Check It Out: Public opinion matters

By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com

A WWII veteran was speaking to students. A student asked if he was married. He said he was, and asked why she asked. She said if he wasn’t married she wanted to introduce him to her single grandmother.

Like all veterans, he had paid a huge price for the freedoms we enjoy today. Drafted at age 20, he was placed in the infantry even though he had never shot a gun. He was the smallest guy in his battalion, but was given the heaviest rifle to carry.

He became a gunner, and soon his assistant gunner was seriously injured, but it would be three days before it was safe enough for the young man to be transported to a field hospital to receive pain killers. A 19-year-old was sent as his replacement, even though he had never shot a gun and had received no training. The young man committed suicide on the first day.

These were valuable young people who gave their lives. Some didn’t realize they were fighting for the freedom of future generations; they were just trying to survive.

As Parliament plans to resume on November 22nd, our freedoms are at stake. Bills such as Bill C-10 will return. That particular bill deals with government control of the Internet and our ability to express ourselves on social media. It’s time to communicate our concerns to Members of Parliament, because this legislation will affect everyone. If we don’t pay attention, we’ll wake up one day and ask ourselves what happened to our freedom of speech.

Dr. Suneel Dhand said, “People may not have a truly historical perspective of what it’s taken to get us to where we are, especially in western countries in 2021. Over the last two centuries the battle to get basic freedoms has been enormous and an awful lot of blood has been spilled. Even right now there’s people across the world, who have loved ones who have paid the ultimate price and lost their lives in the pursuit of freedom. It’s not a word to be taken lightly. History always repeats itself. It’s always during the bad times when you have to have your guard up because authorities are always prone to over stepping the mark.”

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security, will deserve neither and lose both.”

Today we see government wanting to enforce government censorship of social media. It’s interesting to note the Prime Minister of Canada during WWII said this, “Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government, which sooner or later becomes autocratic government.”

Although we may not be on a physical battle field, Canadians still need to contend for their freedoms, including freedom of speech. We can’t afford to miss the opportunity to effectively communicate our concerns to our Members of Parliament. Government control of communication would silence public opinion and ultimately lead to autocratic government.

You can contact me at joanjanzen@yahoo.com