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That time is coming again, folks. Winter is Coming, and with it the familiar mix of beauty, inconvenience, and the kind of treachery only an Alberta chinook can undo.
Pretty soon the sidewalk in front of your house — that narrow strip we all share — will turn into a skating rink unless we do something about it. The goal is simple: get it down to dry pavement so the mail carrier, the kids heading to school, the dog-walkers, and that older couple two doors down don’t end up on their backsides with a broken wrist.
I used to think the shopping-cart test revealed everything you needed to know about a person. Turns out shoveling your walk is the grown-up version, with higher stakes. Returning a cart is easy. Clearing a sidewalk when it’s minus twenty and your snow blower is coughing its last breath? That’s real work. And some of us simply can’t do it — age, injury, travel, money, life. Totally understood.
But for those of us who can, even a half hour with a shovel keeps the whole block safer and friendlier. It means the paramedics don’t have to haul someone away from in front of your house. It means Mrs. Henderson doesn’t have to tiptoe in the street because the sidewalk’s an ice sheet. It means we all get to live in a neighbourhood that quietly says: we look out for each other here.
So when the snow flies, let’s grab the shovel, clear our stretch, and—if you’ve got it in you—give the neighbour’s corner a quick pass if they’re away or hurting. Those small, extra gestures are what make winter survivable and community real.
Winter is Coming. Let’s not let it win—and let’s make our block somewhere worth walking.
The rapid proliferation of gender ideology over the past decade—especially the surge of adolescent-onset gender dysphoria—stands as one of the clearest examples of social contagion in modern Western societies. A clinical framework once reserved for a very small number of adults with persistent, childhood-onset dysphoria was transformed into a cultural mandate through the convergence of three forces: institutional capture, algorithm-driven identity formation, and activist-driven medical practice.
Between 2015 and the early 2020s, referrals for gender services exploded—driven overwhelmingly by teenage girls with no prior history of dysphoria. Peer-group clustering, sudden identity shifts following intense online exposure, and the complete inversion of historic sex ratios all point to a socially transmitted phenomenon rather than a newly discovered biological one. Yet under the “affirmation” model, minors were placed on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and permanent surgeries despite limited evidence, poorly understood risks, and a professional culture that increasingly discouraged clinical skepticism.
The hardest obstacle to unwind, however, will not be the institutions that enabled this shift. Policies can change, clinics can be restructured, and professional bodies can revise guidelines—as they already have across parts of Europe. The most immovable barrier will be parents. Many acted from compassion, social pressure, or a sincere desire to be “supportive,” but they now face an excruciating truth: they approved irreversible medical interventions on psychologically vulnerable teenagers during a developmental window historically marked by transient distress, identity confusion, and social sensitivity.
Double mastectomies on minors, lifetime fertility loss, and surgeries with complication rates exceeding anything considered acceptable elsewhere in medicine are not abstract debates. They are lived consequences. For parents, acknowledging error would require confronting a moral reality few can bear: that they were active participants in harming their own child. The human mind is built to avoid that revelation at all costs.
As a result, the detransition wave—real, growing, and increasingly documented—will face its fiercest resistance not from clinics or activists, but from within families. Parents will cling to the “lifesaving care” narrative long after the institutions that encouraged it have quietly retreated. They will reinterpret events to preserve psychic stability, even if doing so deepens the suffering of the child who must now live with the consequences.
Reversing the damage will require more than policy reform or legal accountability. It will require a public reckoning with the psychological mechanisms of self-deception, moral injury, and sunk-cost loyalty that allowed an entire society to medicate and operate on distressed adolescents in the name of affirmation. That reckoning—private, painful, and unavoidable—is the hardest part still to come.
