Calgary Mom Stands Up to Conservative Government

One Calgary mom has had enough of the fear-based restrictions the current government is attempting to impose on all Canadians.

Her son, who suffered mental health issues as a teenager, was "radicalized" by a group of militant Muslims, ultimately traveling to Syria where he was killed during actions as part of an extremist group. Prime Minister Harper is advocating a new law that would prevent Canadians from going to countries like Syria, in an attempt to prevent such tragedies from occurring.

According to this mother, who has been more directly affected by radical Islam than almost anyone in Canada, such a law would have no real effect other than to fan the flames of anger and detachment at the root of the problem.

The politicians are not really doing anything about the problem. They’ve cut back all the programs in prisons for counselling. They’ve cut back a lot of resources for youth. The only way [the terrorists] are getting in is through other countries. So what are you going to do – stop them from going to the surrounding countries as well? It’s not well thought out. It’s just whole window dressing, smoke and mirrors. They can fool everybody because people are just not educated in this topic and that makes it easy for politicians to turn it around for an election program.

When laws become more restrictive, those who feel oppressed or cut off from society only feel those problems more keenly—and they'll work that much harder to circumvent the laws. We should all support not just this Calgary family but all Canadians by calling for better social programs, greater awareness and acceptance of other cultures, and more efforts that push for peace rather than separation.