/u/model-avtron appears at a small stage event, after taking the 1 Yonge-University subway, at the headquarters of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, in her own riding of Toronto.

Good afternoon!

Today I'm happy to be here to talk to you about what our plan for your freedoms and rights are.

When I founded the Pirate Party, I did it not out of a place of malice towards other parties: no, I did it to be able to stand up for Canadians' rights, and build a new Canada in the process. They say you have fundamental rights and freedoms. Today I'll be focusing on these three rights and freedoms, straight from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:

• Freedom of religion;

• Democratic rights; and

• Official Language Rights.

First, freedom of religion. We have seen the so-called Laïcité model of secularism gain a foothold in Canada, especially Quebec. Secularism is incredibly important — regardless of one's religious views, it's a simple virtue that everyone must support for a free society. However, what is not acceptable is restricting freedom of religion and religious expression for this.

Law 21, the Act respecting the laicity of the State, passed by the right-wing Coalition Avenir Québec, was supposedly made to secularise the state. This, in theory, is a noble aim. However, the effects of this bill were catastrophic. This bill requires minority groups, Muslims in particular, to remove important religious dress. The Supreme Court of Québec even said that it violated the basic rights of religious minorities. Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with Toronto. A Pirate Party Government will work with provincial governments to come to an agreement, but failing that, will be ready to use Canadian federal law to outlaw the practice of banning religious iconography and dress, as we believe it conflicts with the Charter, the Canadian Human Rights Act, and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.

Onto democratic rights. The V-Dem Institute uses five indices to score countries: Electoral, Liberal, Participatory, Deliberative and Egalitarian. All are incredibly important, but key to Pirate politics is the Participatory index. Currently Canada sits at 0.6; not good enough. The Pirate Party wants to change that.

I was proud to have the privilege last term of introducing the Direct Democracy Bill before the House last term. Next term, I will do the same; notwithstanding opposition from the Liberals, who recognise that their policies are unpopular with Canadians. And we will do more. The Canadian constitution is a peculiar document; or, rather, a set of many documents. We will use it to enhance direct democracy, ensuring that topics such as the devolution of powers and the monarchy are in the hands of Canadians, not whoever is rich enough to lobby the MPs of the day.

Lastly, official language rights. Toronto has a proud Francophone tradition; there are around 60,000 people here who speak French as a mother tongue. Yet French and English are not the only Canadian languages that we need to recognise officially. That is why the Pirate Party will officially recognise indigenous languages, and allow them to be used in court. Additionally, we will increase the bilingualism bonus to $1,200 instead of the current $800, and increase provision of French/English lessons within the public service and Government agencies.

I hope to have today shown you why the Pirate Party is the clear choice for protecting your Charter rights. Thank you!