Fear And Loathing In Ontario

The Liberals are going all-out to frighten Ontario voters back into the fold with dark hints of theocratic social conservatism holding sway under a Conservative government warring against the courts and the Charter:

Citing Harper's statement that a Conservative government, even if it was a majority, would not have "absolute power" because of Liberal-appointed judges and senators, Martin said the Tory leader's attitude toward power is cause for grave concern. "Who talks that way? Who thinks that way?

"He (Harper) spoke of the courts as his political opponents, he described them as an obstacle, a barrier between him and his agenda," Martin said, describing his opponent's priorities "as the most socially conservative agenda that has ever been this close" to being carried into power in Canada. It is an agenda inspired by "the extreme right in the United States," he added.

And now "he's criticizing the independence of our judiciary, saying he's worried about the social activism of some judges," Martin remarked. He said it was the courts' role in protecting individual rights that upsets the Conservatives.

The fear campaign will work with some voters, no doubt. A great deal of mythology has been built up around the Charter and the judiciary, not simply as protectors of inherent rights, but as the creators and grantors of such rights.

And there are too many powerful groups with vested interests in the fruits of the social engineering revolution to fight all at once. A lot of people in business, the professions, government, academe and NGOs stand to lose money, power and prestige at the merest hint that laws and practices geared towards replacing family and community independence with elite power and state control might be changed.

Unrestricted abortion, corporate welfare, unlimited immigration, and high taxes are just a few of the things that keep our governing elites in power and controlling the people. Stephen Harper may be much less of a threat to them than he once was, but he remains a threat nonetheless.

All the stops will be pulled out this weekend to stop him.

If the fear campaign fails, you can be sure that it will continue all throughout a Conservative government.

Source: Toronto Star