Why Did Harper Need a New Session for Parliament?

 

There has been a lot of speculation about Harper’s motivation to end the previous session of Canada’s Parliament. It doesn’t really matter whether we think it was the “right” thing to do or not, but we do need to understand why he did it.  There are really many reasons, which all dove-tail into one goal:  total control.

 

One bone-chillingly obvious reason, which I want to focus on here, is Bill C-6. This Bill was whisked through the House last year before most of us had time to read it or become alert to its insidious dangers ~ much more serious dangers than Maple Leaf’s foods or poorly designed cribs.  It is the circumstances surrounding this Bill that shows us one of the significant changes that proroging, and ending, rather than merely suspending the session, will make when Parliament comes back.

 

The Bill, supposedly respecting the safety of consumer goods, was really a booby-trapped vehicle ready to blow up in our faces and deprive Canadians of every shred of due process under the law. It set precedents that could easily be applied and extended, with no Parliamentary oversight, to anything the Minister sees fit to use it for. Someone wants to enter your property? No problem. No warrant required.  Confiscate or destroy your belongings? Likewise. Wouldn’t want to slow down the execution of laws with silly protocols like reasonable cause, now would we? Arrest and jail you? Easily done, no charges required, no phone call, no lawyer.  It would deny us the ability to ask for a writ of Habeas corpus, without which we cannot demand our right to appear in court and have the reasons for our detention stated and challenged.  We’re talking no-frills justice here, folks. Saves a lot on court costs. The same person who lays the charges makes the judgment, metes out the penalties, locks you up, no explanation required, no day in court, no accountability. No lawyer fees. Economical. Expeditious. Tyrannical. And anything could be added to the Schedules of Bill C-6 by the Minister, with no involvement of Parliament. Easy, quick, out-of-control growth. This Bill is more malignant than any cancer.  It would kill both democracy and justice in Canada.

 

Canadians weren’t all as asleep as their Members of Parliament were last year, though.  Concerned citizens like Dee Nicholson, of Canadians for Health Freedom, tore into that Bill and discovered its nasty clauses, its far-reaching implications, its complete flaunting of due process. They got busy.  After the Bill was read in the Senate, enough people listened, repeated what they learned, and built up pressure.  Many individuals contacted the Canadian Action Party (CAP) asking what could be done to fight this Bill.  CAP’s Leader, Melissa Brade, sent out a press release strongly opposing the measures in Bill C-6 that suspend the most basic safeguards of civil liberties in Canada.

 

Senator McCoy heard the messages of the many Canadians who voiced their outrage. She understood and acted. Discussion, debate, blogging ~ many groups and social networking sites were used to spread information and awareness…and finally, amendments were written, argued, and passed! Adrenalin was pumping. The Bill would go back to the House to be reconsidered with its amendments. The juggernaut was delayed, hopefully even de-fused and disabled.  We learned that the voices of Canadians CAN make a difference! 

 

Then, enter Harper. One short phone call. The session ends. All business dies. The amendments are lost. He can now bring the Bill back, give it a new number, maybe even a new name, but the Bill will come back, fully armed. This Bill is very important to someone. It will forever place the right to due process out of the reach of vulnerable Canadians, whether they are growing healthy medicinal herbs in their back yards or speaking truth to power.

 

In the next act, Harper appointed five new Senators. This is a number just enough larger than the margin by which the amendments passed. Harper as good as owns the Senate now. We can’t let the Bill make it that far again. If the new incarnation of Bill C-6 gets through the House when it comes back. it won’t be safe to challenge, hamper, or compete with any corporate interests or make any ridiculous demands for accountability from your government.  

 

But there is something very powerful and effective that Canadians can do, now,  to make sure it doesn’t. We have to awaken the conscience of our representatives in Ottawa. It will be their children, too, who must grow up in a country in which “innocent until proven guilty” has become meaningless.  It will be their fellow Canadians, their families and neighbours, who will no longer be able to risk dissent in order to protect the quality of life in their communities. 

 

If arousing conscience fails, we must scare our M.P.s more than Harper, or whoever wants this Bill so much, has scared them.  We have to tell every single one of them that we will personally expose their betrayal and target them in their Ridings if they vote for this Bill. We have to shame them into accountability, because under the present system that’s the only hold we have on them. We have to get so smart and loud about this Bill that even the drowsiest Canadians will open their eyes and ask WHY they are being told they have to give up every scrap of due process to make themselves “safe” from listeriosis and toxic or shoddy manufactured goods.

 

The answer is that they don’t. There are much more effective solutions, like limiting ‘how big’ food manufacturing plants can get before they’re just too big to be kept clean any more; like requiring testing and specifications and developing community awareness.  We need to recognize the value of promoting local agriculture, local processing, and local businesses. We can support and demand quality, instead of quantity and cheapness, and bring dependence on trade back into balance with creating healthy economies within all of our communities.

 

We don’t need Bill C-6, by any name or number, and we don’t need to sacrifice the fundamental protections against the abuse of citizens by the power of bureaucracy and those who control it. Which isn’t us. There is plenty of legislation to properly deal with harmful products.  It just needs to be applied and combined with common sense approaches to meeting our needs and eliminating the root causes of dangerous products.

 

There is no need to take away our right to due process, and we mustn’t let our government do this. Write, phone, email. Learn what is at stake and speak to everyone you know about it. Our kids are counting on us. Make sure you understand what the choices really are.  Canadians made a difference last year in the Senate and we need to make a difference now in the House.  Tell your Member of Parliament what matters to you and hold him or her accountable. 

 

Doris Foster hazelbitsnaturals@hotmail.com