Volume 18, No. 2. WINTER 2014-2015

Democratic Dictatorship Issue

Harper’s Abuse of Power by Andrew Coyne

Time was when we had to wait weeks, even months for The new privacy commissioner. each new abuse of power by the Harper government. Of all the people the government might have picked Now those abuses arrive by the day, sometimes two to replace the outgoing commissioner, it chose Daniel and three at a time. Therrien, a top lawyer in the Department of Justice known for his work on security and public safety issues: The prostitution bill. exactly the sort of person the The Supreme Court hav- privacy commissioner is sup- ing tossed out the old laws as posed to keep tabs on. Worse, a violation of prostitutes’ of six people on the selection constitutional right not to committee’s short-list, be beaten or murdered (I par- Therrien placed sixth. The aphrase), it was expected the committee might as well not government would opt for the have bothered. “Nordic model,” criminaliz- ing the purchase of sex rather The F-35 contract. than the sale, as a replace- In the wake of the auditor ment—a contentious but ten- general’s findings that it had able response to the Court’s deliberately understated the decision. It was not expected true costs of the sole-source the government would, in ef- purchase of 65 “next genera- fect, fling the ruling back in tion” fighter jets—initially the Court’s face. Not content presented as costing just $9- with leaving the impugned billion, the correct figure, provisions, but for a few cos- operating costs included, is Andrew Coyne metic changes, essentially in- now estimated at $45-bil- tact, the government imposed new restrictions, for lion—and in the face of grow- example banning prostitutes from advertising: not just ing doubts about the mission, specifications in violation of the Constitution, it would seem, but in and performance of the plane, the government agreed to defiance of it. The bill is written as if calculated to review the purchase, perhaps even open it up to compet- provoke another confrontation with the Court, ideally itive bidding. It is now reported, 18 months later, that the in time for the next election. review will recommend buying the same plane, on the same terms—without competition. The cyber-bullying bill. At least, that’s what it was sold as: legislation And more… making it a crime to post revealing images of And those are just the highlights. In the past week someone online without their consent, for which the [June 1st, 2014] we’ve also learned that the government government deserves praise. But nothing comes free is monitoring “all known demonstrations” in the coun- with this gang. Tacked onto the bill is a number of try, with all depart- other unrelated measures—among others, one that ments directed to Inside this Issue: would make it easier for police and other authorities to send reports to a The Harper Govt’s Attack on obtain customers’ personal data from Internet and tele- central registry; that Democracy ..…………….. 4 phone providers, without a warrant—easier that is, than the informa- A Political Audit …………….. 6 it already is, which is plenty. tion commissioner Platform for Canada 2015 …… 11 has reported a one- Reforming Party Control ……. 13 third increase in …...and more! Continued on page 2.

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 1 From the Editor Mr Harper is supposed to have said when elected that Canada will be unrecognizable when he is done. He is succeeding: Canada is becoming an oxymoron—a democratic dictatorship. Democratic dictatorships, being an oxymoron, are unstable. They either fall quickly towards complete dictatorship, or there is a revolution. Revolutions, like the one in France in 1789, can be nasty, and the immediate outcome unpleasant, as the military generals take over to form a new dictatorship. More peaceful revolutions have better outcomes, and with luck return a country to a true democracy. Our organ grinder’s monkeys appear not to be from Barnum and Bailey’s Circus, but from the planet of the apes. As Andrew Coyne writes at the end of his lead article of this issue, at least some of “the prime minister’s appointees have proved disruptive of his designs.” Canada has been building towards a revolution for decades under various governments. Most Canadian citizens have slept on, too comfortable and complacent to worry—with the exception of a few, among them readers of JUSTnews. (But how many of our UU Ministers will read this editorial and base a sermon on the information in this issue? Maybe five?) After you’ve read, in the first few articles, the list of atrocities Harper has wrought on this country, you will discover by reading further how many allies we have, and how Canadians are starting to rebel, but in the Canadian way: peacefully and lawfully where they can (there are bad laws), with litigation and education. Has Mr Harper done us a favour by waking us up and bringing revolution closer to reality? complaints the government is blocking or delaying all the parliamentary secretaries and all the committee access to information requests; that a Liberal MP chairs as well. was secretly taped, allegedly by an intern in the This would be worrisome enough even if the proc- Minister of Justice’s office, making embarras- ess were immaculate and the quality of appointments sing remarks about his leader. uniformly high. But what we’ve been seeing lately is a series of puzzling, troublesome and downright incom- Power corrupts petent appointments: the parade of senators now in Several themes run throughout these com- various stages of trouble with the law; the ill-starred plaints: a contempt for civil liberties, for due proc- promotion of Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court (his ess, for established convention, and for successor, Clement Gascon, was better received, but consultation for openness. This has been replaced without even the pretense of parliamentary scrutiny that throughout by a culture of secrecy, control, expe- attended Nadon); the conversion of what had been an dience and partisan advantage. Worse, there is arm’s-length process for choosing the Bank of Canada virtually nothing anyone can do about it. All gov- governor into the personal pick of the Finance minister; ernments have displayed some of these traits. If the selection of Arthur Porter—Arthur Porter—to chair this government has pushed things further, it is the Security Intelligence Review Committee. The Ther- because it can: because we have so centralized rien appointment seems almost benign in comparison. power in the Prime Minister’s Office, with few His people have done their best to smear and demean constraints or countervailing powers. the auditor general, the parliamentary budget officer and Where this has lately come to a head is in the the chief electoral officer. appointments process. For in Canada, uniquely, the prime minister’s powers of appointment ex- Appointees rebel tend not only to all who serve beneath him, but to It is ironic that so many of the prime minister’s every one of the offices that might be expected to appointees have proved disruptive of his designs: hold him in check. He appoints the Governor Senators have defied the whip, Supreme Court judges General, all the senators, and every member of the have ruled against his legislation. We have vested far Supreme Court; the governor of the Bank too much power in one man, with results we can now of Canada, all the deputy ministers, and every plainly see. Crown corporation president; the top military of- ficers, the heads of the security services, and the James Andrew Coyne is a Canadian political columnist commissioner of the RCMP; plus all of the officers with the and a member of the At Issue of Parliament I’ve mentioned and several more panel on CBC. Previously, he has been national editor besides. And those are in addition to the already for Maclean's, a weekly national newsmagazine in Can- vast powers of appointment with which he rules ada, and a columnist with . This over members of Parliament: not only cabinet, but article appeared in Postmedia News, June 6, 2014. ______

