Canada needs to fight ferociously for liberalism’s essential features

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En route to power and absolutism in Germany, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels spoke about the decline of the Weimar Republic: “The big joke on democracy is that it gave its mortal enemies the tools to its own destruction.” We should reflect on this observation today.

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The Weimar Republic was weak, unstable, and vulnerable to the ideologues and extremists in post-First World War Germany. Canada, in comparison, has enjoyed a democratic lineage, mature government institutions and a population on the whole committed to liberalism.

But illiberalism is growing in Canada and beyond. We have seen extremism on our streets and on our university campuses, including loud voices that seek to silence contrary views. Antisemitism has reared its ugly head across the country, and our democratic institutions — long afflicted by weaknesses documented by Canadian public administration scholar and author

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