It could never happen here

To all those who say that the uprising in the United States could never happen in Canada, reflect on this: on Jan. 5, members of the U.S. Congress were also saying it could never happen in their country; on Jan. 6, those same legislators were hiding under their desks. We have a choice as Canadians. If we do not make that choice, others will make it for us.

One of the protesters, identified as Jake Angeli, from Phoenix, pictured on Jan. 6, 2021, storming Capitol Hill. History suggests that these movements could represent either the birth of a new undemocratic era, or the death throes of extremism. Which will come to pass will be decided by our choices as societies and as a community of nations, write Akaash Maharaj and Vahan Kololian. Screen capture courtesy of CBC News

Opinion

BY AKAASH MAHARAJ AND VAHAN KOLOLIAN

January 25, 2021

“It could never happen here,” is a comforting self-deception we tell ourselves, to feel superior to societies convulsed by corruption, bigotry, and violence, and to justify averting our eyes from our own societies’ evils. The past four years have stripped Americans of their illusions. But the...

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