The day the Aussies gave up their guns triggered the beginning of the end of their liberty.

Now the land Down Under is a full-blown police state. Proud, strong, free, productive Australia is gone. 

This harsh, bitter transformation should be a warning to nations still clinging to the God, guns, and freedoms the hard-core left deeply despises.

Aussies protesting totalitarian COVID-19 restrictions, the harshest in the free world, are fighting a seemingly hopeless battle for basic rights and freedoms by pelting rocks, bottles, golf balls, and batteries against heavily armed riot police.

It was a sad day in Melbourne Wednesday when police were ordered to fire rubber bullets into a crowd of 400 protesters, then arrested about 200 who face hefty $5,000 US fines.

These are regular law-abiding citizens, including tradesmen protesting a two-week closure of building sites, mandatory vaccinations, stay-at-home orders, and a succession of lockdowns.

They’re tired of being told they can’t go outside, can’t go to church, can’t travel far from home.

Authorities claimed it wasn’t so much ordinary working people in the crowd police fired upon, but extremist and far-right groups infiltrating the protests. That’s often a tired lie, an excuse used to justify overstepping boundaries when annihilating freedom.

The Australian government, with an insatiable hunger for control and compliance, is planning to soon implement an app using facial recognition software to track movements and location. Aussies will be randomly texted, having 15 minutes to take a photo in their location. If they don’t comply, police will show up.

The riots are expected to continue.

This is by no means an attempt to suggest people should arm themselves against police who are obliged to follow orders and face the violent consequences of bad political decisions while the decision-makers safely hide behind armed guards.

Law-abiding gun owners aren’t the problem. Criminals with easy access to weapons are.

Armed citizens are a deterrent to politicians and bureaucrats hankering to subdue and control the masses, stripping them of basic freedoms.

Law-abiding gun ownership is a safeguard that must be protected at all costs.

In Australia gun confiscation disguised as a buyback program was rushed through Parliament in 1996 after a nut job massacred 35 people with a semi-automatic rifle. Gun crimes have steadily escalated since.

But still, only sportsmen, Roo Shooters, ranchers, and law enforcement officials are allowed to own guns.

Owning a weapon for self-defense is a criminal offence in Australia.

We don’t see the devastation and despair Australia is facing unfolding in places like Texas where gun laws are relaxed.

Bad guys tend to behave better if they don’t know if someone is packing.

In Texas, even grandma carries a handgun in a holder on her hip or shoulder or anywhere she likes, because the law says she can.

In fact, as of September 1 this year Texas law requiring people to have a license to carry a handgun — open or concealed — was removed.

Texans over the age of 21 with no criminal record or mental health issues may carry to protect themselves in most public places, excluding schools, hospitals, amusement parks, if the gun is holstered.

Of course, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, an advocate of freedom and liberty, would never unleash law enforcement on law-abiding Texans.

But politicians come and go. Laws are the constant safeguard unless citizens willingly forsake them to left-wing loons.

Aussies bought the lie. And they are paying a horrific price.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is lying to Canadians.

His ban on 1,500 types of so-called assault-style firearms in May 2020 didn’t satisfy him.

He promised, if re-elected, to crack down on legal firearms owners in a number of ways including restricting high-capacity magazines to holding no more than five rounds, bribe provinces to implement a ban on handguns, and introduce Red Flag laws which would confiscate guns if someone thinks someone is a threat, or maybe just wants to be nasty. 

Trudeau wants to toughen laws on banned assault weapons and make it mandatory for owners to either sell the firearm to the government for destruction or have it rendered permanently inoperable.

So, a buyback program. That sure did Australians a lot of good.

Will Canadians relinquish this one guarantee of civil liberties and place our safety in the hands of untrustworthy politicians and bureaucrats?

The choice is simple. What will it be Australia or Texas? Or is it the beginning of the end of liberty for Canada too?

Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard
lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com

Victorious Liberal Calgary-Skyview candidate George Chahal is under investigation by the Calgary Police Service’s anti-corruption unit after a surveillance video emerged of him pilfering an opponent’s election literature from a mailbox.

Police said someone filed a complaint on Thursday and it’s now under investigation.

Video from a doorbell cam shows Chahal appearing to pick up a campaign postcard and remove it from a front porch.

He wasn’t very disguised in his efforts, wearing a jersey with his name on the back.

“The report has been directed to our anti-corruption unit that handles investigations of a sensitive nature or involving a public official. We are in the very early stages of the investigation and at this point, we have not yet determined if the investigation will remain with CPS or be transitioned to another investigative body, such as Elections Canada,” CPS said in a statement.

Chahal’s campaign manager, Randall Zalazar, admitted Chahal did it, but had a good reason.

“While dropping off polling info flyers prior to polls opening on Election Day, George removed a piece of campaign literature that identified an incorrect polling location for the person residing at the address,” he said in an e-mail to CTV News.

“All through election day, campaign volunteers found incorrectly labeled materials across the eastern side of the riding. Our campaign contacted Elections Canada and advised them of the issue.”

Chahal was the only Liberal to win in Calgary, picking up the victory by 3,000 votes.

Jason Stephan, UCP MLA for Red Deer South, is calling for a leadership review of Premier Jason Kenney “sooner than later.”

Stephan made the demand in an open letter to his constituents.

“On July 1^st, the Premier said that we were open for good. I took him at his word,” said Stephan.

“Some businesses and other organizations find themselves now subject to restrictions that threaten their ability to survive unless they participate in a ‘Restriction Exemption Program,’ This is a vaccine passport program – in general, to participate, these organizations can only allow vaccinated individuals into their premises. This divides Albertans. The premier said there would be no COVID vaccine passports.”

Stephan made it clear he was vaccinated against COVID-19. but added the decision has to be a personal one.

“Vaccine passports use coercion to indirectly do what is illegal to do directly — to compel vaccination. Seeking to compel others against their wills produces resentment. Albertans should choose to take COVID vaccines on their merits, believing they are safe and effective, not because of lotteries or cash payments or intense coercion with vaccine passports or under threats of losing livelihoods or educations,” Stephan said.

“Individuals and families are losing trust. Coercion destroys, not builds, trust. Complete and transparent information, without bias, is the best way to allow Albertans to make the best decisions for themselves and their families on the merits of COVID vaccines.

“Our friends, family members or neighbors who do not share our opinions are not evil or selfish. The truth about those friends, family members or neighbors is more complex, more nuanced, each of them possessing unique contexts and circumstances, all of which can be valued and respected,” Stephan said.

“Many constituents are upset. Many are asking for the Premier to resign. The Constitution of the United Conservative Party (UCP) does not include a procedure for caucus MLAs to remove the leader of the party.”

A leadership review of Kenney had been set for the fall of 2022, but after a UCP caucus meeting this week, the date was moved to the spring.

Dozens of constituency associations have also demanded an early leadership review.

“The leadership review process supports principles of accountability and good governance and should occur sooner than later,” said Stephan.

“In the interim period, the focus of government needs to be on COVID.

“Alberta is budgeted to spend $23 billion on health, among the highest per capita in Canada, and over 40% of the province’s operating budget. Why, with this massive amount of money, has AHS only produced between 300 and 400 (currently, the numbers are everchanging), working ICU beds for a population of over 4.4 million, on a per capita basis less than half the worst of the lowest of the any of the US states?

“Given the widespread, profound impact of COVID restrictions on Albertans, I have asked, and continue to ask, for a comprehensive public inquiry, including a full cost analysis of COVID restrictions. The more truth, the better.”