Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Fasces 19th Century Badge Of Roman Authority And Carried By Lictors Since The Time Of Tarquin Line Engraving 19Th Century Poster Print by Posterazzi Image: Amazon.ca
Canada 2.0Democracy & GovernmentOpinion/Column

Some business owners get beat with a stick

Others enjoy special State privileges

Read “Canadian Fascism, Part 1,” here

Read “On Canada Day, let’s face the ugly truth” here

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The term “Fascism” didn’t evolve from an esoteric circle of economic thinkers, as Marxism did.

It’s way more basic, and brutal. According to Merriam-Webster, a “fasces” is “a bundle of rods and among them an ax with projecting blade borne before ancient Roman magistrates as a badge of authority…in ancient Rome, fasces were bundles of rods with an ax, carried by lictors (bodyguards) and symbolizing the power and authority of a magistrate.” 

In Canada in 2025, you could imagine that one stick in this bundle is business; another media; another education; another law enforcement and the military; another religion (I think Canada’s State religion is climate change right now. That may change.)

The axe head represents the power and authority of government as a whole, including the right to beat or kill (which now apparently includes Medical Assistance in Dying for those seen as a drag on the economy).

Canada’s current political system could be considered to at least incorporate elements of Fascism, if not outright, full-blown Fascism. In Canada, corporations can be part of the government: that’s why banks were so easily able to freeze Truckers’ bank accounts during the Freedom Convoy. That’s why Uber was able to operate for years without proper insurance, and John Tory re-wrote Toronto’s Taxi by-laws for Uber, while Doug Ford re-invented the concept of work to allow for “active time” or “engaged time,” leaving gig workers unpaid for about half of their workday to the benefit of corporations.

It’s good to be government, with the power to re-write laws and re-define words to improve business prospects and profitablity. It’s the whole bundle, with the axe in the middle: the fasci. How can you lose?