The Blogs: I Came to Canada for Freedom and safety. I Won’t Let Ottawa Take It Away.

I Went to Evin Prison at 16. I Came to Canada for Freedom. I came to Canada from Iran because I wanted to live in a free and safe country.

At 16, I was locked up in Iran’s infamous Evin Prison for 18 months. I know what it means when a government decides it knows what is best for you. I know what happens when people become afraid to speak their minds.

That is why I cannot simply sit back and watch what is happening in Canada today.

Canada is not Islamic Republic occupying Iran. Canada is not Communist China. But I don’t like the direction this country is heading.

Let’s start with Justin Trudeau.

In 2013, before he became prime minister, Trudeau was asked which country’s administration he most admired. His answer was China.

He said he had “a level of admiration” for China’s “basic dictatorship,” praising its ability to make decisions quickly and turn its economy around.

Think about that.

A future Canadian prime minister was expressing admiration for the way a dictatorship could get things done.

That should have worried Canadians then.

It worries me even more now.

During the Trudeau years, Canadians watched mass immigration reach levels the country was not prepared for. Housing became increasingly unaffordable. Crime became a major concern. Radicalization became a serious issue, yet governments often seemed reluctant to confront it honestly and directly.

Then came COVID.

The government imposed vaccine mandates and restrictions that affected people’s jobs and their ability to travel. Canadians were told what they had to do if they wanted to work or travel.

And those who objected were often treated as stupid, selfish or dangerous.

I remember thinking:

This is Canada?

I did not leave Iran so that a government could decide what I must do with my own body or whether I could travel because I disagreed with a government policy.

And now we have Mark Carney.

A former Governor of the Bank of England and international banker who entered Canadian politics and is now telling Canadians:

“The old order is not coming back.”

He talks about building something “bigger, better, stronger and more just.”

Then he goes to China and talks about Canada and China being positioned for the “new world order.”

Excuse me?

What new order?

Who asked Canadians for it?

These are not small questions.

I also look at the new bills coming out of Ottawa. I wrote to my MP about Bill C-9 because I believe freedom of expression is not something Canadians should gamble with.

Once governments start deciding what speech is acceptable and what speech can get you into trouble, we should all pay attention.

This is how freedom gets lost.

Not always with soldiers in the streets.

Sometimes it happens one law at a time.

One restriction at a time.

One government decision at a time.

And sometimes it happens because people become afraid to speak.

I know that fear.

That is exactly why we left Iran.

The Islamic Republic has its ideology. China has its Communist dictatorship. Totalitarian governments everywhere have their own excuses for controlling people.

They always have a reason.

It is for security.

It is for the greater good.

It is for society.

It is for the people.

But the result is the same: less freedom for the individual and more power for the state.

Canada was supposed to be different.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was supposed to protect Canadians from the government—not protect the government from Canadians.

So I have a simple question for Mark Carney and the Liberals:

Is this your idea of freedom?

More government control.

More restrictions.