On Canada Day, let’s face the ugly truth
Will Canadians choose truth, democracy and freedom over lies, fascism and slavery?
My son has returned from two years of fighting in Ukraine. Miraculously, he arrived home in one piece, uninjured, safe and sound (thanks be to God!)
Last week, we had our first in-depth conversation about his view of world events and affairs since his return. His assessment of the state of affairs in Canada and around the globe blew my mind completely.
Astonishingly, when I asked him as a retired Major from the Canadian Armed Forces who quit the CAF to fight for democracy and freedom what he believes the future holds, his answer exactly paralleled what I’ve witnessed in the Taxi and Trucking industries over the past decade.
“Slavery,” he replied in a sad, quiet voice.
Khalistan, the trucking industry, Immigration fraud, and fentanyl trafficking: what’s the connection, if any?
— Alex Zoltan (@AmazingZoltan) June 22, 2025
A discombobulated and confusing 🧵featuring @GordMagill. pic.twitter.com/OS291Mvlbi
Over the past year, Taxi News has published a small number of articles based upon the idea that gig workers are actually being treated like slaves by government and privileged consumers, and that affluent Canadians are largely fine with this situation so long as their rides are cheap and their food is delivered quickly.
The idea that rideshare drivers feel like slaves was eloquently described at last years’ Vehicle for Hire Review, and officially demonstrated by the fact that Doug Ford’s provincial government re-defined the meaning of the word “work” so that platform businesses could avoid paying gig workers minimum wage. Rideshare Drivers’ Association of Ontario president George Wedge made these facts part of his recent federal election campaign run.
I’ve interviewed rideshare drivers subject to inhumanely long hours at pay levels so low it often costs them money to go to work, while 18-year-old students are being funneled into virtual indentured servitude through predatory student loans which will haunt them their adult lives.
Slavery more politely and euphemistically known as “human trafficking” is enabled by federal government immigration and student visa programs.
Indians showing up in Canada as students and then being converted to Big Rig "Coolies" by their own appears to be a phenomenon spreading Down Under as well.
— Gord Magill (@GordMagill) June 29, 2025
Modi's Economic Terrxrxsm is racking up quite a bit of collateral damage amongst his own.https://t.co/6bYqyVQkup
I have started but not finished a number of articles, columns and Sub-stack essays on the topic of modern slavery and Western culture’s return to a slave-based economy. Until now, I’d quit halfway through writing these pieces because some part of my brain refuses to accept this idea and fears readers will laugh that I am being melodramatic.
So, to hear my son say he sees slavery as the future of the human race after years of fighting for democracy in Africa and Europe left me aghast. It’s the last thing I would ever have wanted to be proven correct about.
Before 2015, I would have told you that Canadians believe that truth is better than lying; that democracy is clearly superior to fascism; that freedom is obviously better than slavery. I blithely assumed that given the choice, every Canadian would choose truth, democracy and freedom over lies, fascism and slavery.
The decade between 2015 and 2025 has been painful and disappointing. I’ve been forced to accept the fact that actually, millions of Canadians can and will live comfortably with lies, fascism and slavery. Speaking as an immigrant who intentionally and enthusiastically chose to commit to Canada, accepting this reality has been horrible and awful.
This year on Canada Day, I have to admit that the Canada I chose 50 years ago is not the Canada that exists today.
Interestingly, when I used a pen and a notepad to plot these universal human positives against their obvious opposites…
- Truth versus Lies
- Democracy versus Fascism
- Freedom versus Slavery
…my pen continued moving to finish the thought:
- Taxi versus Uber
Looking back to 2015, when Uber first arrived in Toronto and was being allowed to ignore any law it did not like (a hallmark of the Corporatist element of Fascism, I learned later) it was clear that members of the Taxi industry knew instinctively that there was A LOT more at stake than mere money. (“I left home to get away from this kind of corruption,” I heard many immigrant drivers say. “And yet, here it is again.”)
John Tory’s “we’re levelling the playing field” lies and blatant favoritism toward Uber helped pave the way for the slave-like conditions Uber drivers endure now.
Taxi operators in 2015 were, in every way, the opposite of a gig workers’ slave mentality: Taxi operators were business owners. Many were keen to participate in the democratic process, and they were quick to call out the lies of officials or other industry members.
Like the successful Kulak farmers of Ukraine during the Stalinist era, independent and willful Taxi drivers had to be crushed by government in order to give Uber’s slave system a chance; and so they were crushed. I watched it happen with my eyes. I wrote about it at the time. I realized something much larger was happening than just cheaper ground transportation: why were powerful political staff part of Uber’s executive team? Why did Uber’s Terms of Service require clients to allow Uber to use their account to lobby elected officials?
“It’s almost as if they don’t want to just transport passengers from point A to point B; it’s more like they want to create their own form of government,” I wondered to one Taxi broker in 2016.
Now, in 2025, Uber’s algorithm charges customers more and pays drivers less while its legal team has cowed municipal politicians into submission. It IS its own form of government. No wonder the Taxi drivers were so outraged in 2015.
*****
I’ve really hated writing this column. Please rest assured I can offer many thousands of words and examples to support these ideas, and I will in the weeks ahead, but not today. For today, it’s enough that I got this idea and my position statement written and on the record: Canada is failing, and we don’t yet have a plan to fix it.
However, I agree with Dale Carnegie that we can’t fix a problem unless and until we admit we have a problem. I hope Canadians want to fix it.
Happy Canada Day.