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 2 http://cusj.org/justnew/presidents-report/

government. Check out their website to get in- President’s Message volved and, to get super motivated, go to Voices- Early Winter Greetings CUSJ Voix.ca which has produced 100 public witness Members All! videos to date of individuals, organizations and public service institutions that have been muz- I know most of the country, even our members zled or de-funded by the Harper government. If this isn’t cause enough for concerted elec- in Victoria, have been hit with unseasonably cold tion action, were you aware that as of November temperatures in November. Colder than normal temperatures are predicted across the country for 4th our national government has been acting in the month of December too, according to Envi- defiance of the Federal Court of Appeal’s order ronment Canada. At least the feds haven’t cut to re-instate the refugee health care program as it funding to the weather bureau yet, as long as the existed prior to the cuts made in 2012? Contrary forecasters stick to the weather script. The in- to the Prime Minister’s Office’s public pro- convenient truth, however, is: climate change is nouncements, it hasn’t fully restored healthcare upon us and unless we begin the for all refugee claimants. necessary transition away from How ironic that this ‘tough on fossil fuel dependency, extreme crime’ Conservative govern- weather reports will become the ment chooses to bend the rule norm on our daily news feeds of law to suit its own purpos- and in our lives. es! The good news is that talk- ‘Systems change, not Cli- ing about climate change is no mate change’ is the latest cry longer a taboo subject on Parlia- on the street. All systems are ment Hill. There’s even an unof- broken—social, political, ficial all-parties Climate Caucus economic, ecological—‘the led by Green Party leader Eliza- interdependent web ... of beth May, who, no doubt, has which we are a part’ and we had a positive influence on need to devote ourselves to backbencher MP Michael nursing our web back to Chong who recently warned the health. It’s a daunting task, House, that, if left unchecked, but the load is lighter when “climate change will increase we join with others already the likelihood of severe, perva- working both within and sive and irreversible impacts for CUSJ President Margaret Rao without the system to trans- people and ecosystems... As a form our world. Conservative,” he said, “I believe that we have a I am grateful to be counted in your good moral obligation to conserve our environment, so company and to share the journey for justice with I call upon this government to meet its commit- you. And watch this just released documentary ment to reduce emissions and I call on all gov- on the environment ernments meeting next month in Lima, Peru, and http://origins.well.org/movie/ free for a limited next year in Paris, France, to work together to- time. ward a new global treaty to reduce emissions.” Chong’s ‘Reform Bill,’ along with NDP MP Your appreciative President, Matthew Kellway’s re-introduction of the ‘Cli- Margaret Rao mate Change Accountability Act’ would come [email protected] into effect following the 2015 election. This is where you, the electorate, come into For the full report from which this is excerpted, play. see http://cusj.org/justnew/presidents-report/ Canada is at a crossroads and the 2015 elec- tion will determine which path we take. Leadnow "If you want to know who is going to change is organizing town hall meetings right across the this country, go home and look in the mirror." country, beginning in early December, with a Maude Barlow cross-country campaign to unseat the Harper ______

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 3 The Harper Government’s Attack on Democracy–a List by Brian Staples Prorogations of Parliament: Other governments The foremost example was integrity commis- have prorogued Parliament many times. But Harp- sioner Christiane Ouimet, who was pilloried in an er’s prorogations were seen as more crassly moti- inquiry by the auditor general. During her term of vated for political gain than others. His second office, 227 whistleblowing allegations were prorogation brought thousands of demonstrators to brought before Ouimet. None was found to be of the streets to decry his disregard for the democratic enough merit to require redress. The Prime Minis- way. The demonstrations did not serve to elevate ter’s Office saw to it that she left her post quietly the prime minister’s respect for Parliament. last fall with a $500,000 exit payment replete with a gag order. Challenging constitutional precepts: During the coalition crisis of 2008, Harper rejected the princi- The Patronage Machine: Harper initially sur- ple that says a government con- prised everyone with a good proposal to reduce the tinues in office so long as it age-old practice of patronage. enjoys the confidence of the It was the creation of an inde- House of Commons. To the dis- pendent public appointments belief of those with a basic commission. But after his first grasp of how the system works, choice of chairman for the he announced that opposition body was turned down by op- leader Stéphane Dion “does not position parties, he aban- have the right to take power doned, in an apparent fit of without an election.” pique, the whole commission idea. Abuse of Parliamentary Priv- Since that time he has be- ilege: Harper refused a House of come, like other PMs before, Commons request to turn over a patronage dispenser of no documents on the Afghan de- hesitation. Mr. Harper also tainees’ affair until forced to do had good intentions on Senate so by the Speaker, who ruled he reform but it, too, has re- was in breach of parliamentary mained a patronage pit. One privilege. Later, he refused to of his first moves as PM was submit to a parliamentary re- Prime Minister Stephen Harper (photo by Remy to elevate a senator, Michael quest, this time on the costing of Steineggery) Fortier, to his cabinet. his programs. The unprecedent- ed contempt of Parliament rulings followed. Abuse of Process—Omnibus Bills: Another in- fringement of democracy came with the 2010 Scorn for parliamentary committees: Parliamen- behemoth budget bill—894 pages and 2,208 tary committees play a central role in the system as clauses. It contained many important measures, a check on executive power. The Conservatives such as major changes to environmental assess- issued their committee heads a 200-page handbook ment regulations, that had no business being in a on how to disrupt these committees, going so far as budget bill. Previous governments hadn’t gone in to say they should flee the premises if the going got for this type of budget-making. The opposition tough. The prime minister also reneged on a prom- had reason to allege abuse of process. ise to allow committees to select their own chairs. In another decision decried as anti-democratic, he The vetting system: In an extraordinary move, issued an order dictating that staffers to cabinet judged by critics to be more befitting a one-party ministers do not have to testify before committees. state, Harper ordered all government communica- tions to be vetted by his office or the neighbouring Lapdogs as watchdogs: Jean Chrétien drew much Privy Council Office. Even the most harmless criticism, but also much help for his cause, as a announcements (Parks Canada’s release on the result of his installing a toothless ethics commis- mating season of the black bear, for example) sioner. The Harper Conservatives have upped the required approval from the top. Never anti-democratic ante, putting in place watchdogs— had Ottawa seen anything approaching this degree an ethics commissioner, lobbying commissioner, of control. and others—who are more like lapdogs.

