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Protesting the norm, the accepted, what is deemed credible will never be an easy task. Defenders of the status quo will defend their system with rationalizations that make sense to them and others in the system while dismissing outright, criticism and alternate points of view presented. This process of in-group/out-group friction is the being replayed throughout the world and across Canada. The protesters in Vancouver are being evicted after their case was heard by British Columbia’s Supreme Court.
“A man was arrested during an Occupy Vancouver march following a B.C. Supreme Court decision to grant an injunction, ordering an end to the five-week protest camp outside the city’s art gallery. Justice Anne Mackenzie granted the interim injunction sought by the city to have the campers’ tents removed from where they have been set up since Oct. 15.
MacKenzie set a 2 p.m. PT Monday deadline for the removal of the tents.
The ruling followed a three-day hearing in which city lawyers said the campers were trespassing, while lawyers for the Occupy movement invoked Charter rights of freedom of speech and assembly, and also said the camp was providing shelter for the homeless.”
The ruling in Victoria was more nuanced.
“Justice Terence Schultze said because of the protesters’ respect for the law and their recent good behaviour, police would be required to return to court on Monday for an enforcement order if any protesters refused to leave the site. The ruling comes after many protesters at the Victoria camp decided to pack up and leave voluntarily earlier this week, but protestor Anushka Radji still calls the ruling a victory ‘Not granting an injunction order goes to the fact that they recognize the peaceful nature of the assembly and criminalizing dissent, at this point, is not necessary,’ said Radji.”
Our courts are treading a fine line right now because they are making decisions that speak to our rights as citizens in our country. Dissent and protest are key parts of any democratic process and need to be safeguarded.
“The judge also said he was not allowed to consider constitutional arguments in the case and could only rule on local bylaw issues.”
So, so far no definitive constitutional judgment has been reached. The Occupy Canada movement still has life and a legal leg to stand on. Bringing attention to the disparities in our society is a herculean task, credit should be given to those who have found their voice and that have taken action to correct a growing problem in Canadian society.
Meandering though the Canadian progressive blogosphere I was struck by the amount of gloom and general disgust with our current electoral system. This response from a commenter Thinking Man Neil on Dawg’s Blawg that I’m cut and pasting summarizes things quite nicely.
A resounding hurrah for the return to Feudalism.
“A very dark day for Canada. Stephen Harper’s antipathy for democracy is legendary: shutting down Parliament twice to avoid public accountability, being found in contempt of Parliament twice for refusing to release information to the House of Commons, covering the lies and scandals of his MP’s, staff, and advisers, giving his MP’s instructions to disrupt parliamentary committees to render them unworkable, violating campaign laws, eliminating funding for a program that allows ordinary Canadians to challenge unjust laws, legislation, and government policies at the Supreme Court level (now only the wealthy and corporations get heard) and equating dissent of his policies with a lack of patriotism and treason. Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.
Sixty years of social progress was lost last night. Harper wants to re-instate the death penalty, scrap universal health care for a for-profit system, eliminate public funding for political parties, curtail women’s rights to abortion, enact draconian “law and order” crime bills and engage in internet surveillance of the populace, give corporations and the wealthy while increasing military spending dramatically and pouring countless, precious Canadian kids into pointless meatgrinder wars just so he can thump his flabby, neocon chest.
Stephen Harper and Preston Manning — his former boss in the Reform Party — set out 25 years ago to polarize Canadian politics and destroy the centrist Liberal Party; they achieved that goal last night. Jack Layton’s 102-seat opposition NDP have been neutered even before they get through the door of the House of Commons by Harper’s overwhelming 167-seat majority. Fundamentalist evangelical Christians and Christian Dominionists and Reconstructionists who are strong Harper supporters and have been gaining considerable access and influence in the PMO and Privy Council will demand the advancement of a very socially conservative agenda, expecting the elimination of abortion rights, elimination of same-sex marriage rights and possible criminalization of gays, lesbians, and transgendereds, censorship control over media and culture and the possible re-instatement of anti-blasphemy laws, the teaching of creationism in science classes, elimination of funding for stem cell research, and the re-establishment of the preeminence of religion in society. Corporate interests will get massive tax cuts, an across the board roll back of environmental and consumer protection laws, reduced competition and acquisition regulations, elimination of worker’s rights to organize unions and collective bargaining, privatization of private and public pension plans, and increased foreign takeovers of Canadian natural resources including freshwater. And there won’t be thing one that the NDP opposition will be able to do to stop it.
Harper has worked tirelessly and ruthlessly for many years for this; he won’t allow it to be overturned by an “unwanted election” in four years. He has a tough, disciplined group of MP’s that he micro-manages with an iron fist, and his goal is to keep that in perpetuity in the form of a one-party system. His plans to eliminate the per-vote and election reimbursement public subsidies that will drastically reduce funds available for election campaigns for some parties while his party will reap enormous corporate donations. What we’ll be left with in the end is a situation akin to Saddam-era Iraq: token elections and token opposition with only one possible outcome.
My Canada, the Canada of tolerance, openness, freedom, and respect of and love for democracy, died last night. It’s been handed over to a group that values bigotry, misogyny, power, fear and ignorance over the better aspirations of our species.