References
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The Cass Review – Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People (Interim Report) — NHS-commissioned review (Feb 2022) by Dr. Hilary Cass. Sex Matters
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The Cass Review: Final Report (April 2024) — Hilary Cass’s full independent review. BASW+1
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NHS England: Public Consultation Analysis & Summary – Interim Clinical Policy on Puberty-Suppressing Hormones (Jan 2024) — analysis of feedback on proposed policy changes. NHS England
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Commission on Human Medicines (UK) Report – Proposed Restriction on GnRH Agonists for Under-18s — recommendation to restrict puberty blockers. GOV.UK
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Equality & Health Inequalities Impact Assessment (EHIA), NHS England — assessment of health-inequality risks from the policy change on puberty blockers. GOV.UK+1
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Karolinska Institutet Systematic Review on Hormonal Treatment in Youths (<18) — finds that GnRHa treatment should be considered experimental due to lack of long-term data. Karolinska Institutet News
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Karolinska Hospital Policy Statement (April 2021) — stops prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors under 16 except in research settings. Feminist Legal Clinic
The Stoics taught that excess corrupts both the soul and the body politic. Seneca warned that chasing boundless expansion courts ruin — true prosperity lies not in defiance of limits, but in living in accordance with nature’s measure. Marcus Aurelius similarly counseled restraint, urging us to act within the bounds of reason and accept the limits placed upon us. Applied to governance, this means a nation — like an individual — must assess its capacities before inviting more mouths to the table.
Canada’s recent immigration trajectory betrayed this principle. In 2023, the country added more than 1.27 million people — an annual growth rate of roughly 3.2 percent, driven overwhelmingly by international migration. (Statistics Canada) Over just a few years, the population climbed from under 39 million to over 41 million.
For years, permanent-resident targets hovered near 500,000, and temporary resident classes — students, workers, etc. — swelled. By 2025, however, disturbing strains were showing: housing shortages, rent and price inflation, pressure on health services, and signs of wage stress.
These were not speculative risks. Empirical analyses from bodies such as the Bank of Canada and CMHC correlate rapid population inflows with housing-market pressure. Public opinion followed suit. By late 2025, polling indicated that nearly two-thirds of Canadians considered even the then-reduced target for permanent residents (395,000) too high; roughly half held consistently negative views on immigration, not out of xenophobia, but from perceived stress on infrastructure and housing.
Recognizing this, Ottawa has begun to recalibrate. In its 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, released publicly, the government committed to 395,000 permanent residents in 2025, then reducing to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027. (Canada) Even more significantly, temporary resident targets dropped: from 673,650 new TRs in 2025 to 516,600 in 2026, with further moderation planned. (Canada)
The demographic effects are already materializing. As of mid-2025, Canada’s estimated population growth slowed to 0.9 percent year-over-year, according to RBC Economics, with non-permanent residents making up a smaller share. (RBC) This slowdown itself validates the Stoic critique of overreach — a moment of reckoning for policy driven by expansion rather than equilibrium.
This retreat is welcome, but it remains reactive. From a Stoic perspective, reactive virtue is still virtue, but prudence demands more: a wisdom that designs policy proactively, not merely corrects after crisis. A Stoic polity would have matched immigration flows to real, measurable capacity long ago — gauging housing pipelines, healthcare strain, wage effects, and social cohesion.
Immigration in moderation enriches: it brings talent, innovation, and human flourishing. But unmoored from institutional capacity, it sows fragility, inequality, and resentment.
Going forward, Canada needs to institutionalize sophrosyne — the classical virtue of temperance and self-mastery. Targets should be set not by political fantasy or corporate lobbying, but by clear metrics: housing completions, per-capita infrastructure strain, healthcare wait-lists, and social stability.
The recent dialing back is a start. But true Stoic governance demands that moderation becomes a structural norm, not just a temporary correction. Only then can the polity live in accord with nature — virtuous, resilient, and enduring.