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 4 Public service brought to heel: Harper, who sus- The most controversial measure involving suppres- pected the bureaucracy had a built-in Liberal bias, sion of research was the Harper move against the stripped the public service of much of its policy long-form census. The less the people knew, the easier development functions and reduced it to the role of it was to deceive them. implementer. The giant bureaucracy and diplomatic corps Document tampering: It was the Bev Oda controversy chafed under the new system. Their expertise had involving the changing of a document on the question been valued by previous governments. of aid to the church group Kairos that captured atten- tion. But this was by no means an isolated occurrence. Access to information: The government impeded During the election campaign, Conservative opera- the access to information system, one of the more tives twisted the words of Auditor General Sheila Fra- important tools of democracy, to such an extent that ser to try to make it sound like she was crediting them the government’s information commissioner won- with prudent spending when, in fact, what she actually dered whether the system would survive. Prohibitive wrote applauded the Liberals. Fraser rebelled, where- measures included eliminating a giant data base upon even her releases would be monitored by central called CAIRS, delaying responses to access re- command. quests, imposing prohibitive fees on requests, and The Conservatives got caught putting their own putting pressure on bureaucrats to keep sensitive party logos on stimulus funding cheques, which were information hidden. In addition, the redacting or paid out of the public purse. They were forced to cease blacking out of documents that were released the practice. reached outlandish proportions. In one instance, the government blacked out portions of an already pub- Media curbs: Though having stated that information lished biography of Barack Obama. is the lifeblood of democracy, the Prime Minister went to unusual lengths to deter media access. He never held Suppression of research: Research, empirical evi- open season press conferences, wouldn’t inform the dence, erudition might normally be considered cen- media of the timing of cabinet meetings, as was tradi- tral to the healthy functioning of democracies. The tionally done, limited their access to the bureaucracy, Conservatives sometimes openly challenged the no- and had his war room operatives (using false names) tion. write online posts attacking journalists. In one uncele- At the Justice Department they freely admitted brated incident in Charlottetown in 2007, the Conserv- they weren’t interested in what empirical research atives sent the police to remove reporters from a hotel told them about some of their anti-crime measures. lobby where they were trying to cover a party caucus At Environment Canada, public input on climate meeting. change policy was dramatically reduced. In other instances, the government chose to cam- This is part of a list of problems the Harper govern- ouflage evidence that ran counter to its intentions. A ment is creating, compiled by Brian Staples, from report of the Commissioner of Firearms saying po- news clippings and materials lice made good use of the gun registry was deliber- from Lawrence Martin and John Ibbitson, September ately hidden beyond its statutory deadline, until after 7, 2012. These points specifically address democracy. a vote on a private member’s bill on the gun registry. More recent iniquities are missing. ______

How the West Created a Mess by Barry Wilkinson

The main problem started after the First World War when France and Britain decided to carve up the Middle East to their advantage rather than using the territorial nations put forward by Lawrence of Arabia (T.E. Lawrence) that would have prevented territorial and sectarian wars. Read his books for a clear insight into the coming problems. Then, in the ’50s, the U.S. decided to quell all hints of “Communism.” In 1953, two countries with democratically elected governments decided they did not want the U.S. to meddle in their economies. Their governments were overthrown by CIA-sponsored coups and replaced with U.S.-friendly dictatorships. One country, Iran, was judged “communist” even though President Mossadegh was a moderate social-demo- crat who agreed that the oil under the ground belonged to the Iranians, not foreigners. The other nation was Guatemala. There have been many other U.S.-sponsored wars in order to implant “friendly” dictatorships, as in Chile. Barry Wilkinson is a member of the Unitarian Church of Calgary. This note was posted on the CUSJ e-list, Sat. Oct. 4th, 2014.

