McGill Group’s Anti-Canada Event Crosses the Line

A group in Montreal called QPIRG-McGill is hosting what they call a “decolonial anti-Canada day BBQ and fundraiser” on July 1. Their own Instagram post spells it out:

“Join us for a decolonial anti-Canada day BBQ and fundraiser on July 1st, 2-6pm! We will meet at Parc Jeanne-Mance (near the corner of Mont-Royal and Parc). There will be vegan and gluten-friendly options.

Grab some free food and mingle with tablers from the Palestinian Feminist Collective, Spring Network, Health Workers Alliance for Palestine, the Mohawk Mothers, and more! Fundraising proceeds will go towards a variety of local decolonial struggles – details TBA.”

This isn’t activism. It’s contempt for Canada disguised as a community event.

Let’s be clear: If you’re fundamentally “anti-Canada,” what exactly are you still doing here?

You eat the food, drink the water, walk the streets protected by Canadian law enforcement, and go to school or work under the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Charter. You receive health care funded by Canadian taxpayers. You enjoy infrastructure, subsidies, public education, and a functioning rule of law. You benefit from a society people risk their lives every year trying to join.

So, why stay?

What gives anyone the moral license to condemn the existence of this country while enjoying its full range of protections and privileges?

This isn’t a protest against a specific injustice or policy failure. It’s not a call for reform or improvement. This event—and many others like it—is based on the idea that Canada itself is illegitimate. That it’s not a nation to be made better, but a nation to be dismantled. The slogan might as well be: burn it down, then ask for seconds at the buffet.

If you genuinely believe that Canada is nothing more than a colonial project with no redeeming qualities, then have the integrity to separate yourself from the system. Stop collecting the benefits. Stop using the infrastructure. Stop relying on the tax-funded services provided by a country you reject.

That’s the problem. It’s not just that these activists are critical of Canada—it’s that they want to destroy the idea of it while continuing to live off it. That’s not courage. That’s freeloading wrapped in political jargon.

Canada, like every country, has flaws. We’ve made mistakes. We’ve had painful chapters in our history. But we’ve also built one of the most peaceful, stable, and free societies in the world. A place where dissent isn’t crushed. A place where protest is protected. A place where you can hold an “anti-Canada” event without fear of arrest, retribution, or censorship.

That’s not colonialism. That’s freedom.

What’s disturbing is how casual the hostility has become. This isn’t fringe. These ideas are becoming normalized. And they’re often embraced in institutions that owe their existence to Canadian taxpayers—schools, arts organizations, advocacy groups, and more. Even if McGill University isn’t officially endorsing this particular event, its name is attached to the group. The silence from leadership speaks volumes.

We are watching a growing segment of activist culture move beyond criticizing governments or policies and into scorning the very country that enables their voice. And we let it slide under the banner of progress.

It’s not progress. It’s cowardice.

Canada is worth defending. It’s worth protecting from those who would rather tear it apart than contribute to making it better. We’re not talking about reform or change—we’re talking about people who refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the country itself, and who reject everything that holds it together.

And we’re supposed to feed them, fund them, and stay quiet?

No. Not this time.

There comes a point when a nation has to say: if you reject everything this country stands for, then don’t expect to enjoy the things it provides. Because those things weren’t handed down by accident. They were built by generations of Canadians who worked, served, fought, and sacrificed to build something stable and free.

If you don’t see value in that, if you believe this country is a failure at its core, you are free to leave. Canada does not hold people hostage. We don’t build walls to keep citizens in. You’re welcome to find a country that better reflects your values. But don’t build your life here while declaring this country irredeemable. That’s not activism—it’s exploitation.

This isn’t about banning criticism. This isn’t about silencing debate. In fact, strong countries encourage it. But patriotism isn’t a dirty word. And it’s not unreasonable to expect a basic level of respect for the place that makes all this possible.

We can have honest conversations about history, inequality, and reconciliation. We must. But we can also be unapologetically proud of the nation we’ve built. One doesn’t cancel out the other.

The reality is that Canada remains a beacon for millions around the world. People line up to come here. They don’t risk their lives to reach Venezuela. They don’t flee war zones for Cuba or Iran. They come to Canada—for peace, safety, education, work, opportunity, and freedom.

If those things mean nothing to you, that’s your right. But don’t pretend you’re taking some noble stand while collecting every benefit this country offers.

Canada is not the enemy. It’s the platform that gives you the freedom to criticize it in the first place. And if that’s not worth respecting, then at least have the honesty to stop pretending you belong here.

We need more Canadians—especially in positions of leadership—to speak up and defend this country. Not blindly, not without reflection, but with conviction and pride. Events like this should be called out for what they are: an insult to the very idea of Canada.

McGill should make that clear. Leadership matters. Silence is complicity.

This country is worth standing up for.

And I, for one, will never stop doing just that.