“If the policeman regulates drinking, why should he not regulate smoking, and then sleeping, and then speaking, and then breathing?”
G.K. Chesterton in Illustrated London News June 5, 1920, quoted in Gilbert The Magazine of the Society of G.K. Chesterton Vol. 26 #5 (May-June 2023)
“by chance, in 1971, I saw a feminist interviewed on the CBC, claiming a ‘right to her own body’ and a ‘right to abortion.’ In law school, I had learned that an unborn child could inherit property and could be the subject of a trust, and suddenly here was someone telling us that the unborn child had no rights and could be disposed of simply because it was inconvenient and unwanted. I was incensed over this injustice. Something had to be done. Shortly afterwards, I founded and became the first president of the Toronto Right to Life Association and was one of the founders of the political arm of the pro-life movement in Canada, Campaign Life Coalition.’”
Gwen Landolt, quoted by Michael Wagner Standing on Guard for Thee: Newly Revised Second Edition
In my latest Epoch Times column, I challenge Pierre Poilievre’s maddeningly vague belligerence on Bill C-63 and just about every other issue.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
Edward R. Murrow according to an email from a friend, also supported here: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/39025-a-nation-of-sheep-will-beget-a-government-of-wolves
“a simplistic great-fool theory of history.”
Peter H. Russell, Constitutional Odyssey: Can Canadians Be a Sovereign People? [re people blaming Mulroney’s ambition to outdo Pierre Trudeau for the Meech Lake debacle]
“The first thing worth noting is that the drafters of the Charter titled this first section ‘Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms.’ In other words, the intended purpose of the opening section is to underline that the rights and freedoms laid out in the Charter are guaranteed. But, if you look at almost every judgement that wrestles with this section, talk to almost any lawyer, or consult most government websites, they instead call the section ‘The Limitations Clause’ or ‘The Reasonable Limits Clause.’ That is a very different focus! And that betrays the problem: the legal culture in Canada has focused on the phrase ‘reasonable limits’ instead of ‘guarantees the rights and freedoms.’ That changes the analysis before we even start.”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
“The Charter protects citizens from civil government, but it does not police interactions between citizens themselves. The Charter is a shield that protects the citizen from the state, not a sword to be wielded by the state against the citizen.”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
In my latest Epoch Times column, I say Justin Trudeau is half-right that his job is not to be popular.