Another reason not to vote Conservative.

[I Think]

Of the nine justices who serve on the Supreme Court of Canada, three – Ian Binnie, Morris Fish and Louis LeBel – will hit the mandatory retirement age of 75 within the next four years. Another, Marshall Rothstein, will come very close to it. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin would be 71 by the end of a majority government’s mandate, and Rosie Abella would be 68.

In other words, Mr. Harper would have an excellent opportunity to shape the country’s top court. And given that court’s enormous role in shaping public policy, particularly since the Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into effect nearly three decades ago, that could be a very transformative power.

If one were looking for signs that the abortion debate is about to be reignited, this would be a better place to start than the musings of a backbench MP. Realistically, though, it seems unlikely that Mr. Harper would overload the judiciary with raging social conservatives. If his goal is to firmly establish the Conservatives as the country’s dominant national party, then returning the focus to hot-button social issues that helped derail its past campaigns would be a dubious strategy.

But if his goal is also to subtly shift the country’s laws and institutions and culture of governance toward something more in line with his party’s vision for the country – as opposed to the one held by the Liberals – there is much that the Supreme Court could help with. From property rights to issues of federal-provincial jurisdiction to law and order, not to mention the balance between national security and individual liberties, there’s all sorts of room to help turn Canada into a more small-C conservative country.

Here, some qualifiers are in order. Mr. Harper’s two Supreme Court appointments to date – the aforementioned Justice Rothstein, and Thomas Cromwell – have both been considered moderate and uncontroversial choices. He has committed to having future appointments be vetted by Parliament, which even with a majority would require them to withstand some level of scrutiny. And Canada’s judiciary is not divided along partisan and ideological lines nearly to the extent of the one south of the border.

But it also bears noting that, the first time he led the Conservatives into an election, Mr. Harper expressed some strong views about what he perceived to be an overly activist judiciary.

[The Green Barbarian]

Thanks for that Nibs. It is high time that the judges be replaced with judges more in tune with current issues. Front and center is the obscene amount of power enjoyed currently by our provincial and federal "human rights" commissions. As soon as Harper gets his majority on May 2nd I hope that his government goes to work and either strips a lot of their power, or at the very least, supports a new challenge of their powers at the supreme court levels. FIRE. THEM. ALL.

[GordonH]

As long as the Conservative Government does not change:

*Human rights
*Rights to same sex marriage
*abortion laws

and keeps their religious beliefs out of Supreme Court.

[The Green Barbarian]

As long as the Conservative Government does not change:

*Human rights
*Rights to same sex marriage
*abortion laws

and keeps their religious beliefs out of Supreme Court.

You really should read up on the how out of control the "human rights" commissions in this country have become. Then you'd know what I am talking about. There are real human rights, and then there are the bogus "rights" that these commissions now deal in, that most Canadians never hear about, unless they are taken in front of one of these kangaroo courts and see first hand how crazy they are. Read on:

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... wave-oven/

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blog ... ights.aspx

[GordonH]

As long as the Conservative Government does not change:

*Human rights
*Rights to same sex marriage
*abortion laws

and keeps their religious beliefs out of Supreme Court.

You really should read up on the how out of control the "human rights" commissions in this country have become. Then you'd know what I am talking about. There are real human rights, and then there are the bogus "rights" that these commissions now deal in, that most Canadians never hear about, unless they are taken in front of one of these kangaroo courts and see first hand how crazy they are. Read on:

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... wave-oven/

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blog ... ights.aspx

So why is it the Conservative that have been the Government of Canada now since January of 2006, and they have not done nothing to rule in this human rights commission. Why is that TGB

[The Green Barbarian]

As long as the Conservative Government does not change:

*Human rights
*Rights to same sex marriage
*abortion laws

and keeps their religious beliefs out of Supreme Court.

