This issue is so fascinating because it really gets at the core of what being Canadian is. So, I’m not an Ontarian, I was once one for a brief period, but I view these events from afar, and will say that Ontario is not the whole, or the center of Canada, but will cede the disproportionate influence it plays in our politics. As a Canadian, I constantly wonder what it means to be a Canadian, and, I think one of the ways we draw our identity in Canada is in opposition to the US.
I think this issue very much parallels the Citizens United ruling in the USA. It’s widely accepted among democrats in the US that Citizens United was a completely disastrous ruling, but it is basically impossible to overturn because of the constitution.
I, have sympathy for the workers movement, but I worry that the argument that “unions are being silenced” is a trojan horse for big business to form USA style SuperPacs to poison the political discourse here. If unions are the ones who are primarily the targets of gag laws as paragraph 3 states, I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the wealthy and corporate interests have more vehicles of influence at their disposal. In a contest of unlimited spending power, it’s not the unions who will prevail. Having said this, I think that the use of the notwithstanding clause in Ontario might in fact be in favour of expression.
I am opposed Quebec’s use of the notwithstanding clause. I think it’s an illiberal attempt to suppress minority expression.
Additionally, I have a broader distaste for the use of phrase “politically immoral.” Politics isn’t moral, and we don’t base our laws on morality, you are free to support parties based on moral positions, but to presuppose that you hold the moral ground in an argument makes for an unconvincing argument as morality is a very personal subject. I respectfully disagree with some points of this article, but I wouldn’t say that they are immoral. Equally, I hope that whomever wrote this article would be open to disagreement and wouldn’t immediately characterize disagreement with their points as immoral, to do so would be un-Canadian, no?
Doug Ford has had goonish tendencies since his early days as a high school, um, "entrepreneur". I believe his thuggish older brother was charged with kidnapping to resolve a drug debt.
As I understand it, Doug is surrounded by some dedicated "conservative movement" types (including the genius behind Sun TV, Kory Teneycke) who take their inspiration, if not instructions, from right-wing American think tanks - just like the modern Republicans that are threatening the very existence of American democracy. These people have a lust for power and a disturbing contempt for tradition and ethics. That's why dealing with a pandemic is secondary to waging war against teachers and nurses unions. That is also why the common sense approach of giving workers in crowded factories sick leave is a non-starter. The Heritage Foundation says that you do not give poor people free money. Free money is a gift for the rich.
This application of the Notwithstanding Clause does not address some serious societal issue but it is just a ploy to get an edge up in an election they don't feel they can win honestly. Sound familiar? Donald Trump has shown that a complete lack of shame can go along way and, unfortunately, he has disciples in the Conservative parties of Canada
JT: "Doug, I see your notwithstanding clause and raise you my reservation and disallowance powers".
Over the decades up to the Constitution Act 1982, the courts gave the provinces a notwithstanding clause (NWC) in the form of ever expanding powers. The Charter and its NWC made official the immense power of the provinces and put the nail in the coffin of the land known as Canada ever working as a governable nation. JT and each PM since the Charter really is just a headwaiter, since those powers of reservation and disallowance have fallen into disuse.
This issue is so fascinating because it really gets at the core of what being Canadian is. So, I’m not an Ontarian, I was once one for a brief period, but I view these events from afar, and will say that Ontario is not the whole, or the center of Canada, but will cede the disproportionate influence it plays in our politics. As a Canadian, I constantly wonder what it means to be a Canadian, and, I think one of the ways we draw our identity in Canada is in opposition to the US.
I think this issue very much parallels the Citizens United ruling in the USA. It’s widely accepted among democrats in the US that Citizens United was a completely disastrous ruling, but it is basically impossible to overturn because of the constitution.
I, have sympathy for the workers movement, but I worry that the argument that “unions are being silenced” is a trojan horse for big business to form USA style SuperPacs to poison the political discourse here. If unions are the ones who are primarily the targets of gag laws as paragraph 3 states, I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the wealthy and corporate interests have more vehicles of influence at their disposal. In a contest of unlimited spending power, it’s not the unions who will prevail. Having said this, I think that the use of the notwithstanding clause in Ontario might in fact be in favour of expression.
I am opposed Quebec’s use of the notwithstanding clause. I think it’s an illiberal attempt to suppress minority expression.
Additionally, I have a broader distaste for the use of phrase “politically immoral.” Politics isn’t moral, and we don’t base our laws on morality, you are free to support parties based on moral positions, but to presuppose that you hold the moral ground in an argument makes for an unconvincing argument as morality is a very personal subject. I respectfully disagree with some points of this article, but I wouldn’t say that they are immoral. Equally, I hope that whomever wrote this article would be open to disagreement and wouldn’t immediately characterize disagreement with their points as immoral, to do so would be un-Canadian, no?
Doug Ford has had goonish tendencies since his early days as a high school, um, "entrepreneur". I believe his thuggish older brother was charged with kidnapping to resolve a drug debt.
As I understand it, Doug is surrounded by some dedicated "conservative movement" types (including the genius behind Sun TV, Kory Teneycke) who take their inspiration, if not instructions, from right-wing American think tanks - just like the modern Republicans that are threatening the very existence of American democracy. These people have a lust for power and a disturbing contempt for tradition and ethics. That's why dealing with a pandemic is secondary to waging war against teachers and nurses unions. That is also why the common sense approach of giving workers in crowded factories sick leave is a non-starter. The Heritage Foundation says that you do not give poor people free money. Free money is a gift for the rich.
This application of the Notwithstanding Clause does not address some serious societal issue but it is just a ploy to get an edge up in an election they don't feel they can win honestly. Sound familiar? Donald Trump has shown that a complete lack of shame can go along way and, unfortunately, he has disciples in the Conservative parties of Canada
JT: "Doug, I see your notwithstanding clause and raise you my reservation and disallowance powers".
Over the decades up to the Constitution Act 1982, the courts gave the provinces a notwithstanding clause (NWC) in the form of ever expanding powers. The Charter and its NWC made official the immense power of the provinces and put the nail in the coffin of the land known as Canada ever working as a governable nation. JT and each PM since the Charter really is just a headwaiter, since those powers of reservation and disallowance have fallen into disuse.