Rex Murphy: Vandalism is not protest

National Post
The head of a statue of Sir John A. MacDonald National Post | James Alexander Michie

The head of a statue of Sir John A. MacDonald is shown torn down following a demonstration in Montreal, on Aug. 29. PHOTO BY THE CANADIAN PRESS/GRAHAM HUGHES

Clearly, vandalism can be considered as an attitude or inclination to commit destructive actions against public property without any consideration for others, is that it denotes clear destruction or devastation of people with this attitude. Now, it should be noted that the protesters are not superior to the rules and temperament of democracy that allows protesting in the first place.

In relation to this, it is necessary to mention that in Montreal over the weekend, about 200 vandals demolished a statue of one of the founders of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald. For their part, the media referred to them as “protesters”, however, the truth is that they were “protesters” until they put ropes around the statue, lowered it, and beheaded it. At that moment, they became vandals.

In a way, the act is a clear example of local protesters trying to catch up with many Americans.

Intolerable acts

A Québec voice that spoke out at this event was that of Martin Koskinen who declared that “The statue needs to be restored. These acts of provocation cannot be tolerated in a democracy”.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, apparently willing not to let this little ruckus disrupt his weekend, waited until Monday to finally speak out against the vandalism. Until then, the Liberals had been silent about the incident, except for Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault.

Likewise, it is necessary to say that if someone does not like a representation of a Canadian historical figure, that does not give them the right to tear it down, since other Canadians may like it and want it to stay. In this way, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that being a protester or an activist is not personal beautification. The views of protesters and activists are not, according to the logic known to the human intellect, superior to the views of other people. Nor do those views exempt their holders from civic courtesy, the rule of law, or any section of our statutes that prohibits the destruction of public property.

This being the case, it is understood that protesters are not superior to the rules and temperament of democracy that allows protest in the first place. They are placed to doubt, vandalism cannot be accepted as a protest, it is certainly an intolerable act in a true democracy.

Source: Rex Murphy | National Post

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