Welcome back to This Week in Canada, where America’s culture wars are fought, especially about Charlie Kirk; a fan-free Davis Cup qualifier rocked Halifax; and “bubble zones” might be coming to a protest near you. Enjoy the contradictions, the overreactions, and the uniquely Canadian habit of importing American problems—even when they don’t quite fit!
Canadians like to boast about their politeness, especially in contrast to what they see as the brashness of Americans. But the veneer of that civility can conceal something much darker. I put it like this when I testified before the House Judiciary Committee in 2023: “What is happening in Canada is a gradual suffocation of free expression. It is draped in a cloak of niceness, inclusivity, and justice—but it is regressive, authoritarian, and illiberal.”
Charlie Kirk’s assassination exposed that same undercurrent. Just like the U.S., some Canadians openly mocked his death and even seemed to condone violence.
Ruth Marshall, an associate professor of religious studies and political science at the University of Toronto—one of Canada’s leading universities—posted this on X: “Shooting is honestly too good for so many of you fascist cunts.”
Marshall said her comment was not directed at Kirk and was about “atrocity denial in Gaza.” On X, she shared a screenshot of a thread that contrasted reactions to graphic footage of Kirk’s assassination with the frequent circulation of images from Gaza. In the thread, one user characterized footage as “weak ass propaganda with lame props,” to which Marshall replied with her remark about shooting being too good for fascists.
Marshall deleted her post, but the university placed her on leave and issued a statement: “The university took immediate action upon learning of the concerning social media posts of a University of Toronto professor.” In July, she appeared to endorse the language of revolutionary violence—invoking imagery of the French Revolution, guillotines and all—in a take on American billionaires.