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 5 A Political Audit Editorial excerpted from the CCPA Monitor As you know, the CCPA [Canadian Centre for and intimidating its critics, and even for com- Policy Alternatives] along with other prominent piling “enemy lists.” The evidence also indi- charities like Amnesty International, the David cates the government is unilaterally rewriting Suzuki Foundation and Environmental Defence the charities rules defining “political activity.” (to name just a few) have been targeted by this [See JUSTnews Discussion Paper No. 28.] It is [Harper] government under a new political au- doing this in secret and without prior notice or dits program. We feel confident calling these consultation with those groups who will be audits politically motivated because we learn most affected. from an access to information request that ours Audits politically motivated was triggered by an assessment alleging the None of the right-wing think tanks are CCPA’s work is “biased” and “one-sided.” being subjected to these political audits You may also have heard or read in the (though some are refusing to admit it). They news recently about the incredible include the Fraser Institute, C.D. Howe Over 500 university show of solidarity with the CCPA by Institute, Frontier Centre for Public over 500 university professors from professors from Policy, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, across the country who sent an open across the country Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, letter to the minister responsible for sent an open letter to and the Montreal Economic Institute. the Canada Revenue Agency [CRA] the minister responsi- All are closely aligned with the Con- calling on the government to cease and ble for the Canada servative government and have per- desist from its politically directed at- Revenue Agency sonal endorsements from Prime tacks on its critics. [CRA] calling on the Minister Harper. In that letter, which attests to our government to cease At the CCPA, our job is to conduct solid international reputation for pro- and desist from its rigorous peer-reviewed research and to ducing high quality and objective re- politically directed provide well-reasoned analysis of pol- search, the academics state the CCPA, attacks on its critics. icies and programs relating to social, “may reach a different set of conclu- economic and environmental issues. It sions from those of the government, is informed by the social values that you and a but then this is allowed in a free thinking, dem- majority of Canadians espouse. That often ocratic country. On the contrary, we would means being critical of government policies. argue that such dissent should be encouraged We are equal opportunity critics and our re- and not stifled by such actions of the CRA.” search has supported policies of governments New audits costly and time-consuming of all political stripes. Our audit has been underway for a year We will continue to do this. We will not be now, with no end in sight. The degree of intru- intimidated or cowed into silence because I siveness is unprecedented. It has absorbed con- know you expect no less from us. siderable staff time and energy, not to speak of The CCPA Monitor is the significant legal costs. newsletter of the Canadi- We have undergone two previous CRA an Centre for Policy Al- audits in the last 25 years. They were straight- ternatives. The full forward and we complied with all their requests. editorial by Bruce Camp- We were given a clean bill of health both times. bell, executive director of We have not fundamentally changed our prac- the CCPA, from which tices since the last audit in 2002. this article is excerpted, What has changed, and this is backed up by is in the October 2014 a growing body of evidence, is that the govern- edition (Vol. 21, No. 5). ment has developed a tendency for harassing ______

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 6 ‘Preventing Poverty’ Not a Charitable Goal by Dean Beeby The Canada Revenue Agency has told a well-known cannot help people not already impoverished from falling charity that it can no longer try to prevent poverty into poverty. “Purposes that relieve poverty are charitable around the world, it can only alleviate poverty—be- because they provide relief only to eligible beneficiaries, cause preventing poverty might benefit people who those in need,” Brideau said in an email. are not already poor. “However, the courts have not found the risk of poverty The bizarre bureaucratic brawl over a mission is [the same as] being in need. Therefore, as the courts have statement is yet more evidence of deteriorating rela- indicated, an organization cannot be registered with the tions between the Harper government and some parts explicit purpose of preventing poverty.” He added that of Canada’s charitable sector. charities are still allowed to teach money management, The lexical scuffle began when Oxfam Canada budgeting and other life skills, which could lead to the filed papers with Industry Canada to renew its non- prevention of poverty. profit status, as re- Oxfam Canada was quired by Oct. 17 singled out for criticism this year under a law earlier this year by Em- passed in 2011. Ot- ployment Minister Jason tawa-based Oxfam, Kenney over the group’s founded in 1963, opposition to Israeli settle- spends about $32 ments in the West Bank. million each year on And in July last year, humanitarian relief Oxfam Canada signed a and aid in Africa, joint letter to Prime Minis- Asia, and Central ter Stephen Harper, taking and South America, Working to prevent homelessness is not a charitable cause. issue with reports that gov- with a special em- ernment officials had been phasis on women’s rights. It initially submitted word- asked to compile “friend and enemy stakeholder” lists to ing that its purpose as a charity is “to prevent and brief new ministers after the summer cabinet shuffle. relieve poverty, vulnerability and suffering by improv- Fox said that despite the new “purpose” statement, the ing the conditions of individuals whose lives, liveli- group’s programs and activities have not changed. Oxfam hood, security or well-being are at risk.” Canada is not undergoing a political-activities audit, said But the submission to Industry Canada also need- Fox. ed the approval of the charities directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency, and that’s where the trouble CRA receives special funding began. Agency officials informed Oxfam that “pre- The contretemps is yet more evidence of frosty relations venting poverty” was not an acceptable goal. “Reliev- between the Harper government and some charities, several ing poverty is charitable, but preventing it is not,” the dozen of which have been targeted since 2012 for audits of group was warned. “Preventing poverty could mean their “political activities.” The Canada Revenue Agency, providing for a class of beneficiaries that are not poor.” armed with $13 million in special funding, is currently Oxfam Canada’s executive director called the auditing some 52 groups, many of whom have criticized the exchange an “absurd conversation.” “Their interpreta- Harper government’s programs and policies, especially on tion was that preventing poverty may or may not the environment. involve poor people,” Robert Fox said in an interview The list includes Amnesty International Canada, the with The Canadian Press. “A group of millionaires David Suzuki Foundation, Canada Without Poverty, and the could get together to prevent their poverty, and that United Church of Canada’s Kairos charity. Pen Canada, a would not be deemed a charitable purpose.” Toronto charity that advocates for freedom of speech, joined The Canada Revenue Agency prevailed, and the the ranks of the audited just this week [July 2014]. The official declaration to Industry Canada about the pur- group has raised alarms about the government’s muzzling of poses of the non-profit corporation dropped any refer- scientists on the public payroll. ence to preventing poverty. Charities have said the CRA campaign is draining them of cash and resources, creating a so-called “advocacy chill” Charities not to prevent poverty, only alleviate it as they self-censor to avoid aggravating auditors or attract- “Our mission statement still indicates we’re com- ing fresh audits. Auditors have the power to strip a charity mitted to ending poverty, but our charitable (purposes) of its registration, and therefore its ability to issue income- do not use the word ‘end’ or ‘prevent’—they use the tax receipts, potentially drying up donations. word ‘alleviate.’” Philippe Brideau, spokesman for the Canada Rev- Dean Beeby posted this on The Canadian Press, 24 July, enue Agency, said legal precedents mean charities 2014. ______Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 7 Big Brother Wants to Watch You by Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) Every day, Canadians connect and communicate The defeat of Bill C-30 sent a resounding by phone, email, text message and an ever-grow- message that concerned Canadians have the power ing range of social media networks. Our commu- to stand together in defense of privacy rights. Yet nications and our Internet browsing patterns CCLA is still concerned about developments on reveal a great deal of sensitive personal informa- the horizon. After all, the government has estab- tion about us. What happens when the government lished a worrying pattern of attempting to intro- wants to access and monitor that information? duce lawful access legislation—in 2009, 2010 and When can law enforcement agencies track our 2012—and then dropping the project. Observers online activities and our communications? are warning that similar legislation may be repackaged and reintroduced in the future. What is Lawful Access? In recent years, the Canadian government has Who’s Spying on Your Online Activities? repeatedly sought to introduce so-called “lawful CCLA has raised serious concerns about the access” legislation. This proposed legislation secret surveillance of Canadians’ communications would allow law enforcement agencies to access a and online activities. It appears that the Communi- wealth of information about your communica- cations Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) is tion—without your consent, without a warrant, engaged in an invasive surveillance program to and without appropriate over- monitor Canadian’s communications—without sight or accountability mecha- disclosing the full nature of this nisms. program to the public. On February 14, 2012, the CCLA has long been con- government unveiled Bill C-30, cerned about information sharing which would have opened the among security and intelligence door to invasive, costly online agencies worldwide. We have surveillance. While the govern- raised concerns that invasive sur- ment claimed the bill targeted veillance regimes that would be criminals and child pornogra- illegal in Canada could be em- phers, in fact, the proposed leg- ployed by foreign agencies—and islation would have violated the then that information could be privacy rights of all Canadians shared with the Canadian gov- who use computers, cell phones, GPS devices and ernment. In this way, governments could circum- the Internet. vent the crucial legal safeguards designed to The bill would have given law enforcement protect our privacy. Along with the ACLU and agencies more power to access, track and monitor Privacy International (UK), CCLA has elaborated a host of online and wireless information—with- 12 Core Legal Principles for the Canada-US Secu- out a warrant. The government argued that Cana- rity Perimeter, which include demands for strict dian law enforcement needed investigative tools safeguards and accountability. to deal with 21st century technologies, yet CCLA Is Your Personal Information Safe? maintains that any new investigative tools must CCLA is concerned about proposals to amend come with accompanying oversight. There are a key piece of Canadian privacy legislation, the good reasons to require police to obtain warrants Personal Information Protection and Electronic and seek judicial oversight before invading indi- Documents Act (PIPEDA). PIPEDA limits the vidual privacy. The advent of the Internet, email, ability of commercial organizations to collect, cell phones and smart phones has not changed store and disclose your personal information. Yet Canadians’ basic rights to privacy and freedom in September 2011, the government introduced from unwarranted government surveillance. Bill C-12, which would widen existing loopholes, Canadians across the country rallied against and create broad exceptions under which compa- the bill, signing petitions and spreading the mes- nies could share your personal information with sage through social media. In February 2013, the other organizations or with government—without government finally yielded to public pressure and your knowledge or consent. announced that it would be dropping Bill C-30. This proposal comes at a time when privacy experts are calling for more oversight and more

