Charlie Kirk Eulogy Gets A Rise Out Of House Of Commons

The ovation from MPs was not outstanding.

Rachael Thomas addesses Parliament as old white men look on.

Give a standing ovation for a Nazi once, shame on you. Give a standing ovation for a Nazi twice and you seem shamefully unclear on why it’s wrong to cheer for them.

Not that we needed another reminder that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it when members of Canada’s House of Commons rose like trained seals to applaud a speech by Conservative MP Rachael Thomas honoring the guy who was killed in Utah the other day.

They were ostensibly applauding her brave words that political violence is never a good idea but you can judge for yourself:

“Freedom of speech has always been the cornerstone of a free society. It means we will hear ideas that we disagree with and express views that may be offensive. This freedom can make us uncomfortable or even hurt. But silencing voices, whether for moments or forever, is never the answer. We must protect a society where people can hold beliefs and share opinions without losing their jobs or fear of being censored or worse.

“Charlie Kirk was an outspoken advocate for faith, family and freedom. Many disagreed with him, some were offended. Tragically, on September 10th, he was assassinated in an attempt to silence his voice. But when has political violence ever been the solution? It destroys dialogue, it undermines democracy, and it breeds fear instead of understanding. True progress comes from persuasion, not intimidation. As we grapple with our personal response to this, may we be honorable in our actions. May we fiercely defend the right of our opponents to speak freely. And may we join our hearts with Charlie’s family, his wife Erika, and his two young children.”

Canadians generally like our Kirks as space captains, not Gilead commanders, and it was tough to watch the Liberals show their bellies in appeasement although you can understand why they’d all be very much against anyone whacking politicians. I hated to see new housing minister Gregor Robertson — once the leftish mayor of my adopted city and a guy I’ve played ball hockey with — play along with the performative theater but at least he was the last to stand and gave colleagues a good “are we really fucking doing this?” look.

You may recall this isn’t the first time O-Town has embarrassed the country with a standing O as it was only two years ago House Speaker Anthony Rota made the disastrous decision to bring a Ukrainian Waffen-SS veteran to parade before a visiting Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Somehow “fought against the Russians in WWII” didn’t raise any red flags, and he resigned as Speaker shortly afterward while the elderly soldier’s family — who had no idea how much fuss was going to be made by letting Grampa have a big day in Ottawa — were forced into hiding. It also gave Putin some handy agitprop to pretend Ukraine made a commemorative stamp of the occasion.

If the name Rachael Thomas doesn’t ring a bell then try Harder, which was the evangelical’s maiden name when she was elected as the first female MP for the riding of Lethbridge a decade ago. It won’t come as a surprise Sporkfoot-lite heils hails from Alberta, a province that saw thousands of hurtin’ Albertans turn out at vigils to chant “we are Charlie Kirk” in the aftermath of his murder. Although not je suis Charlie as most don’t speak the country’s other official language and they aren’t big on irony anyway.

Her words might’ve carried a bit more weight if her old boss, Andrew Scheer, hadn’t already put a target on independent journalist Rachel Gilmore’s neck after she posted a take even less offensive that what got Jimmy Kimmel defenestrated:

“Terrified to think of how far-right fans of Kirk, aching for more violence, could turn this into an even more radicalizing moment. Will they now believe their fears have been proven right and they have a right to ‘retaliate,’ no matter who was behind the actual shooting?”

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The former Tory leader retweeted it on X while saying she was “twisted” and had “so much hate in her,” and the woman — who recently lost a gig at CTV after they caved like a common ABC to pressure from the lunatic Right — soon found herself as the first name on a since-removed website called Charlie’s Murderers. Which may sound like a particularly gritty reboot of Charlie’s Angels but was more like a suggested hitlist for MAGA types aching for more violence after the martyring of Saint Charlie.

Andrew Scheer is the sort of man who wears a suit to the beach. (Photo: Andrew Fleming)

So far Russia isn’t pretending Canada Post issued a special stamp to mark the occasion although this one celebrating the 1972 Summit Series we beat them at is real.

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[CBC / The Tyee / Canadaland / Wonketeers on Bluesky]