You really should read up on the how out of control the "human rights" commissions in this country have become. Then you'd know what I am talking about. There are real human rights, and then there are the bogus "rights" that these commissions now deal in, that most Canadians never hear about, unless they are taken in front of one of these kangaroo courts and see first hand how crazy they are. Read on:

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... wave-oven/

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blog ... ights.aspx

So why is it the Conservative that have been the Government of Canada now since January of 2006, and they have not done nothing to rule in this human rights commission. Why is that TGB

That's an easy answer. Most Canadians are not aware of this issue. Like you they think that "human rights" are a great thing, and they are. So therefore it is easy to confuse the message and convince voters that any sort of tinkering with the current out of control "human rights" commissions is an attack on all human rights. Look at the post that started this thread - it's pure scare-mongering based on conjecture and foolishness. Yet how many people believe this load of BS about Harper and judges? Probably a lot. So coming out and saying that you want to stop the human rights commissions from oppressing people is easily spun into "Harper wants to take away human rights" by the usual spin-doctors. The braying Jack-ass Layton would have a field day with this issue during an election, as the weak-minded and the lazy would fall for this spin in a heart-beat. This is definitely an issue you only want to tackle with a majority in hand, and early on in your government, so that in 4 years time the problem has been dealt with and long forgotten, and the opportunity for the spin-doctoring fools is long past to try and turn something noble - ie reining in these HRC's, into a political football they would exploit to the fullest potential.

[Urbane]

Good answer GB. Those in doubt should have a look at what Rex Murphy has to say about these kangaroo courts.

[The Green Barbarian]

Good answer GB. Those in doubt should have a look at what Rex Murphy has to say about these kangaroo courts.

- great minds think alike eh Urbane? The two links I posted a few posts back in this thread were both for Rex Murphy articles about the "human rights" commissions. Note that I alwasy use "" around "human rights" when referring to these commissions, as the "human rights" they enforce aren't real rights. Rex does a much better job of explaining it then I do.

[I Think]

And then there is the simple fact of reducing the number of health inspectors, which allowed a meat packing plant to become infected with listeria, killing some and making many people ill.
This coupled with the shutting down of small butcher/abattoirs has seriously impaired our LOCAL food supply, and forced a number of small businesses to close.
Of course you can bet your booties that the big meat packers bought and paid for the closures, by paying our harpy rent-a-pols, funds for their election campaigns.
US Style government anyone?

[NAB]

And then there is the simple fact of reducing the number of health inspectors, which allowed a meat packing plant to become infected with listeria, killing some and making many people ill.
This coupled with the shutting down of small butcher/abattoirs has seriously impaired our LOCAL food supply, and forced a number of small businesses to close.
Of course you can bet your booties that the big meat packers bought and paid for the closures, by paying our harpy rent-a-pols, funds for their election campaigns.
US Style government anyone?

You do realize of course we (and the US for that matter) have this thing called "the bureaucracy" do you not? And that bureaucracy operates under legislation, rules, authority, responsibilities, (and budgets) produced by Parliament. Things called "laws".

No one, at least that I am aware of, interferes with the way these various ministries operates on a day to day basis, even the government, ministers, and particularly the PM, necessarily become aware of any problems unless the bureucrats involved make them aware of them. When that happens, action is usually taken as we have seen.

To me, it is rather absurd to try and mix politics with such things, at least in a way that infers it was some individual politician or Minister that caused them. Certainly budgets are always a problem in government, and all bureaucrats are concerned about how they operate within the financial restrictions imposed on them. And certainly, if those financial restrictions are in some way endangering the public good, or the management of a particular department is lax in some way, then the senior bureaucrats are responsible for identifying that situation, and bringing it to the attention of their Minister and Cabinet.

If they do not do that, or choose to adjust their finances and internal day to day policies in some way that is not in the public interest or contrary to the public good, then we should not be blaming our Prime Minster as an individual for that. It makes no sense at all.

Also, like so many other things we complain about in our day to day lives, we have to be careful and recognize that in most cases the provinces (and their bureaucracies) are involved in such things too. And if they fail in doing their part in some way, seems a bit odd to me to blame the federal government for the failure, and particularly the Prime Minister himself.

Edit to add; But why did you change the subject in a topic you started anyway?

