{"id":65969,"date":"2019-05-05T17:05:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-05T21:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=65969"},"modified":"2019-05-06T06:14:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T10:14:25","slug":"listen-up-no-room-for-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/listen-up-no-room-for-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen Up! There’s room for free speech, but no room for hate in our society"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler<\/p><\/div>\n

No room for hate <\/strong><\/p>\n

There is plenty of room for free speech in our society but there is no room for hate. There is room for disagreement and debate, just as there is room for unity and agreement. But I don\u2019t care if you are black, white, or brown, whether you are male, female, straight or gay, whether you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, or an Atheist, whether you are a Conservative, a Liberal, a New Democrat, or member of the Green Party. Whoever you are, there should be no place for hate in the world we live in.<\/p>\n

How sad it is, therefore, that hate seems to be creeping into our everyday lives. Barely a week goes by now where hate and intolerance don\u2019t show their ugly faces. I have recently thought of this again, not because of something that happened far away, but because of a demonstration at Queen\u2019s Park in Toronto, complete with a mock, blood-splattered guillotine, calling for the murder of Premier Doug Ford.<\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n

I was proud of Charlie Angus and his response to this horrible demonstration. He is a New Democratic Member of Parliament and, by definition, not likely a fan of Doug Ford. But he said this: \u201cThere is no place for this type of politics in Canada. We can disagree with our political opponents, but threats of mob violence are disgraceful. This wasn\u2019t an attack on the Premier, it was an attack on civil society. No excuse. Not now. Not ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t agree with him more and I wish more of our political leaders had the guts to stand up and say the same thing.<\/p>\n

Now, I am not here to defend Doug Ford. There are others that can do that better than I. I understand that he was elected with a mandate to deal with Ontario\u2019s massive and crippling debt, but I am less than comfortable with some of the ways in which he is going about it.<\/p>\n

As well, I understand and support the right of people to demonstrate when they disagree with the actions of government. But I draw the line at violence and hate and both were present at this unacceptable mob scene at Queen\u2019s Park last week.<\/p>\n

Hate crimes, racism and disrespect for the rule of law is a growing and frightening phenomenon around the world. It is spurred on and enabled by an era of populism, but it is not in itself populism. In its raw form, it is domestic terrorism and civil unrest. And as it did during the Second World War, it can lead to frightening consequences. More than anything else, we need to tone down the rhetoric.<\/p>\n

On this side of the pond, Donald Trump is the chief perpetrator, of course. He refuses to take a firm stand against the alt-right. He was horrible in his response to the Charlottesville massacre. He said there were good people on both sides and he recently doubled down on that. He mouths, from time to time, criticism of some obvious hate crimes, but he avoids outright condemnation of white supremacists or other radicals who might be a part of his base support. Rhetoric leads to empowerment and those thugs interpret it as intended for them.<\/p>\n

I intensely dislike seeing this type of inflammatory rhetoric creeping into Canada as well and, in an albeit different way, coming from the mouth of our own Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. He recently made remarks that implied that Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was soft on alt-right or white supremacists, on the basis that at some event he was seen on the same platform as Faith Goldy, a high-profile commentator who has been described as a white nationalist. Surely, he must have been just a little embarrassed when it was subsequently revealed that he, too, had been seen in her company at some public event. The point is, however, this kind of nonsense has to stop before it gets started.<\/p>\n

Liberal back room boys may think it is a good campaign strategy to paint the Conservatives as soft on hate crime going in to the upcoming election, but it will backfire on them because it is simply not true, and most Canadians will know that. Every political party has their wingnuts. Thankfully the Conservatives have managed to fob most of theirs off to Maxime Bernier and his alt-right party.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, this election campaign should not be on how to divide us, but rather, on how to unite us. There are serious issues out there that require a return to civil discourse and reasonable compromise. Inflammatory strategies that encourage hate and misdirected anger have no place in our country or in our political structures.<\/p>\n

Not now. Not ever.<\/p>\n

Hugh Mackenzie<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No room for hate There is plenty of room for free speech in our society but there is no room for hate. There is room for disagreement and debate, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[26,442,829],"class_list":["post-65969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-breaking","tag-hugh-mackenzie","tag-listen-up"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nListen Up! 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