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 8 privacy protection, not less—for instance, the Pri- Policy and Public Interest Clinic] and Chris Par- vacy Commissioner of Canada has emphasized the sons from Citizen Lab to add Canada’s report need to strengthen PIPEDA to respond to today’s card to this landmark research. The constant re- digital landscape. frain from around the globe is governmental CCLA is also monitoring the progress of Bill inaction, denial and evasion. The report card can C-475, a private member’s bill introduced in Feb- be found at http://bccla.org/?p=11195. ruary 2013 that proposes its own set of amend- It is vital that we take stock to know how to ments to PIPEDA. Bill C-475 would give the proceed in our fight. One of the interesting find- federal Privacy Commissioner more power to en- ings of the report is that litigation frequently force orders against non-compliant organizations, appears as the best hope for the next stage of the and would introduce new rules to address unau- battle. thorized privacy breaches. This past year, the BCCLA launched two Three Principles for Any New “Lawful Ac- lawsuits challenging the domestic surveillance cess” Legislation activities of CSEC, Canada’s electronic spying 1. Barring exceptional circumstances, law enforce- agency. CSEC’s wide-ranging powers include ment must obtain a warrant on reasonable and the ability to read Canadian’s emails and text probable grounds before gaining access to person- al or private information. 2. Before authorizing covert, real-time surveil- lance, the court must prove that such techniques are truly necessary, and reserve the most intrusive tracking for investigations of serious crimes. 3. New powers of surveillance must be accompa- nied by measures that safeguard rights before and after the fact. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is a national organization that was constituted to pro- mote respect for and observance of fundamental Edward Snowdon human rights and civil liberties, and to defend, messages, and to listen in on their phone calls extend, and foster recognition of these rights and when they’re communicating with someone out- liberties. side Canada. ______This spying is done without a warrant, with- out any judicial oversight, and without very One Year after Snowden: much public understanding of who is being watched and what is being done with our private What’s Changed? information. The BCCLA has brought these law- Reprinted from “The Democratic Commitment” suits in an attempt to get some answers and to ensure that Canada’s national security practices ne year after Edward Snowden first revealed O respect our constitutional rights. the extent of the secret national security surveil- lance network, the activities of national security “The Democratic Commitment” is the newsletter agencies and the value of privacy are in the of the Civil Liberties Associa- global spotlight like never before. There is no tion. This article appeared in the Summer 2014 question that civil society has been empowered edition. The BCCLA’s mandate “is to preserve, by this. But are we seeing meaningful reform? defend, maintain and extend civil liberties and The answer is “not yet.” That is the conclu- human rights across Canada through public ed- sion drawn by a new report that compiles twenty ucation, complaint assistance, law reform and country and sector analyses on responses to the litigation.” Their newsletter summarizes some Snowdon revelations. The BCCLA [British Co- lawsuits that have been concluded and whether lumbia Civil Liberties Association] joined with they were successful, and some other lawsuits Tamir Israel from CIPPIC [Canadian Internet currently underway. ______

