Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Freedom to Leave


One of the things we expect as a matter of course in a democratic country like Canada is the freedom to leave. There are some exceptions, such as minor children without parental permission, or people under police investigation, but generally speaking if I wish to travel or emigrate to another country, I don't have to worry about asking permission from the Canadian government. That is the sort of thing that happens in authoritarian countries. It is the sort of thing which happened under the Nazis in Europe. (I recently went to a talk by a survivor who spoke about it being illegal for Jews to leave occupied Belgium or France.) Trump is demanding that Central American countries adopt authoritarian policies. What happened to supporting freedom and democracy?

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