Another complaint has landed on the desk of StopHateAB, this time aimed at Alberta Prosperity Project's CEO Mitch Sylvestre and Jeff Rath. Their comments at a January 7 town hall in Didsbury — about mass immigration, cultural change, and the future of religious freedom — have been framed as dangerous, even hateful.That framing avoids the harder truth that much of what they said warned about is grounded in observable fact, not malice. Calling facts “racist” may feel righteous, but it does nothing to resolve the real pressures facing Alberta and Canada.Start with immigration. “Old stock white Canadians, and that’s us, and we don’t have to apologize for this room being filled with white people,” Sylvestre told the crowd. .GIESBRECHT: The ‘Kamloops files’ — Canada’s version of the Epstein files.“This used to be what Alberta was. We’re not apologizing for being ourselves ... The replacement theory is real.”Canada is bringing in people at a pace never before seen. Ottawa’s own Immigration Levels Plan targets 500,000 permanent residents per year by 2025, on top of hundreds of thousands of temporary foreign workers, international students, and asylum claimants. Statistics Canada reports that immigration accounted for nearly all population growth in recent years, with non-permanent residents alone now exceeding 2.5 million people nationwide.These are not rumours. They are federal targets and published data..It is also true that this level of intake is reshaping the country’s demographic makeup, especially in major urban centres. Statistics Canada projects that so-called “visible minorities” will become the majority in Toronto and Vancouver within the next decade, and nationally before mid-century. That is demographic change by design, not conspiracy.One can support immigration and still acknowledge what the numbers show. Noting demographic replacement is not the same as declaring it sinister. It becomes sinister only when discussion is shut down and citizens are told to apologize for noticing.“If we have control over immigration, we can control who comes here," said Sylvestre.Sylvestre’s language was blunt, and critics seized on that. But the substance of his concern that long-established cultural norms are being diluted without public consent is shared by millions of Canadians who do not attend independence meetings and who are tired of being shouted down..Anti-hate watchdog plans to monitor APP independence events.The same pattern appears in the debate over religious freedom. They warned that Christianity could one day be criminalized. Critics scoffed. Yet recent legal trends show why people worry.Canada’s Criminal Code already includes hate speech provisions that hinge on subjective interpretations of offence. Bill C-4 expanded the definition of “conversion therapy” so broadly that pastors and parents expressed concern about ordinary religious guidance being swept in. Quebec’s Bill 56 now allows the state to intervene against groups accused of “religious influence” deemed harmful.“We don’t want anyone else imposing their religion on us," said Rath.No one is being arrested today for owning a Bible. But Canadians are not wrong to see the direction of travel. .Across the West, traditional Christian beliefs on sex, marriage, and gender have already triggered professional sanctions, court battles, and human rights complaints. To say that religious freedom is under pressure is not hysteria. It is an observation backed by case law.The reaction from StopHateAB follows a familiar script. StopHateAB positions itself as a moral referee, implies wrongdoing, and chills debate before any formal finding is made. Sunpreet Singh Johal says the group is “closely monitoring.” That alone sends a message: speak carefully, or else..BARCLAY: Antisemitism is the NDP’s status quo.Yet open societies do not improve by silencing uncomfortable conversations. They improve by confronting reality honestly.Alberta’s future — whether inside or outside Confederation — will depend on social cohesion. That cohesion is weakened when people are told their history is shameful, their faith suspect, and their questions forbidden. .It is weakened further when elites insist that numbers, laws, and trends must not be discussed if they offend the wrong audience.Facts are not racist. Statistics are not hate. Worrying about cultural continuity is not the same as rejecting newcomers. Many immigrants themselves chose Canada precisely because it once had confidence in its values and boundaries..KAPLAN: Carney government’s net zero emission policy could cost Canadians $2.1 trillion .Canadians deserve a serious immigration debate rooted in capacity, housing, wages, and integration — not slogans. They deserve clarity about where religious freedom begins and ends — not reassurances that dismiss lived experience. And they deserve the right to speak plainly without being dragged before activist groups for holding unfashionable views.Labeling dissent as hate may win headlines. It will not fix what is broken.
