Scratch a progressive and you’ll find a totalitarian. The mask always drops.
Within the progressive psyche runs a strong streak of intolerance. They are utterly convinced that they know best, and if the rest of us remain obdurate they think we should be forced into conformity.
In Canada, under the leadership of the progressive poster boy Justin Trudeau, we find the emergence of typical progressive aberrant behaviour patterns. The latest authoritarian edict to emerge from Prime Minister Trudeau’s post-modern compassion is a ploy forcing charities into public compliance with progressive ideology.
The federal government-funded Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) programme makes it financially attractive for non-profits and small businesses (50 or fewer employees) to hire full-time students between 15-30 years of age during the long vacation. Many churches, charities and Christian organisations have participated in this mutually beneficial programme.
A normal person would think that agreeing or disagreeing with abortion, or with a man’s ‘right’ to self-identify as a woman, or any other progressive shibboleth, has little or nothing to do with the purpose of CSJ, or with helping the destitute.
This year, however, for a charity to receive funding through the CSJ programme, it must attest its agreement with Canada’s new state religion of progressivism, including support for full-term abortion, transgenderism, the redefinition of marriage and LGBTQ ideology.
According to the CSJ Applicant Guide, to be eligible the organisation must respect individual human rights in Canada. ‘These include reproductive rights and the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights.’
Since 1982 the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been part of the Canadian Constitution. It was intended to protect the citizen from the power of the state, not to enforce compliance by citizens or private institutions with the moral judgments of the state. The attestation changes the Charter from a protective shield to a tool of coercion.
The Trudeau government appears to have a particular animus against pro-life groups. Previously, it was up to individual MPs to assess and approve CSJ funding applications from groups in their districts. But Trudeau Liberals have already decreed that no Liberal MP may approve CSJ funding for pro-life groups.
Employment Minister Patty Hajdu said last year that she would change the programme to make sure no pro-life group would be approved in the future. True to her word, beginning this year, to access government funds through the CSJ programme charities must indicate that they support abortion as the equivalent of a Canadian Charter right.
According to the Morgentaler decision of the Canadian Supreme Court in 1982, the Court, whilst approving abortion at all stages of pregnancy, did not include the right to abortion as one of the Charter rights. But, such is its determination to force progressivism on to the Canadian people, the Trudeau government treats abortion as just such a right and demands compliance with its views.
Many churches and other religious groups have said the government is forcing them to choose between their spiritual values and funding that helps run summer camps and other activities that have nothing to do with abortion.
As a consequence of the diktat The Mustard Seed, a Christian humanitarian charity which helps rough sleepers, the poor, homeless and addicted inner-city people in Alberta, regardless of their faith, creed or colour, will hire fewer students. Its CEO Stephen Wile said: ‘The Mustard Seed doesn’t take a position on abortion, but with the government making this a requirement for funding, it’s trying to force us from a neutral position to an affirmative position on abortion, and we’re not prepared to do that . . . We’re not willing to support the government’s position in order to get the funds; it’s just not worth it for us.’
He added: ‘It seems as if the government is saying, “The issue of where you stand on abortion is more important than the work you do and the people you serve”, and that’s really sad.’
The government claims its demand refers to an organisation’s activities and job description, not to its beliefs or values. However, since the deadline for applying for Canada Summer Jobs funding passed last month, numerous charities have been told, in writing, that they will not receive funding unless they tick the ‘I attest’ box on their application, confirming their support for legal abortion as a Charter right.
A salient difference between living in a free society and under a repressive regime is the right to remain silent. Unfortunately to be silent on the question of abortion, and other progressive sacred cows, is not enough for Trudeau. He requires that Canadians say clearly that they agree with him.
All citizens must abide by the law, whether or not you agree with the law. But for a government to require expressing approval for these laws is totalitarian. In a free country, nobody should have to declare agreement with particular beliefs or values to benefit from a government programme.