Nab

[I Think]

To me, it is rather absurd to try and mix politics with such things, at least in a way that infers it was some individual politician or Minister that caused them.

Do you not think that a manager who heads an organization, should be aware of the style and malfeasances occuring within his organization. The top manager always sets the style, and is ultimately responsible for the actions of his underlings -

Edit to add; But why did you change the subject in a topic you started anyway?

all of them.

My intent here is to develop an easy to understand list of the validated reasons, or at least some of them, for voting ABC.

[NAB]

To me, it is rather absurd to try and mix politics with such things, at least in a way that infers it was some individual politician or Minister that caused them.

Do you not think that a manager who heads an organization, should be aware of the style and malfeasances occuring within his organization. The top manager always sets the style, and is ultimately responsible for the actions of his underlings -

Edit to add; But why did you change the subject in a topic you started anyway?

all of them..

Well, I suppose the manager of a very small operation with just one local office and a single level and only a few employees might be able to keep track of everything going on at every desk, but I wouldn't expect it of the CEO of a large multilevel corporation with operations all over the planet, many Vice Presidents and assistants, hundreds if not thousands of middle managers, multiples of that as front line supervisors, and tens of thousands of employees, ....or the Prime Minister of a Country with similar.

To expect that, such as you appear to of Harper, signifies that either you hold him in very high esteem as to his capabilities and much respect his superhuman abilities, powers, and talents.... or don't have much management experience at high levels in big operations.

Besides, there are always some within any organization who are very good at screwing it up yet escaping detection if they have have a mind to.

Also, at higher levels of managment and executive, a typical response to such thinking might be... "If I've got to keep track of every detail and do it all myself, ...what do I need you for? ;-) Pick up your pink slip at human resources on your way out.

Nab

[I Think]

Nab, sounds like you do not have much experience in business management.

It is a simple process, you carefully pick a top personnel manager, and let him/her pick the heads of the major divisions, keeping your door open for discussion, then each head picks his staff, and so on. You make it very clear what behaviors are expected, and which ones are not acceptable. Then you spend as much time as you can instilling your values with the upper and lower levels of management. There are many books on management which spell out variations on the above.

No excuses just good solid management practices which start at the top and work down.

Harpy does not have the capability to manage an easter egg hunt.

[The Green Barbarian]

Harpy does not have the capability to manage an easter egg hunt.

That we could probably agree on Nibs, but as far as managing the country, he's done a pretty darn good job. At least according to our debt rating, our dollar, and the general economy in comparison to such much better and more qualified managers out there like the Obama, Raul Castro, the Portuguese prime minister (http://ecotretas.blogspot.com/2011/04/d ... ctive.html), the Spanish president etc etc. But I guess comparing Harper to those guys isn't really fair, because those guys are all darlings of the left-wing set, and even though their countries are tanking, they can do no wrong. I am sure the easter-egg hunt on the White House lawn went off without a hitch this year...

[NAB]

Nab, sounds like you do not have much experience in business management..

Nope, pretty limited experience really nibs. I just started in the trenches and worked my way to Vice President (and next in line for President and CEO) of a large private corporation with manufacturing, sales, and customer servcie operations and branches across Canada, into and across the USA, and into Europe, including Eastern Europe. 5 million dollar projects were small stuff compared to the big guys of course.

But between Trudeau and Chretien and Paul Martin's Liberals they made sure that no longer worked well, so enough was enough!. 40 years, most of it in management at one level or another, is not much to brag about, I agree. So generally I don't brag about it because it is all history now anyway and a new generation has taken over with new ways of doing things. I don't live in a converted bus either , or play with low tech green technology while fretting endlessly about my environment, ....and the gardener is quite capable of doing any digging and gardening necessary and earning his paycheque without much in the way of supervision from me. ;-)

But to be sure, if he digs a hole and ruptures a gas line, no question I would be on the hook for it. The buck stops at the top so I would be expected to make it good. I would do that, (just as Harper would), ....and issue a pink slip to the gardener in the process (just as Harper would).

Nab