The politicization of the British police should ring alarm bells for all Canadians.

Police have a unique position in our society. Unlike teachers, social workers, religious leaders, psychologists, and counsellors, police have a legal right to use force to carry out their duties.

Police resources are limited. Across Canada, thousands of crimes ranging from property damage to murder remain unsolved. Police tell us they don’t have the resources to investigate or address supposedly “minor” crimes like the theft of heirloom jewellery from a home after a break-and-enter.

Whenever police devote any of their scarce resources to pursuing a political agenda, it’s an insult to victims of crime. Police should spend 100% of their resources on fighting crime, and 0% of their resources on monitoring speech and enforcing “correct” opinions on political issues.

What began in Britain with the monitoring and recording of “non-crime hate incidents” quickly led to thousands of British citizens being criminally charged. Their crimes included sharing opinions about topics like immigration and transgenderism. David Wootton was sentenced to two years in prison for a “grossly offensive” Halloween costume.¹

The recent conduct of the Hamilton Police Service, which devoted resources to preventing a non-profit advocacy group from renting facilities to hold a conference, is reprehensible.

The Hamilton Police Service issued a political statement² denouncing the Dominion Society as “divisive and exclusionary” and as negatively impacting “the sense of safety and belonging within our community.” The police even asked the public to contact Hamilton Police with information about any efforts the group might make to secure a venue.

The Dominion Society³ describes itself as “dedicated to promoting Canadian identity, heritage, and nationalism.” It advocates for remigration: sending immigrants back to their country of origin. Neither Hamilton’s mayor nor its police force has accused the group of being violent, criminal, or terrorist. It therefore has the same right as every other non-profit in Canada to operate peacefully within the law, and to advocate for its beliefs.

Nobody is compelled to accept or agree with the group’s message. The Criminal Code prohibits advocating for violence and other criminal activity. All Canadians are free to agree or disagree with the beliefs of the Dominion Society. However, the police and elected officials are not free to use their government powers to impose or promote their own beliefs.

Police have no business using any of their taxpayer-funded resources to denounce a political group, or to ask members of the public to contact the police about activities that are entirely legal.

In a free country, citizens get to decide for themselves whether they agree or disagree with a group, party, ideology, or religion, without the “help” of government to enforce and impose the “correct” conclusion.

Canada should not become like a fascist, theocratic, communist, or national socialist regime, in which the government decides which views are correct and who does — and does not — get to use public spaces.

Free citizens should pay close attention to what went wrong in Britain. Canadians should oppose the sinister politicization of policing.

John Carpay, BA, LLB, is President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.

Read this column in Our Isle & Times