As illiberal regimes spread in a year of elections, Canada must defend vision of democracy as ‘best guarantee’ of freedom, says Ignatieff

Authoritarian regimes are increasingly exploiting democratic norms and language to justify government overreach and cronyism, warns ex-Liberal leader in speech to University of Ottawa.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in elections earlier this year that Global Affairs Canada condemned as neither free nor fair.

As authoritarian regimes increasingly use a veneer of democracy to legitimize their actions, former federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has warned that Canada and other liberal countries must “narrow the gap between what democracy promises and what it delivers” if t...

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