References
- Government of Canada, 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan. Permanent resident targets: 395,000 (2025), 380,000 (2026), 365,000 (2027). (Canada)
- Canada.ca, Government of Canada reduces immigration. Temporary resident reductions, projected decline in temporary population by 445,901 in 2025. (Canada)
- RBC Economics, Canada’s population growth slows… — mid-2025 year-over-year growth of 0.9%, share of non-permanent residents falling. (RBC)
- Statistics Canada, Population estimates, Q4 2024. International migration accounted for 98.5% of growth in Q4 2024. (Statistics Canada)
- CIC News, 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan will include new measures… — TR targets for 2026: 385,000 quoted, among other reductions. (CIC News)
- CIBC Thought Leadership, Population-growth projections… — analysis of visa expiry, outflows, and the challenge of non-permanent resident accounting. (cms.thoughtleadership.cibc.com)
Glossary of Key Terms
| Term | Meaning / Explanation |
|---|---|
| Sophrosyne | A classical Greek virtue (especially important to Stoics): moderation, temperance, self-control, and harmony with nature. In this context, it means setting immigration policy in proportion to real capacity. |
| Non-Permanent Resident (NPR) | Individuals in Canada on temporary visas: students, temporary foreign workers, etc. Not permanent residents or citizens. |
| Permanent Resident (PR) | Someone who has been granted permanent residency in Canada: not a citizen yet, but has the right to live and work permanently. |
| Levels Plan / Immigration Levels Plan | The Canadian government’s multi-year plan setting targets for new permanent and temporary immigrant admissions. |
| Absorptive Capacity | The realistic capacity of a country (or region) to accommodate newcomers without undue strain: infrastructure, housing, healthcare, labour market, social services. |
| Reactive Virtue vs. Proactive Wisdom | In Stoic terms: responding wisely after the fact (reactive) is good, but better is anticipating and designing policy with foresight (proactive). |
A recent B.C. Supreme Court ruling has intensified long-standing concerns about the direction of Indigenous-rights jurisprudence in Canada. In Cowichan Tribes v. Canada, Justice Barbara Young recognized that the Cowichan may hold Aboriginal title to a major tract of land in Richmond—land that has been surveyed, subdivided, and privately owned for more than a century. While the court did not transfer property or invalidate existing titles, the judgment rests on principles and evidentiary approaches that critics say could destabilize the foundations of Canada’s property-rights system.
As Peter Best argues in Manufactured Judgements: How Canada’s Courts Promote Indigenous Radicalism (C2C Journal, 2025), the case illustrates a broader judicial shift: courts are increasingly interpreting history, Aboriginal rights, and Crown obligations through the lens of reconciliation, sometimes in ways that depart from established legal norms, evidentiary standards, and basic assumptions about the security of freehold property.
Historical Context and the Cowichan Claim
The Cowichan, based on Vancouver Island, assert that a portion of modern Richmond corresponds to an ancestral summer fishing site. Their claim rests largely on oral traditions and historical references, including Governor James Douglas’s 1853 pledge to treat the Cowichan “with justice and humanity.”
At the time, mainland British Columbia had not yet been formally established as a British colony; governance was conducted through the Hudson’s Bay Company.
After Confederation in 1871, the disputed lands were surveyed, granted, and sold as fee-simple parcels. These titles have since passed through generations of owners, now covering dense residential neighborhoods, commercial districts, and major infrastructure. A witness in the case estimated the present value of the affected area at approximately $100 billion.
The Cowichan assert that their title to the land was never extinguished. Justice Young agreed that Douglas’s 1853 actions engaged the “honour of the Crown,” giving rise—retroactively—to a fiduciary obligation that the court believes may have been breached when settlers later acquired the land.
Shifts in Terminology, Ceremony, and the Courtroom Atmosphere
Best notes that the judgment reflects more than a legal analysis—it also signals cultural and symbolic alignment. Justice Young explicitly avoids the term “Indian,” adopts Indigenous linguistic framing, and opens proceedings with hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ phrases such as Huychqʼu, without translation. She thanks Indigenous witnesses for their “bravery” in testifying.
Best argues that such gestures, however well intentioned, risk creating the perception that the court identifies with one side’s worldview. Similar patterns appear in other major cases, such as Restoule v. Ontario and Gitxaala v. B.C., where courts incorporated Indigenous ceremonies, eagle staffs, and spiritual claims directly into proceedings. Higher courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, have endorsed such practices.
While symbolic recognition is not inherently problematic, Best contends that the cumulative effect may undermine the appearance of judicial neutrality.
Evidentiary Standards: Expanded Oral Histories, Reduced Weight for Documentary Records
A central critique concerns how the court treated historical evidence.
Justice Young acknowledges that oral history “includes subjective experience” and may contain elements “not entirely factual.” Yet she relies heavily on recently recorded testimony to support the Cowichan claim, while discounting earlier documentary sources.
For example:
- Older anthropological evidence, such as the work of Diamond Jenness—who reported that Cowichan leaders in the mid-19th century denied fishing rights on the lower Fraser—was treated as less credible.
