Sunday, April 27, 2008

Because obsessing over EVERYONE'S civil liberties is hard werk.


Blogging Tory Mike Brock has his Spider-Man Underoos in a serious bunch over:

Further to yesterdays outrage post, I have received quite a bit of feedback. But I was very interested where some of that feedback has originated.

Late last night, a CPC staffer, who asked not to be named, leaked me a set of memos and legal briefs on C-51, establishing not only do the Conservatives want this bill passed, but the PMO is putting it's full weight behind getting it through, in it's current form.

Needless to say, this is not a Liberal leftover bill as some commenters have pondered. It is a purebred Conservative bill, and it would appear that many cabinet ministers are lucidly aware of it's contents, as is the PMO.

I also received a phone call from someone who would remain nameless, who notes that very little if any external consultation was done for this bill. There was no consultation with provincial health ministries, none with potentially other interested parties.

This bill literally looks like something the Conservatives want to silently ram through parliament. We must deny them that.

E-mail or call your MP. Deluge newspapers with editorial comments, etc. Stop this additional incursion into civil liberties.

Because, let me tell you, Mike is all about putting the brakes on those additional incursions into civil liberties.




Then again ...

1 comment:

M@ said...

Maybe Mike just isn't that knowledgeable about how inspections work. I've done some work for some provincial law enforcement groups, and they describe inspectors as having "superpowers". They can walk into any establishment covered by the bill, take or test any samples they want, demand to look at any documentation they want... that's how our laws are enforced a lot of the time.

On the other hand, inspections work is completely segregated from criminal investigative work. Investigators can't send inspectors on fishing trips, or get them to find out specific information. Those kinds of restrictions are there to ensure that the inspections don't do what Mike thinks they will do.

Hardly the sign of a police state, for those of us who have some (or any) exposure to that kind of stuff.

Not that I condone bringing forward any kind of bill like this without public consultation; it's kind of funny that this, of all things, is what gets Mike and his cohorts' outrage though.