Hello /c/Canada
You know how there’s a 2nd amendment in the U.S. on the right to bear arms? I know that it was originally meant to allow people to form militias and defend their rights should the government become an authoritarian regime and stop following the constitution.
Is there anything similar in Canada in terms of laws or rights and freedoms?
Holy cow. What a read!
This is what I mean. All these gun laws don’t prevent shootings. But one thing they do prevent is allowing the population to be taken seriously.
Peaceful protests today have no teeth. Like you mentioned, they can be easily ignored. And the cops can just show up and beat up the protesters and arrest them if they yell a bit too loud or write with too much chalk on the walls, sidewalks and the streets. Which is ridiculous.
Imagine how the maple uprising in Québec would have gone had there been a group like the Black Panthers show up with rifles to protect protesters. Or at the G20 summit in Toronto. Or at any of the environmental protests against the pipelines across Canada.
The problem with that is carrying long guns on any of those protests (assuming it was legal) would have brought down massive heat on the whole thing from the government and they would absolutely push laws against it immediately.
But your mention of the pipelines is interesting. I should mention that during the Oka crisis the problem was some developer illegally wanting to make golf courses on First Nation land (no joke. Fucking golf courses!) If the Watsu’wetens were able to show up armed the situation with them would have been very different than now.
And as for environmentalism in general? I did learn that being a Greenpeace activist, especially against the French, is one of the most dangerous jobs out there. The French have murdered so many activists it isn’t funny, and often times for things no greater than throwing paint at an oil tanker.