Bambi just read an article in the Globe and Mail entitled “By supporting press freedom, Trudeau reaffirms Canada’s historic role in Ukraine” (http://surl.li/hygsd). In addition to a second surprise-visit to Kiev, along with a commitment of $500M more in military aid, our Prime Minister is again giving the world moral lessons, this time about democracy (http://surl.li/hwchg). He is good at it, being a great speaker and initially a teacher.
Of course, Mr. Trudeau is also absolutely right about the meaning of his words on press freedom and also on defending nations when they are barbarically attacked. In Bambi’s mind, the problem is twofold: (1) clearly, the domestic walk does not match his international talk (or it would only when it could be politically exploited); and (2) even just causes, like defending against attacks, will eventually, most likely, end with diplomatic international negotiations. So, why not try to give peaceful solutions an earlier chance instead of fuelling wars that can last for too long? Bambi may sound naive to some of her readers for saying so. It is true that she is neither a politician nor a diplomat. She is a simple deer who grew up during a bloody war from age 3 (2.9, precisely) to 17? She knows something about this type of life cruelty.
To come back to Mr. Trudeau, he is reported to be saying: “We’re going to continue to talk about the best practices of democracy with all of our friends, as we always do around the world” (http://surl.li/hygsd). Very beautiful words, but did he resort to best practices of democracy himself in his own country? Bambi is precisely thinking about how he did not talk to Canadian truck drivers and farmers who drove from all over our big and beautiful country to Ottawa, hoping to have a chat with him and of being heard? Instead of democracy, didn’t his government restrict the freedom of these people by freezing their bank accounts? And earlier, didn’t he, willingly or clumsily, contributed to pit us against each other during the pandemic by calling some of us who did not want to be vaccinated “women-haters, racists, and science-deniers“?
Plus, why is the CBC (or Radio-Canada) still resorting to censorship (http://surl.li/hygju), whether endorsed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in federal courts or not (http://surl.li/hygml)? Why can’t journalists pronounce full titles of Canadian historical books? Books that want to precisely score a point with their titles on top of that? Are these best practices of democracy, Mr. Trudeau? And aren’t our collectively insane times sad, both on the intellectual and social levels?
And what can Bambi say about Bill C-11 than her earlier post shown further below? A bill that seems to be harmless and some would argue needed; nevertheless, it could be legally used, while being socially acceptable, to restrict online freedom of expression (of some of us). And what about the numerous stories of censorship or self-censorship in our media or elite circles (http://surl.li/hygml)? Are these examples of “best practices of democracy“?
Anyhow, this post will not solve the issue of neither political incongruence nor censorship. It is just raising questions and perhaps also expressing increased disappointment. To end this post on a musical and amusing note, there is nothing like Dalida and Mr. Alain Delon’s love song entitled “Paroles, parole, paroles” [ Words, words, words]. Bambi has offered it to Mr. Trudeau in the past on her blog. If she may, she would like to do it again now.
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