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 9 The Oil Companies’ End um] recasting itself for a few years as ‘Beyond Petroleum’ to the Koch brothers’ support for a Game massive campaign of disinformation and doubt. by Martin Golder Oil Companies to be compensated for We are all complicit in the fossil fuel age. Ninety Climate Change percent of all the oil burned on Earth has been In Canada the oil industry has basically taken burned since 1956. We drive, we heat our houses, over the government and used this power to we use plastics, and massive amounts of oil go prevent any actions that might prevent utilizing into the production and shipping of all our food. the tar sands bitumen before it is shut down It could be ingenuous of us to demonize the forever. It is ‘Use it now or lose it forever.’ We industry that has provided such a wealth to our know as scientific fact that we cannot even begin civilization. It could to use all the reserves be, but the behaviour currently on the books of large parts of the without overloading industry has made it the atmosphere to a hard not to be. As that calamitous degree. To very clever film ‘The acknowledge this is to Corporation’ showed see a share collapse of us, corporations are by the fossil fuel sector. their very nature psy- No CEO really wants chopathic. Since the to go first. So the cur- law requires that cor- rent tactic is to push porations produce ahead with expansion benefit to shareholders as much as possible over society, corpora- before restrictions tions behave in a driv- come into force. en devotion to their At that time the financial bottom line. compensation game (I can hear all the cor- Graphic to show actual volumes of CO2 in the atmosphere and begins in earnest. If a porate executives say- the reserves which cannot be used. regulation restricts ing “Duh”). Since the ABC Corp from using executives are in fact human beings, and mostly what it has in ‘good faith’ discovered and put on not psychopathic, there is some acknowledge- the books, then the government, i.e., the people ment of society in the new fad for triple bottom of Canada, must pay the ABC Corp the same line accounting where the annual report has a few amount of money NOT to use that reserve. Many paragraphs about the corporate impact on social of the current trade laws being passed are really and environmental issues that influence the cor- focused on this point. It is a set up for the ‘End porate behaviour. game’ as a chess player might say. However, a substantial segment of the fossil The Solution fuel industry sees that their profits are threatened The key here for the good guys is to show as society and governments begin to realize that that much of what has been put on the books has what the scientific and environmental communi- been done in ‘bad’ faith. Oil corporations know, ty has been trumpeting from the mountaintops or should know, that these reserves cannot be for several decades is in fact true. CO2 accumula- used. The investment sector has finally seen this tions in the atmosphere are causing our climate to risk to their bottom line and has introduced the change and what’s more it seems to be happening concept of ‘carbon risk’ to acknowledge that a much faster than the IPCC [International Panel large and growing amount of the fossil fuel sec- on Climate Change] predicted because by its tor’s wealth is at risk of evaporating. very nature the IPCC report had so much diplo- matic and political baggage that it was lucky to Excerpted from Bad News or Manifesto? By say what it did. So the industry reactions to this Martin Golder, March 29, 2013. truth have been varied from BP [British Petrole- ______

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 10 Platform for Canada 2015 from an Editorial in Island Tides, Sept. 18, 2014 (edited)

The 2015 election is going to be critical for Canada, and it will provide new opportunities for new people with new ideas. Maybe it’s time that you and your friends expressed your dissatisfaction with the existing parties by getting together and running against them. You’ll never know until you try. But whether you are a party candidate or an independent, we’d suggest you think seriously about publicly endorsing our “Platform for Canada 2015,” and adding it to your personal platform. It’s non-partisan, and its proposals are designed to improve Canada’s democracy. Platform for Canada 2015 Island Tides proposes that all potential and nominat- ed candidates be prepared to declare their support for any or all of five elements of a “Platform for Canada 2015:” 1. No whipped votes. All parliamentary votes (Commons and Senate) to be free votes. 2.The Prime Minister reports to Parliament; he/she is first among equals. His/her leadership may be reviewed, and he/she can be removed by secret ballot of the caucus. 3. The Prime Minister’s supporting staff is in the Aerial view of part of the Southern Gulf Islands, B.C. Privy Council Office (PCO). Staff of the PCO are civil servants and cannot do work of a partisan nature. 4. Nominations for election of MPs in the 2019 election must bear the names of 100 registered voters from the Electoral District (no change from current legislation). Nominees need not have the support of a political party, nor the signature of a party leader. 5. Develop a Proportional Voting system to replace First Past the Post for the 2019 election. Island Tides may be one of the best little newspapers still in print! It appears every two weeks, and although much of its news concerns events on the Southern Gulf Islands, B.C., many of its investigative reports by Patrick Brown provide well-researched information of wider interest that you won’t find elsewhere. Green Party leader Elizabeth May publishes a column in each issue—the Gulf Islands are in her riding. Subscriptions to printed issues of Island Tides are available, or the paper may be read on-line at www.islandtides.com. ______From “Who We Are” by Elizabeth May

This is a book about how we got to where we are today—a decent country of immense po- tential, suddenly on the wrong side of history. …How a parliamentary system could be so degraded that it now more resembles an elect- ed dictatorship than a healthy democracy. … This is a book about how to fix what is wrong, rescue democ- racy from hyper-partisan policies, and put Canada and the world, on the path to a secure post-carbon economy. We have a … leadership vac- uum. I invite you—I invite all of you—to fill it. From Who We Are, pages 6-7. ______

