The Real Threat to Democracy Isn’t Dissent It’s Silence

The Real Threat to Democracy Isn’t Dissent It’s Silence By Councillor Lisa Robinson Across Canada and around the world, the last few years have tested the boundaries between public health authority and personal liberty. Governments claimed extraordinary powers in the name of safety, but history teaches us that emergency powers, once granted, are rarely surrendered easily. When citizens questioned mandates, digital tracking, or censorship of opposing views, they were often labelled as dangerous, divisive, or “anti-science.” But speaking out against government excess is not extremism — it’s the heartbeat of democracy. Democracies depend on dissent. The people who marched, wrote, protested, or simply refused to be silenced did not endanger society; they reminded it that free nations are built on consent, not compliance. Every major human-rights advance began with individuals who stood against the prevailing narrative — from labour organizers to civil-rights activists, from suffragettes to whistle-blowers. During the pandemic, ordinary citizens took up that same tradition, asking the questions too many leaders were afraid to confront. They demanded transparency in data, accountability in decision-making, and respect for bodily autonomy. They were not a threat to public order — they were a threat to unchecked power. I know this because I lived it. Since the very beginning of COVID-19, I have stood up against these heavy-handed measures — even inside City Hall, where the people’s voice has been reduced to five-minute time slots and pre-approved topics. I have been punished punitively for speaking the truth. Sanctioned. Slandered. Stripped of pay. Accused of things I never said, based on lies crafted to silence me. But every attempt to silence me only proved the point: dissent is not the disease — tyranny is. The real danger to democracy comes when governments learn they can rule by decree and silence opposition through fear or ridicule. When truth becomes whatever officials say it is, the people no longer govern; they are managed. And once citizens accept that, the path from democracy to technocracy is short and steep. History will judge those who stood up — and those who stayed silent. The lesson is simple: freedom doesn’t disappear overnight; it erodes when questioning authority becomes a punishable act. Those who refused to bow to coercion did not weaken our country; they kept its democratic spine intact. Because in the end, the true enemy of dictatorship is not rebellion — it’s courage. "Strength Does Not Lie In The Absence Of Fear, But In The Courage To Face It Head-On And Rise Above It"