When Glenn Beck exploded onto Fox News almost 20 years ago, he was must-see TV for half a year straight. People tuned in the way they once watched car chases on live news — just to see what wild truth he would drop next. Then the mainstream media shrugged and moved on.

Beck didn’t vanish; he built his own media ecosystem, and today he continues to comment on politics with the calm fury of a man who has watched too many countries trade liberty for “safety.”

From 2016 to 2024, over 76,000 killed by their own government’s health care system — now the fifth leading cause of death in adults.

Recently he trained his gaze on Canada, calling what is left of a once-great democracy “an oligarchy with the trappings of democracy.”

As a Canadian who occasionally writes for Blaze Media, I sat down to watch. Beck’s segment on my country losing its freedoms was sharp, but I kept thinking he was starting three steps too late. The real story begins with free speech — because once that is gone, the rest of the Bill of Rights becomes decorative wallpaper.

We’re literally one Senate vote away from burying it under Bill C-9, Bill C-8, and the Online Harms Act (rebranded, I’d bet my maple-leaf pin, as the cuddly-sounding “Online Safety Act”). Parliament usually packs up in the third week of June. Mark my words: We'll have the final nail in the coffin of free speech before summer recess.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has fulfilled none of the promises he made prior to the last federal election in April 28, save one — his pledge to censor Canadians’ free speech.

The 10 hallmarks of a truly free nation

Before assessing Beck’s critique of freedom in Canada, let’s lay out what he says actually keeps a country free. Glenn says that democracies are "rare and historically very fragile" things. Here are the core "pillars" — straight from Glenn's list, with a few Canadian reality-check footnotes.

1. Rule of law, not rule of man: The law applies equally to citizens, leaders, and institutions. No one is above it; no one is beneath it.
2. Free, fair, and regular elections: Citizens must actually choose their leaders through transparent, competitive votes. Power must be transferred peacefully. Note: The old Soviet Union held elections too. One party was on the ballot. Very festive.
3. Protection of individual rights: Some freedoms can never be voted away by majority rule: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and due process. This is the real foundation — lose it and everything else collapses. I would rank this No. 1. Canada clearly disagrees.
4. Separation of powers: The legislature makes laws; the executive enforces them; the judiciary interprets them. Canada’s “responsible government” fuses the first two together like a bad marriage.
5. Independent judiciary: Courts must be able to rule against the government without fear. Our courts now openly brag about being “progressive.”
6. Free press and open information: Media that questions power, not media subsidized by it.
7. Civilian control of the military.
8. Protection of minority rights.
9. Economic freedom and property rights.
10. A culture that values freedom.

Beck’s segment walked through these and found Canada coming up short on almost every one. Even worse is the polite shrug with which Canadians greet each new restriction.

Accountability? What accountability?

Beck opened with the jaw-dropping scandal that broke in 2021: A scientist at Canada’s highest-security lab shipped live Ebola to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and "collaborated with the Chinese military on bioweapons research." Parliament "ordered the documents four times." Liberals blocked it every single time, sued, stonewalled, and then called a snap election to kill the probe.

As Beck dryly observed, “That’s rule of law being violated and separation of powers being violated.” Three years later, the auditor general found nearly $400 million in outright corruption. Parliament shut that down too.

Then Trudeau “resigned.” "One-third of 1% of Canadians — the elite inner circle — handed the prime minister’s office to Mark Carney" in a leadership race that smelled like a script. Carney racked up a cartoonish 80% in every riding, including opponent Chrystia Freeland’s own back yard. That's right: She somehow only managed to attract 20% of Liberal voters on her home turf.

Satirical gold: The party that once preached “sunny ways” now runs on North Korean turnout numbers and zero raised eyebrows.

Elections, emergencies, and the slow-motion coup

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service confirmed Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. "Trudeau was briefed." Nothing happened. One Liberal MP openly urged supporters "to collect a Chinese Communist Party bounty on a Conservative candidate. No charges." Five MPs "flipped" to the Liberals in five "convenient" months, handing them a two-seat majority. Meanwhile the House of Commons simply stopped sitting for eight months — Canada governed by executive decree.

