Liberal leader Paul Martin in last night's English-language debate, in an act of desperation, tried to stem the tide of support going the way of rival Conservative leader Stephen Harper by declaring that if re-elected, he would abolish the Notwithstanding Clause from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
This is how we know he's lost it.
Without the Clause, the Charter wouldn't even exist.
The Clause acts as a counter to the power of the courts. It prevents the judiciary from overriding the will of the Canadian people via their elected representatives' democratic decisions. As Stephen Harper said in last night's debate, the current system of governance, which includes the Clause, provides a "balance" between the power of Parliament and the power of the courts. This, I believe, ensures that neither can effectively be a dictatorship.
So Paul Martin's idea is not only stupid, but undemocratic and dangerous.
Martin himself has, in fact, declared that he would use the Clause to protect religious freedoms from being taken away by the judiciary. Has he changed his mind? Does he no longer believe in freedom of religion, which the Charter itself explicitly guarantees? This begs the question: does Paul Martin really care about the Charter anyway? Why else is he so eager to muck it up?
Would Paul Martin prefer a Canada in which the judges, appointed by none other than himself, render binding, non-reversible, non-overrulable decisions? This is a dangerous concept, for under such a system, it would be possible, and there'd be no stopping this, for him to somehow interfere with the judiciary in terms of letting his appointed loyalists know his wishes as to what they shall rule.
We can't have that. It would enable the Prime Minister to be a dictator as he already controls the courts via appointing political loyalists with full knowledge of their agendas and reasonable belief that they would follow his lead.
Yes, this is indeed possible. We have already seen that the Liberal Party of Canada and its leaders have been behaving as if they're above the law, above the Charter, above the democratic will of Parliament and of the Canadian people. All the corruption and crime... all the scandals, all the ongoing criminal investigations of Martin's regime, the invisible-to-the-Auditor-General multibilliondollar "foundations" and Crown Corporations which eat up untold billions of our money for heaven knows what sort of things the Liberals have been using it for.
Just forget about Martin. Kick him and his corrupt ruling regime out of power January 23rd and restore Canada to the control of the Canadian people. Place Canada once again on the path to prosperity, security, justice and overall excellence as a federation.
This is how we know he's lost it.
Without the Clause, the Charter wouldn't even exist.
The Clause acts as a counter to the power of the courts. It prevents the judiciary from overriding the will of the Canadian people via their elected representatives' democratic decisions. As Stephen Harper said in last night's debate, the current system of governance, which includes the Clause, provides a "balance" between the power of Parliament and the power of the courts. This, I believe, ensures that neither can effectively be a dictatorship.
So Paul Martin's idea is not only stupid, but undemocratic and dangerous.
Martin himself has, in fact, declared that he would use the Clause to protect religious freedoms from being taken away by the judiciary. Has he changed his mind? Does he no longer believe in freedom of religion, which the Charter itself explicitly guarantees? This begs the question: does Paul Martin really care about the Charter anyway? Why else is he so eager to muck it up?
Would Paul Martin prefer a Canada in which the judges, appointed by none other than himself, render binding, non-reversible, non-overrulable decisions? This is a dangerous concept, for under such a system, it would be possible, and there'd be no stopping this, for him to somehow interfere with the judiciary in terms of letting his appointed loyalists know his wishes as to what they shall rule.
We can't have that. It would enable the Prime Minister to be a dictator as he already controls the courts via appointing political loyalists with full knowledge of their agendas and reasonable belief that they would follow his lead.
Yes, this is indeed possible. We have already seen that the Liberal Party of Canada and its leaders have been behaving as if they're above the law, above the Charter, above the democratic will of Parliament and of the Canadian people. All the corruption and crime... all the scandals, all the ongoing criminal investigations of Martin's regime, the invisible-to-the-Auditor-General multibilliondollar "foundations" and Crown Corporations which eat up untold billions of our money for heaven knows what sort of things the Liberals have been using it for.
Just forget about Martin. Kick him and his corrupt ruling regime out of power January 23rd and restore Canada to the control of the Canadian people. Place Canada once again on the path to prosperity, security, justice and overall excellence as a federation.
