The stabbing of a professor and two students at the University of Waterloo in late June horrified us in ways that more serious attacks elsewhere in the world have not.
This one happened too close to home, at a school many of us attended, or at least are familiar with. Police have released few details about the crime but have said it was hate-motivated, targeting the gender studies class. The fact it happened during Pride Month is surely no coincidence.
This is Canada, a country with a literacy rate that is just a shade under 100 per cent and a reputation for being level-headed and fair.
We may agree or disagree with Pride Month activities, but our options for disputing the correctness of those activities do not include walking into a university lecture room and stabbing people.
Canada is not a nation of psychotic zealots, ready to inflict the death penalty on anyone who diverges from what a person or group decides is the social, religious, cultural, political or sexual norm.
Canada has within its borders people of varied backgrounds and beliefs. Political views run from far right to distant left. Religious beliefs include those who have none, to mainstream, to definitely “out there.” Cultural backgrounds are equally diverse.
Most Canadians like it that way. We may not share someone’s views but we back the person’s right to have them – up to a certain point. As the saying goes, one’s freedom to swing one’s arms ends where someone else’s nose begins.
Think what you want, worship as you choose, believe what you will, but acknowledge the rights of others to do the same. Should there be a conflict that basic courtesy and common sense cannot resolve, Canada has laws. In fact, we have enshrined the concept in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
We live in a country where the average person has a remarkable level of freedom, compared to much of the world.
Making a critical comment about a political leader does not involve risk to life and limb unless copious amounts of alcohol are involved. In fact, badmouthing politicians is a popular pastime, especially during elections. The only time a person might get in trouble is if there is a threat of physical harm.
Canadians come and go pretty much as we please, bound only by logistical constraints of time and money – and other people’s private property.
We are not subject to random arrest and do not disappear into secret prisons. Sometimes names of people accused of a crime appear in the media; an open and public court system is for our protection and is our right, however embarrassing it might be.
We may not have the best possible government and legal system, but they are vastly superior to most – in fact, all – existing models in today’s world.
Our freedoms and rights did not happen by accident, but through careful thought, heated debate, stubborn persistence, and a lot of trial and error. People fought and died for the freedoms we take for granted.
That freedom is threatened every time a person or group decides to be judge, jury and executioner for ideological reasons. They are doing much more than assaulting a target, however viciously. They are committing a terrorist act aimed at imposing their will not only on their target, but on all of us.
That said, there are issues in this country today that make some of us nervous, while others celebrate.
We need to remember that prior to 1917, the notion of women voting made a lot of people edgy – furious, even. There are people alive today who remember when marriage between a Catholic and a Protestant was considered an outrage.
Sometimes the laws of this great country of ours move a little further ahead of our attitudes than some of us are comfortable with. Sometimes the laws move too slowly for comfort. However, one thing on which all of us can agree is hate crimes, be they vandalizing flags or stabbing victims for ideological reasons, must stop.
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Pauline Kerr is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter currently working for Midwestern Newspapers. She can be reached at pkerr@midwesternnewspapers.com.
