© The Canadian Press / Sean Kilpatrick
When the state manages expression, it threatens to control what we think. Forced speech is the most extreme infringement of free speech. It puts words in the mouths of citizens and threatens to punish them if they do not comply.
When University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson posted his now notorious YouTube video spelling out his refusal to use non-gendered pronouns, activists expressed their outrage. Non-gendered people have the right to be accommodated and respected, the protests went, and Peterson must use language consistent with those rights.
These objections illustrate what few activists or politicians will openly acknowledge: "Human rights" are now a zero-sum game. Giving rights to some means taking them from others.
On Thursday, the Senate passed Bill C-16, the Liberal government's legislation that adds "gender identity or expression" to grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act. Bill C-16 was in part the motivation for Peterson's video. The act applies to federal subjects (including airports, banks, the military and federally regulated industries), while equivalent provincial codes apply to remaining areas of personal and commercial activities (including most workplaces, schools, universities, hospitals and so on). Most provinces recently added the same or similar terms to their discrimination provisions.
Few Canadians realize how seriously these statutes infringe upon freedom of speech. The Ontario Human Rights Commission has stated, in the context of equivalent provisions in the Ontario Human Rights Code, that "refusing to refer to a trans person by their chosen name and a personal pronoun that matches their gender identity ... will likely be discrimination when it takes place in a social area covered by the Code, including employment, housing and services like education."
Comment: A spokesperson for the Belgian Federal prosecutor confirmed there were no other casualties. He also reported the incident was a 'terrorist attack' and would not confirm whether the suspect was alive or dead.
A controlled explosion warning was issued by the Crisis Center Belgium.
Update: The suspect was a 36-year-old Moroccan from Molenbeek. The explosive device consisted of nails and gas canisters inside a bag, but it only caused a partial explosion. After the dud explosion, the man rushed to a soldier shouting "Allahu Akbar" and the soldier shot him dead.