OTTAWA – At a press conference today Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that his government would not let terrorist acts intimidate him from taking away Canadians’ civil liberties.
“Terrorists will not take away our freedom to take away your freedom. They can’t stop us no matter how hard they try. We will not be intimidated,” said the prime minister.
“Legislation heroically being pushed through in the throes of panic is what gives Canada its rich and proud history,” he added.
Harper explained that the German threat during World War I did not prevent a stoic Canada from imprisoning thousands of Ukrainians in labour camps for years, nor did the Japanese threat prevent Canada from forcibly removing Japanese Canadians and their property from the West Coast during World War II. Terrorism by the FLQ or communist spying did not impede a stalwart government from throwing hundreds in prisons and spying on ordinary citizens, Harper added.
“If you don’t feel that we, as Canadians, must respond in a panicked excessive way to any attack, no matter how small or random, you’re unpatriotic and think Canada shouldn’t exist.”
Harper paused to permit his staffers to turn on a recording of “The Maple Leaf Forever” and unfurl a giant Canadian flag in Parliament before ending his speech.
“So we will definitely, absolutely not let fact the Ottawa shooter was likely not even a terrorist stop us from using this event to rollback the rights of Canadians,” he said. “To do otherwise would be to deny our heritage.”
