CANADIAN ATTACK ON DEMOCRATIC PROTEST AND DISSENT

 

In Canada, there is increasing criticism of democratic protests, saying that they have become too aggressive and rowdy.

 

Protest is a right of all people who live in a democracy. The Canadian Maple Leaf is for all Canadians. If we start suppressing protesters, we are no better than authoritarian countries. Democracy is often not pleasant or convenient, but it is the only type of government which protects human rights. None of us should want any of the other available forms of non-democratic governments. We experienced the removal of human rights during the lockdowns and restrictions. I hope Canadians do not want a government which believes that the blocking of human rights should be commonplace in Canada.

 

I have been a gay rights activist since the 1960s. The demonstrations by gay rights groups were so orderly and peaceful that often no police were dispatched to maintain order. The protests were all but ignored by governments and the press. Then something happened -- "The Stonewall Riots, also called the Stonewall Uprising, began in the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighbourhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, in neighbouring streets and in nearby Christopher Park. The Stonewall Riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world." https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots

The LGBTQ who participated in this landmark protest were called rioters, hooligans, a disgrace to democracy and their cause. However, from that point onward the gay movement became militant, noticed, and successful in its goal of expanding rights to the LGBTQ community.

The civil rights movement became militant with the birth of black power, and this militant protests brought recognition of the oppression the black community suffered and led to action. Ethnic, Racial, Aboriginal, and other minority groups who felt powerless to stop historic injustices against them -- HAVE ONE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS THAT CAN HELP THEM IN REMOVING THE INEQUALITY THAT HAS BECOME PART OF THE FABRIC OF A NATION -- 

THAT ONE DEMOCRATIC MEANS IS PROTEST. 

I believe that those of you who are not part of these minorities do not realize that Protest and Dissent are democracy. Most of us do not have enough money and are not in the mainstream enough to be able to run for office. 

 Please leave our democratic rights alone.