OTTAWA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Canada's neighbor, the United States, is "on the precipice of becoming a failed democratic state," and Canada should plan its possible responses and prepare for what comes next, according to an article published by the media network the Conversation on Sunday.
"Failing to do so will put our own democracy at risk," said Robert Danisch, a communications professor at the University of Waterloo.
The professor voiced his concern that the violence witnessed on Jan. 6, 2021, in the U.S. Capitol "was not an isolated event but the beginning of something bigger," adding the combination of media outlets like Fox News and anti-democratic, authoritarian rhetoric is "exactly a recipe for the contagious spread of the kinds of behaviours that can threaten our own democracy."
He then raised several critical questions for Canada. For example, "How will Canada combat the virulent spread of propaganda and misinformation when it comes directly from a government pretending to be democratic while enacting fascism?" Danisch wrote.
In response, the professor urged "a national conversation on these urgent questions," which he believes will require Canadians to "shore up our own democracy and to learn how to regulate and prevent the spread of authoritarian rhetoric, hate speech and other forms of misinformation in the United States."
