The Creeping Totalitarianism of Bill C-63

Justin Trudeau and his ‘Justice’ Minister, Arif Virani, are doubling down on Bill C-63, purported to make the internet a ‘safe place for children’. Violations of their strict censorship laws – which include anything that may make anyone for whatever reason feel ‘unsafe’ – include anything from bankrupting-level fines to life in prison, even for allege ‘crimes’ that one ‘might commit’. Gulag and Minority Report in one grotesque chimera.

As Mr. Viran says puts it:

I am the parent of two young boys. I will do whatever I can to ensure their digital world is as safe as the neighborhood we live in. Children are vulnerable online. They need to be protected from online sexual exploitation, hate, and cyberbullying.

But Virani’s bill is unnecessary to protect children, for which there are already numerous laws in place. And, regardless, children should not be randomly searching the internet unsupervised. As the primarily medium of communication, it is a place for debating – at times vigorously – issues proper to adults. To remove anything that might trouble or scandalize a child – especially a psychologically frail one, or anyone of sensitive proclivities – would be impossible. It would be like trying to put soft rubber protective padding all around the Grand Canyon. Do Messieurs Trudeau and Virani want to remove all pornographic images and texts, say? We’ve already seen the answer to that. It seems they only want to prohibit what is contrary to their personal narrative and ideology.

Although the bill has yet to be tabled, it seems the real intent, or at least the real effect, of this law is to allow pliant judges to sentence adults to prison for life for expressing opinions with which Trudeau and his ilk disagree, on topics such as, say, transgenderism, homosexuality and various other alphabet-soup topics, not least under the ‘anti-hate’ label. It is, as Andrew Lawton points out, a reintroduction of Bill C-13, defeated years ago, which would have set up a governmental star chamber to convict anyone they deemed guilty of ‘hate’. I find it difficult to see how this differs from Orwell’s 1984. It even goes beyond this dystopia, for, according to reports, people can even be punished – with such things as ankle bracelets and house arrest – for potential crimes they might commit, based on what they have expressed – or are reported to have expressed, whether truly or not.

This is another step – even a giant leap – on the road to rank totalitarianism, disguised insidiously with anodyne Sesame Street ‘keep the children safe!’ language. Don’t fall for it. If anything’s harming children, it’s the very transgender ideology this bill will likely protect, as evidence mounts – if such even be needed – of the grievously harmful effects of its practices on children, from life-altering hormonal drugs, to irreversible mutilating ‘surgeries’, and all the rest of it.

That needs to stop – now – and we should be free, in fact we are duty bound, to proclaim the truth, in charity:

So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Mt 10:26-28)

Carney’s Amoral Majority

After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→

A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop

As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→

Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk

(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→

A Tale of Two Benedicts

A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→

Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk

As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→

The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus

As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→

Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace

Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→

Payette’s Payout

I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów

We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→