The assassination of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University is a brutal reminder that politics across North America is running hot. We grieve the loss of life. We also ought to ask what this political climate is doing to regular Canadians — because many are now scared to say what they think, especially when they believe they’re in the minority. Start with the numbers. A national survey by Leger reports that 57% of Canadians feel freedom of speech is threatened here. That’s the majority, not a fringe. When people think speech is risky, they stop talking. That is how a democracy dies. .EDITORIAL: Teachers who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination forfeit their right to teach .Look at our campuses. A new nationwide study of 760 students finds that half hesitate to speak up on political issues in class. Students who identify as very conservative are the most likely to expect social punishment or academic blowback for saying what they believe. That’s not education. That’s silence enforced by fear. The chill isn’t just in lecture halls. The tone of our politics has curdled. Threats against elected officials have surged, with hundreds of threat files logged in 2024 alone. Municipal leaders are quitting. In response to surveys indicating that a significant number of local officials in Quebec have experienced harassment or intimidation, the province established a helpline specifically for politicians. If the people we elect are looking over their shoulders, what signal does that send to citizens who just want to ask a tough question at a constituency office or town hall meeting? .We’ve seen uglier chapters before. The October Crisis. The Quebec City mosque attack in 2017. Canada isn’t the United States, but we aren’t immune to ideology-driven cruelty. Pretending otherwise is vanity. So why the hush? Partly because belonging now beats persuading. Political identity is crowding out policy debate. Disagreement starts to feel like betrayal. People keep their heads down. We drift into “everyone knows” groupthink, and the country loses the benefit of honest argument. .CARPAY: Outside of the CBC’s echo chamber, everyone is ‘far-right’.Then there’s the culture of public shaming — call-outs, dog-piles, the casual smear. A parent at a school council, a nurse on her break, a mechanic at the rink — millions have learned the same lesson. If you suspect you’re in the minority, whisper or say nothing. The loudest voices win by default.Here’s what a confident country would do..First, restate the basic rule that you may reject, mock, and demolish ideas — but you may not menace people for having them. That requires leadership. Prime ministers, premiers, mayors, university presidents, school boards: say it, often, and mean it when the pressure comes.Second, fix the incentives. Campuses should adopt and enforce clear free-expression principles, protect peaceful speech across the spectrum, and sanction true harassment consistently. If half of students won’t risk a hand in the air, the institution is failing its mission..NELSON: Kenney’s marriage meltdown: How an independence referendum becomes a home wrecker.Third, police the line. Threats, doxxing, and stalking are crimes. Enforce the law swiftly and publicly. Canadians need to see that the system will defend their right to speak before a mob — online or offline — can take their livelihood or safety..Fourth, rebuild habits of argument. Media, schools, and civic groups can model good-faith debate by steelmaning the other side, publish diverse op-eds, televise honest town halls. If an oilfield worker in Alberta or a farmer in Saskatchewan thinks he’ll be mocked for stating a minority view, he’ll keep quiet. That’s poison for a country as vast — and varied — as ours.None of this demands that we agree. It demands that we allow disagreement without social ruin. Canadians know instinctively that crushing dissent doesn’t produce consensus, it produces resentment. The hard work of living together — across regions, languages, faiths, and histories, including indigenous communities — requires thick skin and open ears..EDITORIAL: Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination is not journalism.Kirk’s assassination is a US tragedy. Our response should be Canadian resolve. We don’t have to accept a culture where people measure every sentence like it’s evidence in court. We can argue, loudly, and still share a bench at the arena. But that starts with telling millions of Canadians — especially the ones who think they’re outnumbered — that their voices are welcome in the public square, not just in a whisper.
