Randy Hillier asks if Ontario should prepare for radical Covid containment measures.
By Mark Anderson
Call him crazy, or perhaps just vigilant. On Oct. 20 gutsy Canadian Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Randy Hillier, who’s an independent, took to the parliament floor in the province of Ontario to declare that he had sent a notice to Premier Doug Ford’s office to inquire “if the province of Ontario should prepare for internment camps” that are allegedly being planned amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In September the federal government hosted a call for ‘expressions of interest’ for contractors to supply, provide, and manage quarantine isolation camps throughout every province and every territory in Canada,” Hillier stated in parliament. “These quarantine isolation camps are not, however, limited to people with Covid but will provide a wide latitude for many people to be detained.”
Hillier, who represents Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, continued: “Surely this government is aware of the intentions to build these isolation camps from coast to coast—and my question to the premier is: How many of these camps will be built, and how many people does this government expect to detain?”
Government House Leader Paul Calandra stood to “answer” Hillier’s query, but he immediately defaulted into a simplistic explanation that people who travel outside of their home provinces or leave Canada and return are customarily asked to quarantine at home, which is a well-known practice throughout the world. At no point did he address Hillier’s specific concerns.
Hillier shot back that he has a document called an RFP that, he explained, “uses clear language to express that these camps can be used for a broad spectrum of people, not limited to travelers; indeed, it doesn’t even mention international travelers. It’s just a broad latitude of people. . . . So, your government [provincial government of Ontario] must be in negotiations and aware of these plans to potentially detain and isolate citizens and residents of our country and our province.”
Repeating himself, he said “So, speaker, to the premier, where will these camps be built? How many people will be detained?”
From there, Hillier continued: “And for what reasons can people be kept in these isolation camps? And I’d like to have the premier assure the people of Ont—.”
At that point, before Hillier could finish the word “Ontario,” the parliament speaker interjected and said, “Member, take a seat,” while other MPP’s could be heard saying, “Sit down.”
Hillier, who appears to be something of a “Jim Traficant” of Canada, has had leftist protests outside of his Carleton Place office demanding that he “step down” for vaguely defined reasons, which often means one’s doing something right.
A host of other disturbing allegations have been made concerning Canada’s Covid-19 crackdown under Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, an ultra-leftist with a Marxist bent. One thing is a massive debt-forgiveness plan that would, in return, allegedly require the forfeiture of Canadian citizens’ assets. But the citizens who cooperate supposedly would receive a Universal Basic Income at a subsistence level. Other claims, be they mere rumors or something more, include using isolation camps for “refuseniks”—people who refuse the financial measures as well as those who refuse to submit to a vaccination. There’s also speculation that, over the next few months, checkpoints would be set up so the military could prevent Canadians from leaving their home communities without an approved reason.
While Americans can only hope that such concerns are overblown and that our neighbors to the north do not fall under abject tyranny, other “commonwealth” countries such as New Zealand and Australia have not fared well in protecting basic human rights amid their Covid-19 crackdowns. The Australian state of Victoria, under the heavy-handed leadership of Daniel Andrews, has reportedly been placed into a state of communism with strict curfews and tight travel and business restrictions, amid scores of arrests and fines placed upon “refuseniks.”
Mark Anderson is AFP’s roving editor. Email him at [email protected].
