Rights, constitutional rights, aren't just for when it's convient, it's when times get tough that Canadians like to think they have 'rights' to support them. They don't. When the G-20 comes to Toronto the cops get granted secret unconstitutional powers behind closed doors, people's rights are denied, the authorities beat and arrest innocent citizens willy-nilly, afterwards the government says oops, and on we go.In Quebec they've shown how easy it is to avoid the Canadian Constitution's gaurantee's on language rights, just invoke the 'notwithstanding clause'. This clause means the national government has no legal power over the provinces. The federal government can't uphold its own laws on any enviromental issue like the tar sands, if the feds tried, Alberta would just use the damn notwithstanding clause to opt out.
But consider Guantanamo's child, Omar Khadr. Both the US and Canada signed the international convention on child soldiers. Omar was 15, what rights did those signatures give him. Zero. They tortured him and the then Liberal Government in Ottawa ignored it. He's been abused and denied his rights for 8 long years. Now its the Conservatives in government and they're worse, in case after case they do nothing to help Canadians in hot water abroad especially if they're non-white and/or un-christian.
Yesterday Omar got to speak for himself in a Guantanamo military courtroom. His speech was remarkable, you can read it here, after 8 years he was still defiant, unbroken by the torturers, he stood tall and demanded his inalienable right to a fair trail. i have no idea if Omar threw a grenade that day, there is no direct evidence one way or the other, Omar claims innocence. In a fair trail evidence obtained by torture is inadmissable, not in kangaroo court. In a fair trail he was a kid and gets protection.
Harper's Conservatives are in court again demanding their power to abandon Omar be upheld as they have in the other cases where common sense has tried to prevail to somehow force the government to uphold its gautartees of rights. The message should be clear, Canadians have the right to do nothing obectionable, they have the right to go to the mall and consume plastic crap, they have the right to a mortage, a maxed out credit card and a gas guzzler. Canadians, like Americans, have the right to shut up and get out of the way of capitialist defined progress.
Guantanamo Inmate Khadr Refuses Plea Deal, Says Would Give US Government Excuse for Torture - A young Canadian, the last Westerner held at Guantanamo Bay, said he would not defend himself after refusing a US plea deal, insisting his military trial was a sham.