- Hearsay rules were relaxed, consistent with existing Supreme Court precedents (Delgamuukw, Tsilhqot’in), allowing extensive oral and spiritual testimony that would be inadmissible in other civil trials.
- In Gitxaala, courts recognized the existence of naxnanox (supernatural beings) and restricted mining exploration to avoid disturbing their “dens.” Best argues that importing spiritual cosmology into secular legal frameworks risks eroding basic evidentiary principles.
From his perspective, the cumulative effect is an evidentiary imbalance that places spiritual narratives and reconstructed oral histories on equal or greater footing than contemporaneous written records.
Historical Judgments Applied Selectively
Best argues that the judgment applies modern legal and moral frameworks to colonial actors—accusing them of dishonourable conduct—while refusing to apply modern moral standards to pre-contact Indigenous practices such as warfare, enslavement, or internecine violence. This asymmetry, he argues, reflects a reconciliation-oriented narrative that treats Indigenous groups as bearers of inherent moral authority while treating colonial figures primarily as agents of oppression.
The “honour of the Crown,” originally a narrow doctrine designed to ensure fair dealing in modern administrative decisions (Haida Nation, 2004), is expanding into an all-purpose lens for assessing and revising historical events. When applied retroactively to 19th-century decisions, Best contends, it risks collapsing the distinction between historical understanding and contemporary political aspirations.
Implications: Legal and Social Consequences
Although the Richmond ruling does not extinguish private property rights, it raises several concerns:
1. Uncertainty in Freehold Property Systems
If courts continue to recognize Aboriginal title in densely settled regions, the legal interface between ancient claims and freehold property becomes increasingly unclear. Even if governments—not homeowners—carry the liability, uncertainty around title affects markets, investment, and long-term planning.
2. A Growing Precedent
Should appellate courts affirm the judgment, it may encourage similar claims in other urban or developed areas. The jurisprudential trajectory appears to be expanding the geographic and historical scope of Aboriginal title.
3. Financial Risk for Governments and Taxpayers
A potential $100 billion liability—referenced in testimony—highlights the scale of future compensation, negotiation, or settlement costs.
4. Judicial Activism and the Role of Courts
Best argues that many judges now see themselves as agents of reconciliation, advancing broader societal transformation rather than resolving discrete legal disputes. Whether one views that as overdue correction or ideological mission, the implications for democratic legitimacy and legal certainty are substantial.
Conclusion
Peter Best’s critique raises difficult but important questions. The evolution of Aboriginal title law reflects sincere efforts to redress historical wrongs—but also reveals an increasingly expansive approach that reaches deep into settled expectations about property, historical evidence, and judicial neutrality.
The Cowichan case illustrates the tension between reconciliation and legal stability: a conflict not easily resolved, but one that demands scrutiny, clarity, and public debate.
Glossary of Legal Terms
Aboriginal Title
A constitutionally protected form of land ownership held communally by Indigenous groups, based on pre-contact occupation. It is distinct from fee-simple title and is difficult to extinguish without explicit government action.
Chain of Title
The documented historical sequence of legal transfers from the first grant of land to the current owner.
Fee-Simple Property
The most complete form of private land ownership in Canadian law, allowing full use, sale, and inheritance, subject only to zoning and taxation.
Fiduciary Duty
A legal obligation requiring one party (e.g., the Crown) to act with loyalty, fairness, and care toward another (e.g., Indigenous peoples), particularly in matters involving land or treaty rights.
Honour of the Crown
A legal doctrine requiring governments to act honourably in their dealings with Indigenous peoples. Courts apply it broadly, including to historical events, treaty interpretation, and modern administrative actions.
Hearsay Rule
A rule that generally excludes statements made outside court from being used as evidence. In Aboriginal rights cases, the rule is relaxed to allow oral histories.
Nullity
A legal status meaning something—such as a deed or grant—is void from the outset and therefore lacks legal effect.
References
Best, Peter. “Manufactured Judgements: How Canada’s Courts Promote Indigenous Radicalism.” C2C Journal, September 30, 2025.
https://c2cjournal.ca/2025/09/manufactured-judgements-how-canadas-courts-promote-indigenous-radicalism/
Supreme Court of Canada. Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, [1997] 3 S.C.R. 1010.
