOnGFW_jtiF/