If the polls are correct, Stephen Harper is about to become Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister. And, as my colleague Jay Currie mentions in his comment below, “It is going to be interesting. 40 pts and Harper gets a majority.”
Of course, as you might well expect VanRamblings will do everything in our (albeit limited) power to see that such an eventuality does not come to pass. Still and all, ‘Bush-Lite’ Harper as PM, huh? Nope, too scary.
Tonight, we’ll begin with our Quote of the Day, courtesy of Josh Gould’s Cognoscente’s Journal …

“This then is politics. That part of our duty which teaches us to study the welfare of our whole country, and not to rest satisfied altho’ our own household is well off when our neighbours are in difficulty and danger. The honest politician is he who gives all he can and means to promote the public good, whose charity begins at home but does not end there. The man who says he is no politician is either ignorant of what he is saying or a contemptible selfish creature, unworthy of the country or community of which he is a part.”
— 1837 rebel leader William Lyon Mackenzie, grandfather of William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s 10th Prime Minister

Do you honestly think that Darwinian Harper will adhere to Mackenzie’s salient instruction should he come to form government? One thinks not.
Harper Unveils Plan To Curtail Power of the Supreme Court
One of the central tenets of a free and democratic society, one of the key checks on the power of the Parliament and politicians to do harm, serving to act always as a leavening agent on the worst excesses of the political process to respond to the baser inclinations of the maddening crowd, the judicial system — and in particular the Supreme Court of Canada — is just one more cherished aspect of our democratic system of governance that Conservative leader Stephen Harper would choose to limit, or abolish.
In an article written by Tonda MacCharles and published in today’s Toronto Star, Mr. Harper is quoted as saying …

“My view is that the role of the court is to apply the Charter to protect the rights laid out in the Charter. The role of the court is not to invent rights that are not in the Charter. The role of the court is not to ignore the rights that are in the Charter.”
“I’m concerned when I see courts that can find voting rights for prisoners, but can’t find a right for ordinary citizens outside of political parties to express their opinions during election campaigns.”
“The idea of adjudicated rights is an important development in our political system. It’s one that I support in principle. But to make it work, we’ve got to make sure that we have courts that apply the law, not courts that apply their own criteria. It doesn’t matter whether it’s my criteria or (Paul) Martin’s or somebody else’s. (A Conservative government will) be looking for judges who have a history of understanding that’s the role of the judiciary.”

In other words, as is the case in the United States, a Conservative-led government will require a reactionary conservative litmus test for prospective appointees to the Supreme Court of Canada. Before long, Canadians will see the same kind of circus we see in the United States each time a Supreme Court Justice is appointed, where the prospective appointee’s positions on issues ranging from women’s access to medical procedures to the Constitution are vetted by a partisan group of politicians.
In an unwelcome, and radical departure, from Canada’s 137-year history of appointing Supreme Court justices from an independent list of qualified applicants submitted by the Law Society of Canada, Stephen Harper would seek to implement an appointment process that would trammel on the independence of the judiciary, or as the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) writes in their March 2004 brief to Parliament on the Supreme Court of Canada appointment process …

Appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada must be made as a result of an established, well-known and understood advisory process in order to facilitate the selection of the best candidates.
The CBA supports an open and transparent process for judicial appointments based solely on merit, and ultimately representative of the diversity of society as a whole.
The principles of judicial independence — accessibility, expertise, representativeness, efficiency and fairness — are essential to a well-functioning and highly respected judicial system. The selection process for judges must be objective and should remove any perception of political bias. It is the CBA’s position that a Parliamentary review of candidates should not play a role in the selection of Supreme Court judges. Candidates should not be subjected to a congressional type process of public examination and review. This would politicize the appointment process and detract from the principle of the independence of the judiciary.

The politicization of the judicial appointment process. Just another example of the Conservative-led Americanization of Canada. You’ve got to ask yourself: Is ‘Bush-Lite’ Harper’s vision of Canada your vision of Canada, now and long into our children’s future?
For insight into Stephen Harper’s policies, as well as important 2004 federal election news events, click on VanRamblings’ full Decision Canada coverage.

Raymond Tomlin

Raymond Tomlin is a veteran journalist and educator who has written frequently on the political realm — municipal, provincial and federal — as well as on cinema, mainstream popular culture, the arts, and technology.

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