I’m hoping it is not all as bad as Neil prognosticates. The idea though that we have to count on Harper to moderate his policies in order to be reelected in four years seems to be a very weak check on the sort of destructive policies he champions. It is May 3, 2011 – We’ll revisit this post and see where we are in a couple of months.
I’m curious as to the lack of story around the little issue of our own government not following the rules of Canadian Democracy. I guess Steve was not happy with just shutting parliament down, but he wanted his way with how our democracy is run.
Cute. I recommend not voting for him and his merry band of fascists.
And I thought the Pope had the market on evil empire Star Wars references. :)
Fighting the Russians in the Arctic WTG Steve!
Newsflash(?): Many of Steven Harper’s Policies are based on ideology and not fact.
Wow, way to go Libs. You finally caught a whiff of the conservative miasma that has engulfed our country. Where do you stake your claim? Draw your line in the sand? Where do you make your stand and bellicosely shout “You shall not pass!” The systemic underfunding of women’s groups? The overspending glut and fake lake of the G8 summit spending? Not funding abortions in the third world? Nope.
How about the Long form Census and the Long Firearms Registry. It is on these two ‘important’ issues our principled opposition has brought the noise.
“The Harper government has adopted a deliberate strategy of hiding information from Canadians in order to advance a right-wing social and justice agenda, Liberals charge.
Liberal MP John McCallum pointed Thursday to two recent examples to prove the point: The government’s decision to scrap the mandatory long-form census and its refusal to release a favourable report on the effectiveness of the long-gun registry.
He called the approach “a triumph of ignorance over knowledge, a triumph of ideology over science.”
Those of us who follow our enlightened government have be aware of this small fact for quite awhile. During the election(s) Harper has often been accused of having a ‘hidden-agenda’. I would argue that in has never been hidden from the public, as one can ascertain his policy motives and goals quite easily.
Keeping Canada safe from Unicorns, Dragons and Fairy-Folk too!
The “Tough on Crime” agenda is classical social conservative hogwash and prime example of what Harper and his conservatives are about. Consider, we need more prisons for unreported crimes because our crime rate is falling. it seems that little mistakes like this are not really worth the Oppositions time.
Now what McCallum says is true, but why the onslaught on these particular issues?
“McCallum said the decision to turn the compulsory long-form census into a voluntary survey is “one of the most visible examples of one of the most fundamental shortcomings” of the Harper government.
He said it’s aimed at robbing federal, provincial and municipal governments of the reliable data they need to deliver progressive social programs. It would skew “the picture of what Canada really looks like” because low-income and minority Canadians will be less likely to fill out a voluntary form.”
Makes sense to me. We need to know about our population to best meet its needs.
“McCallum also cited the government’s refusal to release the annual RCMP evaluation of the gun registry’s effectiveness as another example of Harper’s penchant for stifling facts.
Opposition parties maintain the government has been sitting on the report for six months and wants to keep it hidden until after a crucial September vote on Tory backbencher Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill to scrap the controversial registry.
According to the CBC, the report concludes the registry is cost-effective, efficient and “an important tool for law enforcement.”
“Clearly the Conservatives want to prevent parliamentarians and Canadians from seeing important information about the cost and effectiveness of the long-gun registry before an important vote,” McCallum said.”
Now again, sitting on bad news is not strictly a conservative phenomena, but the long gun registry has been a contentious issue during election time and that is about it. We are getting much drama for issues that seem to be a low priority for many Canadians.
There is plenty of fodder to roast Harper and his conservatives with, why is the opposition focused on these relatively low key issues? I’m hoping it is part of a bigger strategy that builds on a few small examples and then works it way up the ladder of importance. I’d like to be right about this, but I have my doubts.
Our parliament is back in action after being out of business while supposedly our conservative turd-nuggets “calibrated” their economic plans to “save” the Canadian Economy. What do we get? A large horse and pony show about possibly changing the national anthem and more tax cuts for business and the banking industry.
We are cutting taxes on the financial sector. Don't complain...have some yummy ice-cream to make all those thoughts of fairness go away. Silly Public.
We stopped the business of government so we can get yet another typically conservative budget? Some putrid highlights:
- The finance minister promised many times that this budget would not include any significant tax cuts, but he just couldn’t help himself. No Harper budget is complete without a major tax cut for business, even after business leaders say we now need tax increases.
- The major new business tax cut this year is a complete elimination of tariffs on manufacturing inputs and machinery and equipment. This move aims to make Canada’s manufacturing sector into a free trade zone, consistent with their aggressive new free trade plans and will cost the federal government an estimated $1.3 billion over five years.
- Further planned cuts to corporate income taxes will drive the federal corporate tax rate down to 15% down by almost half from the from 29.12% rate in 2000. These cuts so far have cost more than $100 billion and further cuts will cost the government an additional $20 billion in lower revenues during the next five years.
- The Harper government is continuing with these further cuts even though the steep cuts so far have had little positive impact in increasing investment or productivity
Well isn’t that just fraking grand. The opposition, rather than condemning this albatross of a budget, will quietly vote to pass this budget. Will the Afghan detainee torture scandal resurface? Will Harper and his merry band of neo-conservative business courtiers continue to sell ordinary Canadians down the river?
I hope the we get some real direction from our opposition soon. I’m getting tired and quite cranky over the mendacious conservative rule we are toiling under.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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