Check It Out: Can't keep Canadians quiet

By Joan Janzen

This little note said: “Don't worry about getting older. You're still going to do dumb stuff, only slower.” Do those words also apply to government? Fortunately, government can't keep independent organizations quiet.

According to Christine Van Geyn, litigation director with the Canadian Constitution Foundation, the government recently did something "crazy" regarding Bill C-316, allowing it to fund lawsuits against its laws with taxpayer money.

The Bill relates to the court challenges program, which has been around since the 1970s when it was started by Pierre Trudeau. "It's essentially handing taxpayer money to lawyers and activists to then sue the government," Christine explained. "This program has been around for years, but Bill C-316 embeds the court challenges program directly into legislation and makes it harder for future governments who want to repeal the program to do so."

Christine said it should be obvious that the government should not fund lawsuits against its own laws with taxpayer money. "In my opinion, that is completely crazy!" she said. But it gets even more crazy.

"We don't even have information about which cases are funded until all the litigation is completely concluded. And there are some pretty crazy cases," she said, adding it's a waste of money and should be scrapped.

However, according to the Saskatchewan Institute, the government isn't slowing down. Bill C-59 received Royal Assent. This federal legislation mandates companies to substantiate their environmental claims, with Ottawa acting as the arbiter of what constitutes truth.

The law firm BD&P noted that the Bill introduces new monetary penalties against a corporation of $10 million for the first order, $15 million for any subsequent order, and 3% of the corporation's annual worldwide gross revenues. So it's not surprising that the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of major oil sands companies, pulled its online content.

Alberta's Environment Minister said, "Any company not willing to risk millions of dollars of fines and legal fees will be forced to stay silent."

However, independent media outlets have not been silent when it comes to revealing government corruption. Northern Perspective's You Tube channel and its two anonymous hosts, Cypher and Fox, were instrumental in bringing the ArriveCAN debacle to the forefront. As a result, a private Bill was introduced and passed to help restore Canadians' confidence in democratic institutions.

"Pushing for this to happen was largely due to the reporting by Northern Perspective," commented Clyde Nichols online. "However, it also cost Cypher his career."

Cypher worked as a public servant for the federal government and was the sole wage earner in his family. Their private YouTube channel paid for expensive therapy for their autistic son, which was done anonymously, on their own free time, and using their own equipment.

However, after the corruption was exposed, the government issued a directive ordering all government employees to disclose any side income they have to their employer. "We believe that our extensive work on the ArriveCAN scandal was a direct consequence of this directive," Cypher said when he and his wife revealed their true identities online.

After disclosing their YouTube channel to his employer, Cypher was given a choice to cease Northern Perspectives or exit the organization. This ultimatum was presented despite the fact that he had done nothing illegal and had a distinguished performance record. At the end of it all, Cypher chose to leave the organization.

"We have always stood for the right to speak freely and to hold our leaders accountable," Cypher said. But taking a stand cost him dearly.

Another organization that continues to stand up for Canadians is the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), who recently put out an online petition calling on the Prime Minister to stop the banning of new gas and diesel vehicles. CTF also noted that federal and provincial governments are contributing billions more in electric vehicle battery subsidies than the corporations are spending to build their own factories. Governments promised $52 billion to these corporations, while the corporations only spent $46 billion.

Sound like a good deal? Well CTF has exposed a lot more crazy government spending, including Trudeau's $220,000 airplane food bill last September.

So, while the government continues its tactics to silence Canadians, independent organizations will not be silent, and Canadians persist in standing for the true north strong and free.

I recently read a comment posted by a newcomer to Canada who was caught up in last week's NHL excitement. He wrote, "We don't have hockey back home in my native land, but I am an Oiler fan now, and that is how it will be. This defeat will not zap out the believer in me."

We can learn from that newcomer to Canada. Canadians won't keep quiet and no amount of attempt at defeat and censorship will zap out their belief in their God, country and fellow Canadians.