Supreme Court of Canada. Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests), 2004 SCC 73.
Supreme Court of Canada. Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia, 2014 SCC 44.
Canada’s treaty relationship with Indigenous peoples is in crisis — not because Canadians don’t care, but because the way we currently honour those obligations is dysfunctional, opaque, and increasingly divisive. The federal government now spends nearly $24 billion per year on Indigenous services, up from about $13 billion in 2019–20, according to the Auditor General of Canada (OAG report). Yet outcomes in many communities have barely moved. Infrastructure failures persist. Unsafe drinking water advisories continue. And trust on all sides is eroding.
We are reaching a dangerous moment: if nothing changes, Canadians may not merely resent the system — they may begin to reject treaty obligations altogether. That would be a national disaster, morally and politically. We need a new approach that is fair, transparent, and results-driven.
So here is a trial balloon: a voluntary, 100-year “Treaty Modernization Agreement” that pays out treaty obligations in a structured, accountable, measurable way — while helping Indigenous communities build long-term economic sovereignty instead of permanent dependency.
This isn’t abolition. It isn’t assimilation. It’s modernization — and it might be the only path that prevents a complete breakdown of goodwill in the decades ahead.
A Simple Vision: A Century of Commitment, Delivered Honestly
Imagine treaties not as open-ended entitlement but as a 100-year contract: transparent funding, rising early when needs are greatest, tapering later as communities grow stronger.
Here’s what such a plan could look like:
1. A Guaranteed Base Payment for All Members
Every band member would receive an annual $1,000–$2,000 inflation-adjusted payment, routed directly to individuals. But band governments must publish transparent financial reports — online, accessible, and clear — to unlock the full amount. This is basic fiscal hygiene, not paternalism.
2. Bonuses for Measurable Success
Communities that achieve agreed-upon goals — clean water for all residents, higher high-school graduation rates, better youth employment, successful community-run businesses — would receive up to 50% more funding.
These aren’t colonial metrics. They’re Indigenous success metrics already visible in places like:
- Osoyoos Indian Band, known for its award-winning winery and economic diversification
- Fort McKay First Nation, where resource partnerships have delivered 98% employment
- Westbank First Nation, a leader in self-government and transparent governance
Evidence shows what works. This plan would reward it.
3. Safeguards Against Corruption and Waste
If independent audits or RCMP investigations uncover mismanagement, community-level funding temporarily drops to the guaranteed base. Proven diverted funds would go straight to families, bypassing leaders.
This isn’t punitive. It’s protection — for ordinary Indigenous citizens who suffer most when money disappears into bureaucratic fog.
4. A 100-Year Sunset (With Renewal)
The agreement would run from 2025 to 2125. In that century, Canada commits to fulfilling treaty obligations through:
- Upfront investment in infrastructure
- Predictable annual payments
- Transparent reporting
- Bonuses for success
At 2125, the arrangement can be renewed voluntarily. Nothing is extinguished. But nothing drifts forever, either.
5. Indigenous-Led Oversight
A new Indigenous-majority Treaty Accountability Commission would handle:
- auditing
- performance metrics
- transparency
- dispute resolution
This keeps Ottawa honest — something many Indigenous leaders rightly insist upon.
Why Change Is Necessary: The Status Quo Is Failing Everyone
Canada’s existing system is massively expensive, poorly coordinated, and shockingly ineffective.
Billions Spent, Little Progress
The Auditor General has repeatedly found that Indigenous Services Canada has not made satisfactory progress on key issues like health services, emergency management, or infrastructure (OAG report).
Even after years of promises, long-term drinking water advisories remain. In 2024, ISC acknowledged 28 active long-term advisories still affecting 26 communities (ISC report).
Procurement Concerns and Fraud Risks
Federal documents show ongoing concerns about weak verification of Indigenous procurement claims and ongoing vulnerability to fraud in contracting (ISC procurement update). Even ISC itself acknowledges that better integrity controls are needed.
Systemic Fragmentation
Parliamentary debates and committee reports consistently point out that treaty and program obligations are scattered across many federal departments, creating delay, duplication, and confusion (House of Commons debate).
In other words: no one is truly accountable.
