ADAMS: When 'degeneracy' becomes a catch‑all for 40% of your constituents
Every spring, like clockwork, I make my way to Bowmanville's Maplefest. It's become a small personal tradition. I track down my Member of Parliament, Jamil Jivani, we shake hands, pose for a photo, and chat about life in our corner of Durham. For a few minutes amid the maple taffy and local vendors, politics feels human. A constituent and his elected representative, doing the unglamorous retail work that keeps communities stitched together. Jamil has always been warm in those moments.
He's looked me in the eye and called me authentic. Refreshing. Deeply principled. A young journalist trying to stand by his convictions. Those words landed because they seemed sincere. Even when we disagreed—those who've read my coverage of Restore the North would know I have reservations about Jamil's beliefs—there was a mutual understanding that we cohabitate in different spheres but share the same community.
That's why his recent social media post hit like a slap.
In his most recent tweet, Jamil railed against what he termed “Liberal degeneracy,” accusing opponents of changing the country for the worse and forcing malicious values on children. The post was triggered by a photo of Mark Carney shaking hands at Pride with a shirtless man wearing dog kink gear.
In the LGBTQ community, you'll see differences of opinion surrounding this topic generally. As a bisexual man, I have my own views on this. I believe exhibitionists—whatever their gender identity or sexual orientation—should never abusively force their kink on other members of the LGBTQ community, nor should they force it on the general public who didn't sign up for it. There are private clubs, consenting adult spaces, nude beaches, and art studios for that. Public family‑friendly events aren't the place.
My issue here is that Jamil's framing lumps anyone who holds a different perspective on LGBTQ issues—on education, so-called "parental rights," the boundaries of public expression, or really ANYONE who voted for NOT THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY in 2025—into the same “Liberal degenerate” category.
Reading those words from someone who previously praised my character felt profoundly jarring. In person, at a local festival, I'm the earnest neighbour. Online, where outrage travels faster than nuance, people like me become part of a degenerate threat. This points to something deeper and more corrosive in our politics.
During the 2025 federal election, millions of Canadians—including a huge share in ridings like ours—voted for Liberal candidates or parties to the left of the Conservatives. The Carney Liberals won the popular vote by a considerable margin, and many in this country appreciate that we have a prime minister who (despite his flaws) makes an effort to show up for EVERYONE, including for the LGBTQ community.
I don't expect my MP to agree with my editorial agenda. What I do expect is basic recognition that the people he represents are not abstract villains. We're the same folks he smiles with at Maplefest, the parents coaching hockey, the small business owners grinding through inflation, the families trying to raise decent kids in a chaotic world. Many of us vote differently. That doesn't make us a disease on the nation.
We've seen this tribalization before, south of the border and in our own echo chambers on social media. It feels good in the moment but it frays the social fabric. Leaders have a responsibility to call out real problems—whether it's policy failures on immigration, education, the economy, or anything else their constituents dislike—without resorting to language that excommunicates over 50% of the country.
Jamil cannot tell me to my face that I'm principled and then log on to tell the world that people like me represent a degenerative force. It's unbecoming of the office. It does a disservice to the diverse riding that sent him to Ottawa. Bowmanville—Oshawa North isn't a monolith. It's teachers and tradespeople, immigrants and multi‑generational families, progressives and conservatives living side by side.
As an independent journalist and resident here, I want better. I want an MP who fights hard for his convictions but remembers the humanity of those who disagree. Retail politics should mean something beyond photo ops. It should remind our representatives that the people back home aren't props or enemies. They're Canadians trying to make sense of a difficult time.
Jamil has always been personally warm to me, yet I have consistently voiced fundamental reservations about his values in my coverage since the 2024 Durham by-election—but even at Restore the North, I have never seen him lean into rhetoric as aggressively far‑right as this.
His recent post does not squander some imagined "potential" for unity; it lays bare an animus many have long suspected but one I've never witnessed so nakedly. This was a deliberate choice to dehumanize many of his own constituents. Our community—and our country—deserves better than a representative who shakes hands by day and brands neighbours as degenerates by night.
