Do you think your smartphone makes you free? Well, it doesn’t — no more than work made you free at a German concentration camp. Sure, you can order your next meal on your phone, or make plans for a hot date. But try putting it down, try ignoring it, trying pretending it doesn’t exist..You can't. I used to be so contemptuous of those high-school students walking through malls, staring with such intensity at their phones, sleepwalking through crowds and narrowly avoiding collisions, so engrossed in that other world. I used to think, “How will they ever work in the real world, when they are incapable of living in it?”.But of course I was wrong. They were ahead of me. It is impossible to work in the real world today without being constantly wired, without constantly proving we are producing, transparent and available online. I confess, my iPhone and I are inseparable. I cannot comprehend a day without it..But now we are going one step further. The federal government is moving ahead with plans to introduce digital ID for all federal services..Sounds fine at first... But do you think it will end there?.The Trudeau government’s determination to make Canadians use digital ID is particularly alarming because we have already seen its authoritarian tendencies. It thought nothing of crushing dissent during the Freedom Convoy protest for example — even though we now know the protest was on the verge of shutting down, and there was no call from police to invoke the Emergencies Act. So how might a government like this use the powers of digital ID?.The Trudeau government also spied on 33 million Canadians during 2021-2, by monitoring their smartphones. As the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms reported, the stated purpose was to research whether Canadians had been complying with COVID-19 mandates. Sounds like China doesn’t it?.In fact, both the federal and provincial governments went wild with digital ID throughout the COVID pandemic. To travel, and to enter restaurants or places of entertainment, Canadians needed to show a QR code. And, even now, the Trudeau government continues to operate the absurd ArriveCAN app: People on both sides of the border are saying is bad for business. But it's starting to look like a second passport, since the imbeciles behind it show no sign of phasing out this useless and destructive measure..Far from it, in fact. The Trudeau government now wants to have Canadians use digital ID to access more than 270 online Government of Canada services and programs. Writing on a Government of Canada website, an enthusiastic civil servant calls the plan, 'One ID to rule them all.'."It’s kind of like being invited to a really exciting party. Just make sure to bring some (digital) ID.".Calgary lawyer John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, thinks otherwise. "What Canadians need today is not more unmitigated government access to private information but instead, a renewed commitment to Charter rights and freedoms. We are on the road to Beijing, and Canadians should be apprehensive... Things are moving fast, and Canadians should be very concerned that a free and democratic society is quickly headed towards a society where citizens can be cancelled by the government with the flick of a switch.".Indeed. Things can move so fast that your digital ID could soon be necessary to buy the toilet paper for your bathroom. And the government could soon know how many bottles of scotch you’re buying every week, or if you’re a dangerous consumer of fossil fuels or meat..That's how it's working in China, where an individual's buying patterns could put him on a government blacklist..I often note how familiar our times are to the 1970s: We have lousy political leadership, inflation, high crime, high gas prices, bad hair styles and horrific clothing..But there’s another similarity. The bestselling book of the 1970s was Hal Lindsey’s "The Late, Great Planet Earth." Lindsey related the evangelical Christian interpretation of the book of Revelation, that Christ will return after a seven year tribulation ruled by a charismatic anti-Christ who will force everyone to wear the 'Mark of the Beast.' The mark would be the number 666 worn on their head or right arm. Without it, no person would be able to buy or sell..Well obviously, the 1970s came and went. There was no tribulation, no Armageddon and no Second Coming. And if somebody starts making the case that the Government of Canada is the antichrist, I'm late for an appointment. .But the problem with a digital ID in your smartphone is that you can lose your smartphone. Trust me, I’ve lost a few. But you can’t lose a computer chip embedded in your body. And people might just buy into that..Then it starts getting weird. Because if they don't like you, they will eventually have the power to cancel you, on the spot. And the phone you bought for freedom, is now a way for your government to control you.