Political Backlash Is Growing
Many Canadians are becoming skeptical about endless spending that produces weak results. This is dangerous. Without reform, public support for treaties — already strained — could collapse. That would harm Indigenous peoples first and most, and invite an ugly political reaction.
We must fix the system while we still have the national goodwill to do it.
Addressing Indigenous Concerns Honestly
A plan of this scale cannot be imposed. It must be voluntary and co-developed.
“Are you sunsetting treaty rights?”
No.
Treaty rights under Section 35 remain intact. This is a modernization of the cash obligation, not a constitutional extinguishment.
“Are bonuses a colonial imposition?”
No.
The performance indicators would be co-designed with Indigenous nations. Many First Nations already track their Community Well-Being Index and publish governance data. This rewards success on their terms.
“Can we trust Ottawa?”
Not without structural reform — which is exactly why this plan builds in Indigenous-majority oversight and transparent fund-tracking.
“Will this require more legal work?”
Yes. Much more.
Legislative design, oversight creation, financial modelling, and treaty-by-treaty negotiation will take years. But the alternative — drifting deeper into dysfunction — is far worse.
Why a 100-Year Plan Is the Only Sustainable Path
A century may sound long. But the truth is that the current system is infinite — infinite spending, infinite dependency, infinite frustration.
A 100-year Treaty Modernization Agreement offers:
- certainty for taxpayers
- predictability for Indigenous communities
- transparency for everyone
- a path toward long-term economic sovereignty
Most importantly, it reduces the risk that rising resentment will one day lead Canadians to reject treaties entirely. That would be catastrophic.
A modern, accountable, results-based agreement is not abandonment — it’s the opposite. It’s a chance to finally make good on Canada’s commitments, in a way that improves outcomes and preserves national unity.
If Indigenous communities want self-determination, and Canadians want accountability, then this is the kind of bold, honest conversation we need to start having.
Final Thought
We can either keep drifting toward mutual bitterness, or we can build a transparent, predictable 100-year plan that lifts communities up and restores trust.
This proposal is a trial balloon — not a final blueprint. It requires co-development, legal negotiation, financial modelling, and a lot of listening.
But doing nothing is no longer an option. Canada needs a sustainable treaty future. Indigenous peoples deserve real results. And our children deserve a country where reconciliation means something more than hashtags and hollow spending.
This is a way forward. It’s not perfect. But it’s a start — and we desperately need one.
Another news cycle, another round of chatter about Pierre Poilievre supposedly lacking a certain “security clearance.” The narrative pops up reliably whenever the Liberals are facing a bad week—and this was a very bad week. Ottawa just dropped a budget stuffed with massive deficit spending, creative accounting, and priorities that seem increasingly detached from the economic realities most Canadians face.
Yet somehow the headline isn’t:
“Government Unveils a Deficit-Bloated Budget in the Middle of a Cost-of-Living Crisis.”
Instead it’s:
“Questions Raised About Poilievre’s Security Clearance.”
Why?
Because this is a distraction cycle—one the media keeps falling for, or worse, actively enabling. In a healthy democracy, the press is supposed to hold power to account, not the opposition. But here we are, watching an entire media ecosystem chase shiny objects rather than scrutinizing the people actually writing the cheques, running the departments, and steering the country.
Canadians are left wondering:
- How does a story about an opposition leader’s supposed “clearance issue” overshadow billions in new spending?
- Why is the default setting to interrogate the critic rather than the government?
- Who benefits when attention shifts away from the details of the budget and toward personality-driven speculation?
Accountability journalism requires courage: asking uncomfortable questions of the people in charge, not the people criticizing them. When the national press shows more enthusiasm for policing opposition narratives than examining government choices, something in the system has gone off the rails.
The public deserves better.
Canada deserves better.
And democracy requires better.
The real question isn’t about Pierre Poilievre’s clearance.
It’s why the media keeps clearing the runway for a government that desperately needs scrutiny.
When Calgary City Hall raised the Palestinian flag on November 15, it wasn’t merely a ceremonial gesture. It instantly became a national controversy—one that shows why municipalities need a clearer, more restrained approach to foreign-flag displays.
