The closer we get to the upcoming federal election it seems, the more ridiculous the Conservative government agenda is getting.
The latest is Stephen Harper linking gun ownership to personal security. This appears to be ploy to raise funds and fan western rural fears that the opposition intends to bring back the long gun registry.
I am really not a fan of using all caps to emphasize a point, but it seems appropriate here. PLEASE, PEOPLE, NOBODY IS TRYING TO TAKE AWAY YOUR GUNS.
And, speaking of guns and solutions looking for problems, our own MP, Garry Breitkreuz has a bill on the table right now. I think it’s called the Pandering to Fears of Some Non-Existent Threat to Hunting Rights Act.
This proposed law seeks to make something that is already against the law a criminal offence. Section 13.1 of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act states: “A person shall not interfere with lawful hunting, trapping or fishing by tampering with traps, nets, bait, firearms, placing themselves in a position that hinders or prevents trapping, hunting or fishing or engages in any activity for the purpose of interfering, disturbing or is likely to disturb, wildlife or fish.”
In the first place, I found only one incident where someone actually interfered with a hunt. In the second place, the existing laws carry penalties ranging from a warning up to $25,000 and a year in jail. Making it a criminal offence just seems mean-spirited. Of course, the current government in Ottawa is nothing if not mean-spirited.
Take the Senate Bill S-7 for example. This egregiously titled Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act seeks to criminalize polygamy and forced marriage. Ending these practices is a noble goal indeed, but, again there are existing laws to deal with these issues.
Nevertheless, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander defended the bill citing research by the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario. The executive director of that organization is against the bill.
Shockingly (not really) that bill and Breitkreuz’s have almost completely fallen below the radar because the government has much more high profile bad laws occupying the headlines.
The first is their immigration law, which led to the swirling controversy around wearing a niqab (face-covering veil) during citizenship ceremonies. Although it has been widely reported a federal judge struck down the regulation against wearing it on constitutional grounds, he did not even have to resort to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to reverse the ban because it contravened the Conservative’s own immigration legislation.
The government is appealing that decision. Undoubtedly it will be upheld.
The piéce de la resistance of bad legislation, though, is the so-called anti-terrorism bill. There are elements of this law that make sense, but it is so over-reaching as to be dangerous.
A lot of wrangling by the opposition went into negotiating the terms of committee debate over this bill. They probably should not have bothered because this government is deaf to anything anybody else has to say.
My only hope is that this flurry of terrible law-making is an indication the Conservatives believe their time in government is quickly coming to an end.
