Illiberalism How do we protect ourselves, and our liberal

principles without becoming illiberal?

Those who are willing to give up their liberty for security deserve neither

How do you balance individual rights and protecting society

↗ Reasonable Accommodation: bike helmet laws, kirpan, hijab, minarets, banning burqas

↗ Racial profiling

↗ Hate crimes (punishing people for thoughts, not actions)

↗ Dealing with terrorism – watch lists, restrictions at airports, wiretapping

↗ Curfews

Canada’s war measures Act

The FLQ Crisis• FLQ – separatist groups during the Quiet Revolution

• Used terrorism to gain attention• Trudeau “Just watch me”

• House of Commons agreed to the application of the War Measures Act to allow the government to:• Control the media• Implement martial law in some Quebec cities• Search homes and arrest people without a warrant

Were these actions necessary? Are they illberal?

Emergency Legislation Today

• WMA has been replaced with the Emergencies Act and the Anti-terrorism Act• The goal is to have limited suspension of rights

specific to the situation

• Some applications:• No-fly list (Maher Arar)• Level of security / arrests at G20

Issue: Guilty until proven innocent

Usa Patriot Act (9/11)• Post-9/11: emotionally

charged atmosphere• Uniting and Strengthening America by

Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001

Includes actions such as spying on domestic communication without a warrant and tracking purchases

Other issues • Guantanamo Bay – detainees, not prisoners

• Omar Khadr• Obama’s attempts to close – military tribunals

• Renditions, secret prisons• Effectiveness of torture (create terrorists)

• Abu Grhaib, Canadian treatment of prisoners

• Issues: international law (Geneva Conventions); reputation of “liberal” nations around the world (helps to support the rejection of liberalism by dictators)

Other Crisis Situations↗ Control of individuals during a pandemic – SARS

↗ Censorship↗ South Park/Mohammed (other cartoons)↗ Banning Christian displays at public buildings↗ Books: Huck Finn, Mockingbird, Anarchist Cookbook, Mein Kampf↗ TV/Video Games – where do we draw the line? (FCC)

↗ Immigration↗ Arizona law targeting Hispanics↗ Quebec law targeting Muslims↗ Dutch immigration test

Canada’s illiberal past (immigration)

• Chinese Head Tax – needed cheap workers for the railways• “they’re stealing our jobs”; creation of Chinatowns

= changing society• $200 tax to keep families separated (= husbands

will go home)

• Komogata Maru• Blocked the landing of a ship from India –

undesirables• Only wanted immigrants from “favorable” nations

• NINA

How do we create a liberal society that extols individual freedoms without imposing

our values on others?

Illiberalism: to be narrow-minded, to act in a way that goes against

democratic values

“The only thing I will not tolerate is intolerance”