It was mentioned last week (Getting used to a majority government – September 29) that Prime Minister Harper’s people had yet to meet their real opposition. It did not take long. The Supreme Court has taken its first bite. The court has told Harper’s people that they cannot close the safe injection site in Vancouver. This trial is the only such site in North America and it has been consistently proving itself since 2003 in saving lives and effectively helping drug addicts.
The court, even with the first two Harper appointees included, was unanimous in telling the Health Minister that the Department’s attempt to close the clinic was arbitrary and moralistic and wrong. It said that the Health Minister cannot deny legal protection to addicts and the site staff. The government has no choice but to comply with the court.
Many conservatives are counting on Harper being able to replace the more liberal Supreme Court justices over the next four years to enable the Conservative government to pass more draconian legislation. What they forget is that democracy is not based entirely on majority rule. Without protection for minorities we become much less of a society and it is the courts that we rely upon to protect the weakest among us.
Mr. Harper has already swamped the Senate of Canada with Conservative appointees but that is also to be heard from in the next four years. Those trained seals in the Senate will only play music in unison if you have more fish to feed them. When you appoint people to a position that they are guaranteed to hold until they are 75, some of the brighter ones might decide they have minds of their own.
What Harper is going to have to do is look more carefully at what the various Ministers are trying to push through parliament. It is like the current copyright act going through the process. It is the same legislation as the majority opposition threw out during the last parliament. Whether or not most new Members of Parliament have a clue as to what this legislation says, Harper’s minions are going to ram it through the House and then the Senate. The only problem is that the legislation appears to be contradicting itself. It is written to satisfy both the Americans who want to stop all copying and to satisfy Canadian demands for having allowances made for broader individual use. If somebody cares enough, this legislation could also be sent to the Supreme Court. Even conservative judges might not have the patience for that brand of foolishness.
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Copyright 2011 © Peter Lowry
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