Photo by Peter Blanchard: Flickr

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews released an antiterrorist plan this past week that listed environmentalists as a potential domestic terror threat, placing them at the same risk level as white supremacists. Specifically, he stated that the new policy would pay careful attention to indviduals who “based on grievances – real or perceived – revolving around the promotion of various causes such as animal rights, white supremacy, environmentalism and anti-capitalism.”

This comes in the wake of the Harper government trying to paint all environmental groups in Canada as being funded by foreign funds trying to influence Canadian policy. The disturbing part of this is that individuals who simply write blogs like us can come under surveillance as a potential terrorist according to this new plan. The Harper government is putting Canadian environmentalists on notice that if they dissent with the government, there is a bogeyman waiting to jump out and arrest them. Considering how buddy-buddy we’re getting with China, is it going so far to assume that this government couldn’t care less about human rights in the face of commerce? Religious freedom, sure, but screw human rights.

The government tried to clarify the policy, stating that they were only concerned about individuals and groups that may use violence. But the strategy essentially allows them to profile any environmentalist, and this is unacceptable. How long until we see David Suzuki in jail for protesting, or John Bennet, the director of the Sierra Club?

The best thing you can do is to start a blog, join an environmental group, donate to your favourite cause, essentially all the things they are trying to bully Canadians into not doing. Speak out, because as George Orwell said, “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” The universal deceit is certainly on us with the attempt to cast people who care about nature as terrorists, so the best thing you can do is call it out and tell the truth.

Tags: enviromental terrorists, environmental terrorism

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