we should all be very concerned over O'Toole's call to "Take Back Canada" and the dog whistling he is doing to ultra right wing nationalism. i can't explain the level of stomach clenching discomfort this brings me.

his call to "Take Back Canada" is a direct response to Shut Down Canada. he says that Shut Down Canada is a threat to the future prosperity of Canadians and Canada. lets dissect what he's actually saying here.

Show Down Canada, which saw Indigenous lead direct action across so called Canada, impacted Canada's bottom line. it impacted the settler state right at its heart: the capitalist economy.

so what is O'Toole taking back, if he is taking back what was lost in Shut Down Canada? what is he telling other (primarily white settler conservatives) to fight for and "take back"? and who are they taking it back from?

in a broad political sense he is talking about taking back the government from the Liberals and "restoring" Canada to conservative values, 'restoring' the economy, etc. etc.

but when we really deep dive into this, he is asking fellow conservatives to take back what they rightfully think is theirs, a socially conservative state. but oh boy, let's keep deep diving.

O'Toole is also very pointedly calling for the unification of "ALL" conservatives. this to me, reads as a unifying of the whole spectrum of those who are conservative, from moderates to ultra right. and they are unifying under the guise of "taking back canada". this is horrifying

what is disturbing to me, about all flavours of conservatives uniting under "take back canada", is that the very precipice of their unification is relying on being antithetical to Shut Down Canada and what we are fighting for with these direct actions.

i never look to any conservative to be my accomplice, but this is setting us up for some deep, racist, nationalistic, hateful, stratification. more than what exists now, because there is a unifier.

Scheer failed to unify the right during Shut Down Canada, instead focussing on blaming us and making us out to be the Big Bad Left, a bunch of radical hell bent on ruining the prosperity of the ~true north~ (i mean... lol).

but what Take Back Canada does is shift the narrative from creating an enemy, to uniting against an enemy. these are two very different and scary things, because nothing unites people like a common hate.

let's also not forget that he is running on this platform during this summer uprising of Black voices and justice. this is deliberate, and this is scary. he is weaponizing white fear to run a united conservative platform. this. is. scary.

let me make this clear:

Take Back Canada is running on white fear of Black and Indigenous uprisings. it is running on the fear of our righteous anger and fight for justice and sovereignty.

fuck this settler government forever, but a Canadian political leader running on the a unifier like Take Back Canada and potentially gaining power in parliament terrifies me.

make jokes, roast this man and his platform, but never forget what pot is boiling over on the backburner. i fear this next election.

never stop fighting