Taking back our country from the scourge of Harperism
When Stephen Harper announced he'd institute a ban on travel by Canadians to areas of terrorist activity -- a desperate idea quickly trashed as highly problematic by the experts -- I expected the NDP to lunge at this low-hanging fruit.
After all, the arguments over the anti-terror law, Bill C-51, were still fresh -- a law denounced by four former prime ministers (including a Tory one, Joe Clark), five retired chief justices of the Supreme Court, former ministers of justice and pretty well every legal expert in the country, that triggered alarm at the United Nations, that was described by both the RCMP and CSIS as "unnecessary" and that was denounced by the otherwise small-c conservative Globe and Mail as a "quasi-police state bill." And here was Harper jerking our chains again on the same issue, proposing another broad dragnet largely outside the rule of law. What a political opportunity!
Instead, from the NDP -- hardly anything. Just mumbling (ditto from the Liberals, who are compromised on this issue, having supported C-51).
Meanwhile, the case of Kings-Hants NDP candidate Morgan Wheeldon erupted. Wheeldon had discussed the Israel-Palestine issue on Facebook last year, criticizing Israel more or less in the general terms of the international debate on the issue.
The Tory sleaze machine got hold of this, picked a few lines out of context, and attacked. Wheeldon was forced to resign by his party. As one letter to the editor put it: "So, are the Tories vetting NDP candidates now?" Indeed.
Thanks Ivan
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