Charter Of Rights

[Craig Read]

As a follow on on some discussions in another thread - I would posit that the CoR is a fundamentally anti-democratic, anti-Western [in the Judeao Christian sense] and should be struck down. Legally it would be almost impossible to remove the Charter but it needs to be done:

1. The Charter is a vague document open to discrimination via judicial interpretation. It is used to circumvent Parliament. Guess what the Charter was based on ? the US Bill of Rights. However the BoR is not as loose, poorly worded or vague as the CoR.

2. Canada has the weakest set of Parliamentary Institutions in the Western World. No checks and balances, little real debate and party whips which ensure compliance with the party line. The CoR just aggravates this situation.

3. PMO's [PMs Office] and a handful of Cabinet Ministers effectively run the country as they see fit - this is especially obvious if they have a majority Government. If they or special interest groups want to change society - they just quote their 'Rights' and move through the legal system and not Parliament. Or they stand in front of camera's crying about 'Rights' as to why they can't reform the social system, or sundry programs.

4. The CoR just further reinforces an outdated Constitution which needs to be reworked for the real world of the 21rst century. Ottawa continues to try to dominate the Provinces and cities by encroaching ceaselessly on social and economic issues while ignoring what they are supposed to focus on - defence, security, foreign policy, internal free trade etc. Ottawa always quotes the CoR - 'Rights' is used as their excuse to meddle.

5. Corruption. When Govts control 50 % [direct and indirectly] of the economy - you do not have a 'free market' system as posited by the media nor do you have a democratic system. The CoR just further entrenches the 'tools' that politicans can use to circumvent democracy and manipulate the media - all you have to do is shed tears and moan about 'Rights'.

Canada has a politically dominated economy, with a CoR as its guiding light - where economics is subservient to politics and where political opportunism as guaranteed by the CoR ensures political meddling. This is self defeating and ensures that the vaunted Canadian welfare system will sustain itself only through debt and tax accumulation as the economy grows but more slowly than it should or it will collapse under its own fat and corruption.

What a country, so highly frustrating .....