History has a timely and poetic way of making itself relevant.
On Wednesday, much of the world took time to reflect on the 25th anniversary of the Tianamen Square massacre that saw untold hundreds or possibly thousands of unarmed protesters killed in the name of "restoring calm."
Lest anyone in China today try to commemorate the tragedy, each year the Chinese government tracks and rounds up dissidents and families of victims and puts them under house arrest.
Just as it crushed the pro-democracy movement with tanks, the Chinese government is determined to crush even the memory of dissent in its population.
Disturbingly, on the same day last week, the Ottawa Citizen revealed a leaked email from the Government Operations Centre to all federal departments asking for "assistance in compiling a comprehensive listing of all known demonstrations" regardless of who is protesting or why.
The agency set up to ensure sharing of information in the event of emergencies like earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear meltdowns is now apparently also concerned about environmental and First Nations protests and teacher strikes among other threats to social order.
Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms uses the word "fundamental" to describe our rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. It is part of a healthy democracy, not something to be monitored. It is part of what distinguishes us from totalitarian states like China.
Shame on Ottawa for its willingness to violate the rights of its own citizens to serve its own paranoia.
And shame on us for not speaking up louder to condemn such actions.