Pete's Viewpoint

So here we are with a discussion around Section 33 of the Charter of Rights, known as the Notwithstanding Clause . Not a gripping debate in many circles, except that it should be. Its usage could have a profound impact on Canadians. In a nutshell, it permits a government to set aside a court ruling on the constitutionality for up to 5 years (pending legislation to repair/fix what was judged, or an election). So if a court rules an act is unconstitutional, a government may invoke section 33 and disregard the court ruling - so that the offending law remain in effect. What?! Further, Section 33 applies (when invoked) on Section 2, and section 7-15 of the Charter. Meaning, section 2's fundamental rights could be swept aside by a bully Premier. If you're keeping track, Section 2 is where your right of everything you hold dear is nicely housed. A union's right to strike, bargain in good faith, even "exist" are threatened by S. 33. But wait! That's not all...

Let this be a lesson to those looking to those looking to emulate the populism, reactionary philosophy of Trumpism elsewhere; your movement is a fraud and your God is a false prophet. Donald Trump endeared himself to the racist fringe with his parroting of conspiracy theories about former President Obama's birthplace (" birtherism "). Because media and pundits would have eviscerated anyone for doing so, no one used the 'N' word in dismissing Obama's candidacy as far back as 2008, why not nullify him by professing that he's not a natural born citizen - and given the real world antipathy towards Muslim folks since 2001, accuse the guy of being Islamic too. All of these patently racist, debunked theories were repeated by far-right hate-pimps, and it didn't matter that they were false. As a certain German cabinet minister in the 1930's proved, the bigger the lie, the more often its repeated, the more folks will believe it. That tactic, if nothing...

As if planned this way, Conservative cry-babies react to the Trans-Mountain decision by appropriating the pipeline setback as "western alienation". Spare me for a moment while I try not to throw up. Albertans and pro-pipelines folks are no doubt upset by the Appeals Court to overturn Cabinet approval for the pipeline project, but not because the Ottawa Liberals suddenly turned anti-West.  To be sure, I have never seen such a pro-pipeline party as Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party; so much so that the Natural Resources Minister had to apologize for threatening to call in the military on pipeline protesters. Even Stephen Harper didn't go that far. What Trudeau is guilty of is betraying a central campaign promise. He said that his new government would reboot the approval process as the 'current model' was flawed. He was right. The process was flawed - it is still flawed. That is why the court acted as it did. The problem is that Trudeau didn...

Pseudo-libertarian Maxime Bernier made a stink during this last week. By railing against 'extreme PC and diversity', he woke up the crowd that also has a problem with diversity. This is music to the ears of those looking to replicate the Trump-style populism here in Canada, but its problematic as far as our own history. This goes back a fair distance in time, but the legacy of multiculturalism and diversity was born out of the aftermath of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The 1759 battle settled the Anglo-France question in the colonies with the British Army vanquishing the French. Out of the Seven Years' War between the two global empires, Quebec was ceded to England. But in that acquisition, the french speaking, Catholic settlers of lower Canada were allowed to keep their civil code, laws and customs, language and religion. The first patch was sewn into the mosaic of Canada, and its been that way ever since. This may be an over simplification of matters, and do...

Another election comes and goes, this time in Ontario, where well reasoned progressive values and ideals ran against populist conservative ideas and lost. Ontario just voted for a party and leader who pledged $1 beer, 10 cent/litre fuel price reduction, multi-billion dollar tax cuts that benefit the 1%; all are uncosted liabilities to the Ontario budget that poses a deficit and debt risk like none seen before. But, who cares about that, right? What Ontario is getting is a new regime that will shift to austerity to fund these promises; because the tax cuts pledged therein will not fund themselves. Doug Ford and his PC party campaigned on a trickle-down platform, and the mathematical fact is that trickle-down economics has never worked in the history of ever. NEVER. It won't magically work this time either. So, enjoy your $1 beer Ontario, its going to cost you teachers, nurses, highway maintenance, child protection services to start with. But none of that matters because now On...

Justin Trudeau is getting a fair amount of ribbing in international and domestic media about his apparent misfire while on his trip to India. What I mean is that images coming out of his official trip show him and his young family dressed in brightly coloured traditional garb in a way that yells out 'cultural appropriation' from the rooftops. And perhaps this was ill advised; he looks ridiculous. But give it three days, almost on cue, liberal supporters trot out images of Stephen Harper also wearing culturally significant garb in the many international travels he had as Prime Minister. The Liberals are famous for turning an advantage from a mistake. The misfire morphed into trolling, and as if it had been planned all this time, it brought out some very racist backlash against the Liberal Party. Just when Conservatives were making some inroads into Justin's stubbornly high approval ratings, the inadvertent trolling brought out the darkest elements of conservative outrage...