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 11 Fair Elections Act Challenged lated rules that will make it impossible for certain citizens to exercise their right to vote and next to Council of Canadians impossible for citizens to challenge election re- sults that may have been fraudulently obtained.” The Council of Canadians, the Canadian Feder- Elections Canada statistics show voter turn- ation of Students, and three individual electors out has declined to a 60 per cent turnout rate in will file a Charter challenge to the Fair Elections federal elections with only a 38 per cent turnout Act (Bill C-23) in the Ontario Superior Court rate for youth. The Fair Elections Act’s restric- today [Oct. 9th, 2014]. tions on the right to vote will particularly affect Recent changes to Canada’s election laws youth, members of First Nations living on re- will interfere with the rights of Canadians to vote serves, seniors, and people with low incomes. in federal elections and remove access to reliable information about the electoral process and in- Voting and Democracy decline together vestigations. Bill C-23 removed multiple meas- “Canadian youth and students are already ures for electors to prove their identity, stripped disengaging from democratic processes they of- the Chief Electoral Officer of independence and ten regard as inaccessible and unaccountable,”

powers of communication and investigation, and says Jessica McCormick, National Chairperson made the Office of the Commissioner of Canada of the Canadian Federation of Students. “This Elections accountable to partisan interests in- Act constructs additional barriers between young stead of the Canadian public. Canadians and their right to vote.” Public interest lawyer Steven Shrybman The challenge will hold the Fair Elections from the firm Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP will Act to the standards enshrined in the Charter of argue that the amendments infringe on Canadi- Rights and Freedoms, protecting rights and val- ans’ right to vote and equality rights as guaran- ues that lie at the heart of our democracy. teed by Sections 3 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Fair Elections Act Unfair “The measures being challenged are pro- foundly anti-democratic,” said Garry Neil, Exec- utive Director of the Council of Canadians. “The Federal Court has found there was a ‘deliberate attempt at voter suppression during the 2011 Press release posted on the Council of Canadi- election [...] targeted towards voters who had an’s website Thurs. Oct. 9th, 2014. previously expressed a preference for an op- ______position party.’ Now, the government has legis-

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 12 Members of Parliament forms, and make individual MPs and the party system more accountable to the voices of people reforming Party Control across Canada. by Leadnow.ca With your actions on the Reform Act we’re off to a great start. Now we have a lot more work On Sept. 25th, 2014, the Reform Act passed a to do before the 2015 election. major hurdle in Parliament with overwhelming Stay tuned. Over the coming weeks we’ll be support—253 MPs voted for it asking you to take the next big step by joining across party lines, and only 17 a campaign to hold the Harper Conservatives voted against it. The bill isn’t accountable at the ballot box, and to make perfect, but it's a start in a long sure a new government responds to the grow- struggle to free our MPs from the ing call for an open democracy, a fair econo- iron-fisted control of party lead- my and a safe climate for all generations. ers and insiders. If you want to read more about the Re- form Act, go to: Leadnow http://www.leadnow.ca/reform-act Since launching our cam- paign in support of the Reform Leadnow is an independent advocacy organi- Michael Chong, Conserva- Act, over 25,000 of you took zation that runs campaigns on the major is- tive MP for Wellington- sues of our time, engages people in action by writing and phoning Halton Hills, ON. your representatives. participatory decision-making, and organizes Together, your messages and phone calls in communities across Canada. We envision a showed them that Canadians care about demo- country where people work together to build an cratic reform, that we expect our MPs to represent open democracy, create a fair economy and en- our voices in Ottawa, and that we’re concerned sure a safe climate for all generations. about the bullying tactics used by party leaders ______and insiders to whip votes and silence dissenting voices. Chong’s Two Further Changes From day one, we knew that it was going to by Aaron Wherry be a real struggle to pass a bill that threatens the After tabling the original bill last December, Chong power of party insiders. tabled a second version in April. It’s too late to make Michael Chong, the MP behind the bill, had to further changes, but he is proposing that if the bill make some pragmatic choices to get it past those passes at second reading, the committee studying the party insiders and over this major legislative hur- bill make two changes. dle. Now the bill will go to a committee for study, First, Chong proposes that the committee main- before one final vote in the House of Commons.1 tain the Reform Act’s deletion of the Elections Act’s current requirement that candidates have the endorse- This bill is a step in the right direction, and it ment of their party’s leader, but he would otherwise might have died without your help. Of the 25,000 remove the bill’s prescriptions for how nomination messages you sent to MPs, 10,000 were sent in contests should be conducted and how many nomi- just 48 hours. Additionally, 30 dedicated volun- nees should be endorsed. Registered parties would be teers were able to contact almost 1,000 Reform left to identify individual responsibility for endorsing Act supporters in the Leadnow community to candidates. help them find and phone their Members of Par- Second, the Reform Act’s additions to the Par- liament. liament of Canada Act that give party caucuses the power to remove a party leader, expel or readmit People Power Needed members, elect a caucus chair and elect an interim We know we can’t leave politics to the politi- leader would remain. However, it would be up to cians alone. Together, let’s keep building more each caucus to convene at the start of a new parlia- people-power to push for deeper democratic re- ment and vote as to whether or not to adopt those particular rules. 1 Michael Chong proposes two more changes to the Abridged from Maclean’s article, Sept. 11, 2014, Reform Act http://www.macleans.ca/politics/two- at http://www.macleans.ca/politics/two-more- more-changes-to-the-reform-act/, see box this page. changes-to-the-reform-act/

