By Gerald Heinrichs

During one of his 2023 broadcasts, Joe Rogan declared “Canada is communist.” More recently, author Kim Thuy said, “Canada is more communist than Vietnam.” And Olympian-pundit Theo Fleury wrote, “The Communist takeover of Canada is complete.”

Some Canadians might be alarmed and wonder how people can say such things. But on the other hand, could there be good reasons for these remarks?

For example, perhaps the accusers see parallels between Canada’s mainstream media and communist state-controlled media like China’s People’s Daily or the Soviet TASS. That’s because in 2025, Canada’s government paid over $220 million to the Canadian Media Fund and the Canadian Journalism Collective. And that was in addition to $1.24 billion paid to CBC. The accusers would argue that much of what Canadians call news today, is paid for and regulated by the government.

Or maybe the accusers are looking at the Soviet Cheka, which arrested dissident writers, or the Soviet Glavlit, which censored what could be published and read. And perhaps they see similarities to the disturbing laws now pushing through Canada’s parliament and framing up the same prosecutions here. An article in The Atlantic says Canadians are seeing an “Extremist Attack on Free Speech,” and the National Post says it is an “extremely dangerous assault on religious freedom.”

Or the accusers may recall the demolition of statues, street names, and holidays during the Bolshevik Revolution. Or the infamous “Destroy the Four Olds” campaign during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, seeking to destroy old ideas, culture, customs, and habits. Author Jamie Glazov writes, “The lust for destruction is the root of Marxism.” And maybe the accusers see parallels to the tear-down and cancel culture in Canada these last 10 years, cheered on by many of today’s leaders.

Or maybe the accusers recall the government gun confiscations in Bulgaria and East Germany that happened after the communists came to power. And they might see similarities with Canada’s ongoing “gun grab” against lawful owners—ever-tightening policies that “criminalize responsible citizens,” says Alberta premier Danielle Smith.

Or perhaps the accusers are referring to the prolific destruction of Christian churches by communists in Romania and North Korea, let alone the many destructions during the Russian Revolution and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. And perhaps they see similarities to the 200 recent church attacks in Canada—attacks brushed off with blindness and indifference by many leaders. Even the New York Post reported the “weak response to religious arson has been alarming.”

Or perhaps the accusers are looking at countries like Cuba and North Korea that created massive government bureaucracies, hand in hand with communist regimes. And maybe they compare this to Canada, where, according to The Globe and Mail, the federal workforce has grown by 100,000 since 2015, and with such wantonness, there are “managers managing managers.”

Or maybe the accusers are examining how, during the last elections, Canada’s own Communist Party campaigned in support of climate action, CBC funding, and opposing US influence, such that there appears to be less and less difference with Canada’s Liberal government.

Maybe the accusers are troubled that Canada is now pivoting away from the US and towards communist China. As Politico reports, “Canada says its friendship with the US is ‘over’” and as Mark Carney recently boasted, “The new Canadian government places high importance on its relations with China.”

Or perhaps the accusers are looking at the Soviet Comintern, which sought to establish a world unified party. And maybe they see similarities in how Canada’s Liberal government signs up for almost every cause put forward by today’s globalist packs.

Or maybe the accusers are alarmed that all these things are happening slowly, through quiet regulation and radical laws easing in over months or years. And perhaps they observe that, because of this slowness, many Canadians deny there are any problems. And on that issue, perhaps the accusers read author James Lindsay speaking about “Communism in slow motion” and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who warns that “Communism is breathing down the neck of all moderate forms of socialism.”

Consequently, many Canadians have reasons to claim that Canada is on the wrong path. Meanwhile, others reject these fears, claiming they are flawed descriptions of a “moderate liberal country” that has a “mixed economy.”

So the two opinions stand far apart, and the disagreement is large. And that clash, one against the other, might define much of Canada’s political news in 2026.

Gerald Heinrichs is a lawyer in Regina, Saskatchewan.