Justin Trudeau and his Liberal cabinet continue to ram and jam through their social agenda, leaving broken fragments of Canada’s cultural heritage and democratic traditions in its wake. C-16 is Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s sledgehammer approach to ending freedom of religion as we’ve known it and implementing the Liberal gender agenda in churches, schools, and other institutions. That Bill is being imposed on Canadians with little chance to debate and no time for reflection.

Something as significant as C-16 should be openly discussed and members of the public should be encouraged to comment. There are many knowledgeable citizens, family advocacy groups, and faith-based organizations with both interest and insight into the implications of this Bill but their input has been rejected. C-16 passed 2^nd Reading with little resistance and was returned with no amendments to the House by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. That committee held no public hearings and the concerned citizens’ groups mentioned above have so far been denied the opportunity to voice their concerns.

One group, however, that should be putting the brakes on the Trudeau policy agenda is the Conservative caucus, still known as “Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.” To whom or to what are they loyal and what do they understand to be the role of the Opposition? It would be wonderful to imagine that all parties in the House were truly working together for the good of the nation but there is a time for the Opposition to actually oppose and not give tacit assent to an out-of-control government agenda. It seems that the Conservative Caucus under Rona Ambrose are so anxious to appear politically correct on some issues that they have forgotten their responsibility to protect the rights and freedoms of their fellow Canadians.

There are, of course, some notable exceptions like the thoughtfully-articulate MP Harold Albrecht, outspoken socially conservative MP Cathay Wagantall, and Conservative leadership hopeful Brad Trost who have made known their principled opposition to C-16. Notably missing in action have been Interim Leader Rona Ambrose and Conservative Justice Critic Rob Nicholson. They’ve been silent while the free-speech rights of Canadians are being bartered away.

C-16—if it passes, as seems imminently probable—will add further fuel to the fire in the degenerating dialogue on gender fluidity. In fact, it will be used to end dialogue and replace it with a monotonous monologue praising the spread of (and enthusiasm for) gender confusion. We can assume that churches will be pressed to change their teachings, their protocols, and their hiring standards. The reading of the Scriptures, which reject homosexual practices, will no doubt be challenged as “hate speech.” The use of single-gender washrooms by those of the opposite biological gender will be proposed, not only in government-owned buildings but in buildings belonging to churches and businesses. The rights of parents to train their children according to their own deeply-held moral beliefs and traditions will be attacked again and again and schoolteachers will be forced to parrot politically-correct dogma to thousands of trusting, wide-eyed children who have come to class seeking the tools of knowledge and wisdom.

C-16 is only one item in a growing list of government initiatives that should be causing alarm to every freedom-loving Canadian. It’s one that should have had a stronger response from the Conservative Party leadership. By abandoning the principles they once held dear, they’ve left a vacuum in the House that must be filled if our democracy is to survive. From the trenches in the culture wars, we call on all MPs who value freedom and democracy to rise up and resist the suffocating coils of political correctness. Your honour demands it.

The Christian Heritage Party continues to offer voters a principled choice for life, family, and freedom. We will not be silenced by any cowardly restrictions on free speech imposed by a cabal of small-minded politicians drunk with power.

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