Aaron Wudrick explains how redefining policy matters as fundamental rights would make an already flawed Charter even worse:
Most people who propose to include this or that policy in the Charter simply feel very strongly about it, and therefore seek to handcuff any politician with the opposite view. This is profoundly undemocratic. Just because something is really, really important does not necessarily mean it should be Charter protected. When people start to conflate fundamental rights like free speech and "life, liberty and security of person" with policy preferences such as the appropriate tax rate, the way health care is delivered, or what the acceptable level of pollution is - we end up trivializing fundamental rights. I, for example, feel very very strongly about low taxes. I think they are essential to the prosperity and well-being of all Canadians. Yet I would never for a moment suggest that low taxes be put in the Charter.
Worse yet, it would render the Charter unworkable while delivering more legislative power into the hands of the judiciary, who would receive more Charter challenges and spend more time and resources making policy decisions. Legislatures have trouble enough balancing competing policies, but they have the resources to study and debate them, and act on their own through legislation. Courts can only act on the cases before them, and if hard cases make bad law, we'd get plenty of bad law.
It would be a policy straitjacket out of which politicians could not escape to meet changing social and economic needs: it would be a document much like the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which, by entrenching policies such as collective bargaining, social assistance, and consumer protection, reduces the ability of governments to remedy severe economic distress and its attendant civil unrest.
Turning wants into needs and then into rights reduces all rights to a matter of power--namely, who has the power to enforce his wants. Human dignity and moral virtue become irrelevant.
Such a Charter would be a social engineer's dream, and our society's nightmare.
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WILL CANCERGATE TOPPLE MARTIN?
Details of the latest scandal is spreading like wildfire across Canada after first being detailed on the blog http://www.rghs2004.blogspot.com/
Originally called The Valeri Scandal, it is a horrible tale of the Liberal Government blocking an investigation of RCMP conspiracy and corruption.
This Liberal cover up will come specially as horrible news to any Canadian who has been affected directly or indirectly with cancer.
A Canadian had a concept to raise tens of millions of dollars through the sale of his golf brand merchandise worldwide.
His concept was so appealing, a USA Foundation with four Past USA Presidents on its Board, after seeing his incredible results at several major golf tournaments, committed in writing to assist by doubling anything he raised!
A financial partner, who had gained insights into the operation, stole assets worth half a million dollars, effectively shutting down the operation.
The Niagara police, the same who had bungled the Bernardo-Holmolka case bungled this white-collar crime as well, (for whatever reason refusing to even examine key evidence in the paper trail).
The RCMP were called in and in an obvious act of blue brotherhood, conspired to shut down the case.
The firm was blocked in all attempts to receive justice as it worked its way up through every judicial and political step on Canada’s ladder of justice.
Turning successively to his Member of Parliament, Tony Valeri and the Prime Minister of Canada, they evidently decided, through total inaction, to cover up for the RCMP, effectively destroying any chance of returning the firm to its path of raising millions for cancer research.
Losses to date include up to US$150,000,000 for cancer research, plus the resulting tens of millions lost in exports for Canada, dozens of jobs lost, spin off contracts for other Canadian companies lost and millions in taxes for the Federal Finance Department lost.
The entrepreneur has explained several of the mysterious road blocks he encountered, “The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to say she was handling the case on behalf of Martin. As soon as I mentioned the RCMP conspiracy, she cut off all communication between us and the PMO. The police refused to release their report. Finally, after months, it was forwarded to me, after forcing its release through the Freedom of Information Act. Someone had whited out the Police Report! The list of irregularities such as these is endless. There is no justice in Canada when the RCMP has been caught in a conspiracy. Everyone in our justice and political system, up to and including the Prime Minister of Canada, covers up for the RCMP.”
This is Cancergate ~ our National Disgrace.
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