June 6, 2016

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s abrupt episode last week in The House of Commons is not an isolated gaffe from the otherwise calm and collected head of state. It’s a glaring display of how the regressive left’s disdain for free speech and open discussion is not limited to college campuses.

The incident – already covered by all Canadian media outlets ad nauseam – occurred in a parliamentary gathering at the House of Commons. Members of Parliament were voting on Bill C-14 – a controversial effort by the Liberal Party to legalize doctor-assisted suicide through an amendment to Canada’s Criminal Code.

As with any controversial political issue, debate inevitably ensued. The debate, however, proved to be too great a task for Trudeau. Stomping across the chamber’s floor, the cavalier commander moved through a crowd of MPs to grab and manhandle Conservative Party member Gord Brown. In a petulant paroxysm, Trudeau told nearby MPs to “get the f**k out of his way” while elbowing Ruth Ellen Brosseau of the New Democrat Party in the chest.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that malicious intent was behind Trudeau’s elbow – perhaps all he really wanted to do was lecture the other MPs on quantum computing and was caught off guard amid a substantive political discussion. However, Justin Trudeau’s childish tirade in the face of political discourse was not unlike the pattern observed from the broader political left. Ranging from thuggish attempts to bar conservative guest speakers from college campuses, to the full-blown riots aimed at shutting down Donald Trump rallies, the regressive left has made it clear that violence is the new norm.

As The Daily Wire’s Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro wrote,

In recent years, under the tender tutelage of the Obama Department of Justice, mass violent action by leftists has become commonplace across the country, from the Occupy Wall Street movement to Black Lives Matter-inspired mob violence in Ferguson and Baltimore, from campus chaos at California State University of Los Angeles to this sort of violence at Trump rallies.

Tracking back to the Trudeau, this was not the first time that Trudeau shut down debate over a political issue. In June of 2014, Trudeau stated that the Liberal Party cannot be a home for any parliamentarian who supports any restrictions on lawful access to abortion. Existing party members, Trudeau added, must vote against their conscience if they wish to remain party members. This is the Liberal Prime Minister’s unwavering stance despite scientific consensus – as those on the left LOVE to claim when it suits them – that fetuses are human beings.

In essence, Trudeau’s temper tantrum illustrates the impact of regressive leftism run amok on college campuses.

The ever expanding fascistic tendencies of the progressive movement – violently seeking control of the culture by bullying opposition into silence – have gone far beyond college and university campuses. The aforementioned incident with Trudeau is but one noteworthy illustration of this phenomenon. Academic trends of leftism bleed over into the mainstay of our political discourse. We caught a glimpse of this bleeding last week in Canada’s Parliament.