No Further Comment Needed

I gloat. I sing the praises of Justin Trudeau, even if I didn't vote for him.

So long Andrew. So long Mike. Don't let the door hit you in the butt!

I do have to say that Trudeau's speech impressed me greatly. So much hope, and so much pride for our country.  A pride, and a hopefullness that has been sorely lacking for too many years.

Little’s attack on former judge Baird-Ellan’s record is “Small” Minded

Mike Little and the Conservatives have created an attack website against NDP candidates Carol Baird-Ellan’s record as a Provincial Court Judge.           Huffington Post Article

It is interesting that by launching the attack website, Mike Little is clearly following the lead of Stephen Harper in attacking the Judiciary (Harper attacked Canada’s Chief Justice after Harper attempted to make an unconstitutional appointment of Justice Nadon to the Supreme Court bench). The Conservatives have a history of knowingly (and against the advice of their own lawyers) passing unconstitutional laws for strictly ideological reasons, only to then waste millions of taxpayers’ dollars unsuccessfully fighting about those laws in the Courts and then blame the Judiciary.

The website lists one line summaries of three of the former judge’s sentencing cases then invites the viewer to push a button that says “that’s unfair”. The website does not give the viewer the option of agreeing with the sentence imposed

The website does not provide any context of the decisions; such as the prosecutor’s sentencing position, the amount of time the accused had already spent in custody prior to sentencing nor any legal precedents the judge was required to follow. The website also mistakenly states that Carol Baird-Ellan was a judge for only five years when in fact she was a provincial court judge for 19 years (during five of which she was the first female chief judge of the provincial court in BC).

Furthermore, Judges, even retired Judges are prohibited from talking about their cases (which I am sure the Conservative campaign team would be well aware of).

I have been a criminal lawyer for 30 years, and have appeared before the former Judge on many occasions. During her career on the bench she had a reputation with both the Crown and the Defence as being a fair judge with a common sense approach to the law. This is no doubt why she was appointed Chief Judge in 2000.

The attack by Mike Little is completely ill informed and “small” minded. It is the kind of knee jerk response to the justice system that people, who have never set foot in a courtroom and watched what judges do, often flout. We should expect more from someone wanting to be a member of parliament.


David Fai

Rigging the Federal Election

This from Walt McGinnis on the Federal Election.

In my previous article I pointed out that the facts seem to indicate that the NDP and the Conservatives are collaborating in the federal election while under the direction of Brad Lavinge and his public relations firm Hill and Knowlton. The provincial election in British Columbia in 2013, in which it appears the NDP threw the victory to the Liberals, is of much interest because the same NDP campaign operatives in BC are now working on the Federal NDP campaign.

There are several similarities in the Federal NDP campaign to what happened in BC. The NDP have gone from strong leaders in the polls to trailing in third place. This looks a lot like the slide the pollsters reported that the NDP took in BC except the Federal pollsters appear to be letting the NDP down more easily. As in BC it is highly questionable the NDP ever had that lead. Read more ...

                           www.powertothepeople.ca                      
                          

Countdown to Election Day on Monday, October 19th is on

According to PlaceSpeak, 'a location-based community consultation platform', 3.6 million Canadians have voted in the advance polls - a 70% increase from 2011. What are the issues that matter in this election? From affordable housing to the environment, "hundreds of people have participated in their discussions." They offer a poll for the federal election.
https://www.placespeak.com/en/  

Niqab Debate is a Racist Red Herring!

I am amazed at how gullible people are to accept politician’s deceit. Those who claim that wearing the Niqab at citizenship swearing in ceremonies poses some sort of risk to “national security” or a risk that the wrong person will be sworn in are either completely ignorant of how the process of becoming a citizen works or are simply racist . I suspect the latter.

The process of becoming a Canadian citizen is a long one where the identity of the applicant is well established long before the swearing in ceremony. It’s not like going the liquor store where you establish your ID at point of purchase. It’s similar to going to a ceremony to accept your degree after spending 4 years at University.

As much as I personally find the Niqab to be an abhorrent symbol of a culture that does not respect or value women I just as strongly believe that one of the reasons for becoming a Canadian citizen is to enjoy the rights and freedoms protected by our Charter of Rights. In particular ;“freedom of conscience and religion”. In other words women wearing a Niqab should have every right to do so. It is interesting that a traditional Roman Catholic Nun’s “habit” covers most of her body and much of the face yet no one is arguing that a nun should remove her habit to be “sworn in”.

This is a transparent and racist use by the Harper government of what is really a non-issue/red herring to motivate anti-Muslim vote in Quebec. Clearly the Harper government doesn’t respect the rights and freedoms protected by our constitution. As a matter of fact, in 2012, when our Charter turned 30 years old the Harper government chose not to celebrate. They did however celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the war of 1812!

What has happened to an open and tolerant Canada? Can we really take another four years of this?

David Fai

North Vancouver, BC