Speak your mind even if your voice shakes
Canadians lost another important voice this morning. June Callwood passed away at the age of 82.
It is only April of 2007 and we have already lost two very special, strong, dignified and inspirational voices. At a time when the same fights these women fought are being revived we can only wonder at the statements of some politicians that equality has already been won.
CBC
A May/Dion romance:
An interesting way to do politics. Deprive people of the right to vote for all parties. Work out backroom deals in the front room thereby pretending it is something other than what it is. Pretend it is visionary and slur all detractors with the indefensible partisan label. While the thing itself smacks of all that is wrong with politics, the spin is genius. [Read more…] about Scattered Scribblings
The Star has an article on the Charter today,
A quarter-century later, the Charter is at a crossroads. While there may be much to celebrate, the process of using it to establish rights is time-consuming and expensive, almost entirely dependent on government subsidies and the benevolence of lawyers to bankroll cases, sometimes costing millions of dollars.
Restrictions on legal aid and a decision last fall by the Conservative government to kill the Court Challenges Program, which helped fund individuals and citizen groups fighting for constitutional protections, have made the Charter more inaccessible than ever.
Today, many experts are pessimistic about its future as a tool in battling for equality and fending off unwarranted government intrusions into people’s lives. Like fine champagne, the Charter is in danger of becoming a luxury many never taste.
Interesting quotes from a conservative on rights for the average Canadian.
Rainer Knopff, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, said the program was “a biased boondoggle that had gone well past its `best before’ date.”
The program only funded groups on “one side” of the political spectrum while “socially conservative groups never got any money. Not a penny, as far as I know,” said Knopff.
He also echoed then-Treasury Board president John Baird’s suggestion, made in defending the decision to kill the program, that it made no sense for Ottawa to spend public money helping groups challenge its own legislation.
“I don’t want to pay for surrogate litigants,” said Knopff, arguing public interest groups should raise their own money for Charter cases. “If they can’t raise the money – tough.”
Apparently conservatives feel rights are for those that can afford them. Not that this is surprising, however, it is nice to have it so neatly laid out.
One can only hope that during an election campaign these words along with those of Harper saying that ordinary Canadians aren’t protesting complete with scenes of farmers and seniors and youth out protesting, find major play in party ads.
Rules of etiquette commonly call for the avoidance of certain topics. Chief among those are politics and religion.
It is worth noting that these are treated as two separate items, and rightly so.
When religion is factored into politics neither can work appropriately.
Religion deals with spirituality, with ones belief in being part of a specific god’s community and the leaders therein are charged with representing a specific community of belief.
Politics deals with issues specific to secular communities. An elected representative is charged with representing everyone, not just those who subscribe to a certain belief system. Though some governments tend to forget this. [Read more…] about Politics and Religion
Press release from the Liberal website;
March 23, 2007
Kennedy, Bains, and Alghabra serve columnist Kay, publisher and John Doe sourceToronto, ON — Former Liberal leadership contestant Gerard Kennedy; Navdeep Bains, MP for Mississauga – Brampton South; and Omar Alghabra, MP for Mississauga – Erindale, served the National Post, columnist Jonathan Kay and related persons with notices of libel over statements that the three politicians were involved in deals to exchange votes in return for changes to national security policy.
Included as a defendant in one of the notices is John Doe, representing the anonymous source cited by Mr. Kay in his column published in the National Post February 27th, 2007.
“Mr. Kay has suggested criminal conduct on the part of Mr. Kennedy. This suggestion is false and defamatory. The situation is particularly aggravated by the fact that Mr. Kay’s article is based on the information of a source whose identity, motives and credibility have been concealed. We look forward to exposing Mr. Kay’s anonymous source so that Mr. Kennedy may be fully vindicated,” said Mr. Howard Winkler of Aird and Berlis, LLP, lawyer for Mr. Kennedy.
The conversations involving Mr. Bains related as fact in the column never took place, according to the notice prepared by Julian Porter, lawyer for Mr. Bains.
“In his notice of libel, Alghabra denies his political and policy decisions are driven by his ethnicity and that he knew of and condoned the vilification of Bob Rae and Arlene Perly Rae, at the Liberal leadership convention,” stated Cliff Lax, counsel for Mr. Alghabra.
“We have enormous respect for the role of the media,” says Kennedy, “but these are equally very serious and completely false statements that if left alone would mislead the public and distort public debate.”
The service of a libel notice is the first step in a defamation suit.
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There is also a story regarding this in today’s Globe and Mail.
And here is a little background on the smear on Bains
It is absolutely right and appropriate that these types of smear jobs be acted against. It represents the absolute lowest in both politics and journalism.
One would expect that a serious journalist would have too much respect for their name and their profession to be bothered with such indulgences.
One would also expect that anyone serious about politics knows there are sufficient idealogical debates to made within political spheres, and real gaffes with which to leverage advantage. Innuendo and baseless rumour mongering is the modus operandi of those who have nothing else with which to make argument.
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