Beck asked what is really operating in Canada: “Democracy by design, or is it democracy by manipulation?”

Then came the 2022 Freedom Convoy. Trudeau "invoked the Emergencies Act," "froze the bank accounts of protesters" and their supporters, and treated peaceful assembly like a national security threat. "Two federal courts, including the Court of Appeal," ruled it unlawful and a Charter violation. The government is still appealing to the Supreme Court — because in Canada, judicial rulings are apparently suggestions.

Layer on the censorship bills: C-18 (Online News Act) "that forced Google and Meta to pay Canadian outlets for links." Meta just blocked news entirely. C-11 (Online Streaming Act) put Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify under DEI and "Canadian content mandates." Then there are the coming C-8, C-9, and Online Harms/Safety Act that could turn Scripture into hate literature.

Throughout, Beck didn’t need to raise his voice. The facts spoke loudly enough.

Property rights? Optional. MAID? Canada’s growth industry.

Property rights have been quietly torched too. Ontario’s Bill 212 "lets the province ram through highway projects" and "override municipal bylaws." In Waterloo, the government is in the process of acquiring roughly 770 acres of prime farmland — using NDAs that limit public visibility around land deals, alongside the looming threat of expropriation that puts pressure on landowners to sell. New Brunswick merged municipalities and jacked rural taxes 50%-60%. Rural British Columbia now requires government permission to sell eggs or give riding lessons — or "face a $50,000-a-day fine."

In British Columbia, Aboriginal title claims — imposed when the provincial government embraced the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — have turfed homeowners. Native chiefs — who are the only real winners in this land-grab — are claiming huge swaths of the province because their ancestors might have claimed it or occupied it at some time in the past.

No matter what the racial yardstick in use, having unique rights or special status based on your ethnicity is blatantly racist and a flagrant violation of equality under the law — a concept that used to define Canada and all democratic countries.

And ask Katie Pasitney and Karen Espersen of Universal Ostrich Farms whether farmers really own their land or have any protection from the ravenous Canadian Food Inspection Agency and its vicious “stamping out” policy. The CFIA invaded and occupied their farm and then massacred hundreds of ostriches because it merely suspected the birds of having H5N1 avian influenza. The government bureaucrats refused to test the birds and threatened anyone else who did with a $500,000 fine and six months in jail.

And then there’s Medical Assistance in Dying. "Legalized in 2016 for those with reasonably foreseeable deaths," the safeguards were dropped in 2021. "In 2024 alone, 22,535 Canadians requested it; 16,499 received it." That’s 5.1% of all deaths. "From 2016 to 2024, over 76,000 killed by their own government’s health care" system — now the fifth leading cause of death in adults. Doctors are offering MAID for back pain and mental health.

As Beck stated with grim precision, "when the state controls your health care and offers death as a solution to its own failures, you’re no longer a citizen. You’re a cost center."

RELATED: Aftermath of a slaughter: Universal Ostrich Farms vows to hold Canada accountable

Katie Pasitney

The cage is already built

Beck closed with the line that still echoes: “The slide is gradual. The language is polite. The slogans might even make people feel good — until one day, you realize the cage was built around you. You’re free to walk around, but not out.”

Canada still has the maple-leaf flag, the Parliament buildings, and the elections. "The forms remain." The substance has been replaced by a "managed oligarchy with democratic trappings."

"Power is consolidated now. Dissent is managed. The individual exists to serve the state."

Beck turned to the camera and spoke directly to Americans: “Look how far Canada has fallen. Now recognize, America. This is your future.”

He’s right. The cage is comfortable, the guards speak softly, and the signage says “Equity, Inclusion, and Safety.” But once the door clicks shut, apologies won’t open it again.

Wake up, Canada — maybe it’s time we stopped saying “sorry” and started saying “enough.”

A version of this essay originally appeared on Krayden's Right.