Apart from the general conservative cold-war platitudes and red-baiting used by Mr. Mattinson as arguments to denounce socialism, all the while holding up Canada as a “free” country of “hope and opportunity,” he conveniently omits many issues that one would expect such a strong advocate of human rights would consider.
The problem with redbaiting is this: it demands accountability for the historical crimes of some (the scary communists) and not others (the colonists and the capitalists).
Russia is in the wrong. Not just on this issue, but also in the government’s actions against political opponents and the LGBTQ+ community. Extended Russian power means a world with less freedom of speech and affiliation. How to best respond should be debated endlessly and acted upon relentlessly. Canada has more than a million people of Ukrainian ancestry. Make no mistake this crisis involves us.