The event, organized by the Palestinian Community Association to mark the 1988 Declaration of Independence, drew several hundred attendees who described the atmosphere as one of “pride and hope.” But the reaction was immediate and intense. The Calgary Jewish Federation called the raising “disappointing and alarming,” warning that it deepened “unprecedented levels of fear and antisemitism” among local Jews at a moment already charged with global tension. Mayor Jeromy Farkas quickly proposed changes to the city’s flag policy to prevent similar events, arguing they “unintentionally heighten tensions here at home.”
This dynamic—the celebratory intent and the equally real sense of threat—is exactly why public institutions need neutrality, not symbolism that comes preloaded with geopolitical baggage.
Public Institutions Aren’t Arenas for International Disputes
Canadian civic buildings exist to represent a shared political community. They are meant to be the places where everyone should be able to walk in and feel the institution belongs to them. When City Hall becomes a platform for international symbols representing deeply contested conflicts, that neutrality disappears.
People don’t see a gesture of cultural recognition; they see their city taking a side. And the effects go beyond feelings—these symbolic acts consistently spill into local tensions, protests, counter-protests, and strained inter-community relations. Calgary is not alone: Regina shelved a similar proposal last year, Toronto now faces more than 20,000 signatures against its own planned raising, and B’nai Brith Canada has condemned the practice nationwide.
The details of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict aren’t the point here. The point is that a municipal flagpole is too narrow and too prominent a place to plant the symbols of any conflict that divides Canadians at home.
The Palestinian Flag Carries Political Luggage That Can’t Be Wished Away
Supporters of the flag raising framed it as recognition of Palestinian peoplehood. Critics saw something entirely different: a symbol long tied to the Palestine Liberation Organization, whose founding charter called for the destruction of Israel as a Zionist entity. While amendments were pledged during the Oslo years, credible observers—including the Anti-Defamation League—argue that its core rejectionist elements were never formally removed.
That history is not merely historical; Hamas, which governs Gaza and uses the same colours and iconography, still explicitly calls for Israel’s eradication. You don’t need to subscribe to either side’s narrative to understand why many Canadians saw the raising as more than a cultural celebration.
Even if activists insist the flag “means something different” in a Canadian context, public institutions don’t operate on activist reinterpretations. They operate on widely understood meanings—and those meanings are contested, volatile, and inseparable from global politics.
Neutrality Isn’t Cowardice. It’s Civic Responsibility.
Some will argue that refusing foreign-flag raisings amounts to silencing communities. But this misunderstands what’s being protected.
People are free to wave any flag they like on private property, at rallies, or in public demonstrations. That freedom is intact.
What’s restricted is the official endorsement that comes from hoisting a flag on municipal grounds—a distinction our institutions must preserve if they’re to serve a pluralistic society.
Canada already recognizes this principle in its federal protocols: foreign flags may be flown with the Maple Leaf, but only in specific diplomatic or ceremonial contexts and only with the national flag taking precedence. These guidelines are narrow for a reason—they prevent exactly the sort of domestic polarization Calgary just lived through.
When municipalities improvise their own ad-hoc symbolism, they abandon that safeguard.
A Simple, Clear Standard
Calgary—and every municipality—would benefit from a straightforward rule:
On public buildings and grounds, fly only Canadian, provincial, and municipal flags.
That is not censorship. It is neutrality.
It is the institutional equivalent of staying out of a heated argument so you can continue serving everyone fairly.
This approach:
- avoids endless debates about which diaspora group gets access;
- eliminates the perception of favouritism;
- prevents local flare-ups rooted in global conflicts;
- reinforces shared civic identity.
Multiculturalism works only when no group feels the state is endorsing another’s cause at their expense. Sometimes the most inclusive action is restraint.
Calgary now has a chance to lead. Mayor Farkas’s proposed changes should be adopted quickly, and Ottawa should consider harmonizing national guidelines to end these high-risk symbolic battles across the country.
Canada has enough challenges at home. We don’t need to import more.
Quick Sources / References
- Calgary Jewish Federation statements on the flag raising (2025).
- City of Calgary Flag Protocol (2016).
- Government of Canada – Rules for Flying the National Flag (Federal Heritage).
- Anti-Defamation League assessments of PLO charter revisions.
- B’nai Brith Canada public statements on municipal flag raisings (2024–25).
- City of Toronto petition data (2025).
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