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 13 Democracy in the U.S. is also under attack. Ed. if elites (with whom they often agree) actually U.S. No Longer an Actual De- prevail.” mocracy—Princeton Study Brendan James published this piece in TPM Livewire, by Brendan James April 18, 2014, 10:43 AM A new study from Princeton spells bad news for EDT756661 Views. ______American democracy, namely, that it no longer exists. Asking “[w]ho really rules?” researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that Courts are also used in the U.S. Ed. over the past few decades America's political system has slowly transformed from a democra- U.S. Attorney General Rejects cy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield GMA’s Attempt to Throw out most power. Using data drawn from over 1,800 different GMO Labeling Laws policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002, the two by Christina Sarich researchers conclude that rich, well-connected hurston County Superior Court Judge rejected individuals on the political scene now steer the T direction of the country, regardless of or even the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s request against the will of the majority of voters. to throw out the latest case on GMO labeling “The central point that emerges from our laws based on constitutional grounds. A victory research is that economic elites and organized for all. groups representing business interests have sub- The Thurston County Superior Court Judge stantial independent impacts on U.S. government Christine Schaller has ruled that the states’ case policy,” they write, “while mass-based interest against the (GMA) will move forward, rejecting groups and average citizens have little or no the GMA’s motion to dismiss the case complete- independent influence.” ly based on constitutional grounds. As one illustration, Gilens and Page compare “Today’s ruling is an important step in our the political preferences of Americans at the 50th work to hold the Grocery Manufacturers Associ- income percentile to preferences of Americans at ation accountable for the largest campaign fi- the 90th percentile as well as major lobbying or nance concealment case in Washington history,” business groups. They find that the government, Ferguson said. “We intend to send a strong “whether Republican or Democratic,” more of- message to all: if you want to engage in political campaigns in Washington, you have to play by th ten follows the preferences of the 90 [highest] the rules.” income percentile than the 50th income percentile. The researchers note that this is not a new Company spends big money to prevent label- development caused by, say, recent Supreme ling Court decisions allowing more money in politics, Ferguson was responsible for filing a lawsuit such as Citizens United or this month’s ruling against the GMA last year. The state alleged that on McCutcheon v. FEC. As the data stretching the GMA broke campaign finance laws when it back to the 1980s suggest, this has been a long collected approximately $10.6 million from its term trend, and is therefore harder for most peo- members and placed those funds in a ‘Defense of ple to perceive, let alone reverse. Brand’ account, and then used them to “Ordinary citizens,” they write, “might often oppose Initiative 522, which would have forced be observed to ‘win’ (that is, to get their pre- mandatory GMO labelling. The account was ferred policy outcomes) even if they had no funded without ever disclosing the true source of independent effect whatsoever on policy making, contributions made to it.

Quote: Take to the streets, together, with the understanding that the feeling that you aren’t being heard or seen or represented isn’t psychosis; it’s government policy. Russell Brand, English comedian

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 14 Despite this attempt to continue control over Plan for Tomorrow the public food supply, the case will continue by Tim Sale and Josh Brandon based on its inherent merits. Schaller ruled that the state’s campaign laws require the formation The one thing we know about the future is that it of a political committee, and that disclosures are will be different! Yet the need for safe, affordable constitutionally applied. housing will always be the same. Laws unconstitutional CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Cor- The judge did rule, however, that Washing- poration) needs research on changing demogra- phies, family composition, new building ton’s laws, which required the GMA to secure technologies, new financing tools and other hous- $10 donations from 10 different registered voters ing-related issues to put forward policies and as part of its political committee formation re- programs for tomorrow. Sadly, the capacity of the quirements, was unconstitutional. Following this agency to perform this research has been deeply suit filed by the state, the GMA attempted to undermined by federal cuts. These cuts, including the 50% reduction in housing analysis funding for CMHC, should be reversed.

cover its immoral (and illegal) tracks by filing a Co-op housing in Edmonton, Alberta. counter lawsuit, stating that the state had uncon- stitutionally enforced campaign finance laws. The GMA requested that the judge dismiss the The bottom line case against them, trying to skirt campaign con- Instead of turning over a profit to the federal tribution laws and public transparency. The ille- government, CMHC should return to its original gal contributions definitely helped to defeat the mandate of helping all Canadians access housing. 522 Initiative. Without any new government expenditures, Can- The state will be reviewing the ruling to ada could multiply its new social housing com- determine the next steps. Hopefully as the trial mitment by a factor of ten and, with the leverage of the market, by much more. This would give proceeds, the 300 food and beverage manufac- poorer Canadians, and most importantly their turers who illegally contributed to the GMA’s children, a chance for safe, affordable, stable slush fund will learn their lesson. These compa- housing. nies include Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Frito Lay, Gener- This is the single most important contribution al Mills, and more. we could make to a healthy society, skilled work- Pamela Bailey, the president and CEO of the ers and a brighter future for us all. GMA, wants consumers to trust the biggest chemical sales companies in the world to ‘label Tim Sale is a CCPA-Manitoba research associ- GMOs at will, on their own terms’. I think the ate, former provincial minister of housing, and world knows better than to trust companies who chair of the federal working group for the Right illegally fund an anti-GMO labeling campaign to Housing coalition. Josh Brandon is a housing when the measure comes up for a democratic researcher with CCPA-MB. These few para- vote. graphs are taken from their article “Canada should get back into the Social Housing Game,” Natural Society / News Report, published: Tues- which appeared in the CCPA Monitor Vol. 21, day 1 July, 2014. No. 5, October 2014. ______

Winter 2014-2015 JUSTnews 15 JUSTnews is published by STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice The CUSJ purposes are: www.cusj.org • to develop and maintain a vibrant network of Unitarian social action in Canada and elsewhere and to proactively represent Unitarian principles and values in matters of social justice and in particular President • to provide opportunities, including through publication of news- Margaret Rao letters, for Unitarians and friends to apply their religious, hu- manistic and spiritual values to social action aimed at the relief Editorial Committee of (1) poverty and economic injustice, (2) discrimination based on religious, racial or other grounds, (3) abuses of human Philip Symons, Editor; Don Vipond. rights whether of individuals or peoples, (4) abuses of demo- cratic process, and Production Team • to promote peace and security, environmental protection, edu- Bert MacBain, Debra Mair, cation, and literacy in keeping with the spirit of Unitarian values. Joy Silver, Philip Symons These purposes are an integral part of the Constitution of CUSJ, adopted at the CUSJ Annual Meeting in Mississauga, Submissions to or enquiries regarding ON, May 19, 1999, and amended at the 2003 AGM. JUSTnews should be addressed to: I agree with the above Statement of Purpose, and wish to

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