After seven years under Stephen Harper and his Conservative government, Canadians are not better off. For years they have rammed through Parliament an irresponsible and ideological agenda with little regard for the rule of law.
The Harper Conservatives have been continuously rebuked by the courts for the legality of their actions, notably, in the following decisions:
- Canada (Attorney General) v. PHS Community Services Society – The Supreme Court ruled unanimously against the Harper Conservatives, declaring that Vancouver’s safe injection site, InSite, should remain open because it saves lives. Closing it would violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- Manuge v. Canada – The Federal Court ruled that the Harper Conservatives’ clawback of pensions for disabled veterans was fundamentally unfair and that they have a legal obligation to care for ill and injured veterans.
- Canada (Prime Minister) v. Khadr – After years of delay, the Harper Conservatives were forced to repatriate Canadian citizen Omar Khadr from the United States, following Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal decisions ordering them to do so, and Supreme Court rulings that his constitutional rights had been violated.
- Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) v. Callaghan – After the Conservatives attempted to obtain almost $1 million from taxpayers in reimbursements for elections expenses in the In and Out scandal, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that they did not have any right to be repaid for violating election finance rules.
- R v. Sheck and R v. Smickle – Courts in B.C. and Ontario ruled that the Harper Conservatives mandatory minimums sentences for gun crimes constitute cruel and unusual punishment and violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- Fontaine v. Canada (Attorney General) – The Conservatives were found plainly in the wrong after they forced the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into court by refusing to release – as legally mandated – millions of documents revealing the systemic abuse in Indian residential schools. The Ontario Superior Court ruled the Conservative government must relinquish all documents.
- Smith v. Canada (Attorney General) – After backtracking on a request for clemency for Ronald Smith, the Conservatives were told clearly by the Federal Court that they cannot retreat from defending Canadians abroad on death row after already making commitments to do so.
- Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Canada (Attorney General) – The Federal Court ruled against the Harper Conservatives and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, stating that the Tribunal must hear Cindy Blackstock’s case regarding systemic discrimination of child welfare services provided by the federal government for Aboriginal children.
- Goulet v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) – The Federal Court ruled against the Conservatives’ arbitrary refusal to repatriate Canadian Richard Goulet, serving low-security time in the US. This is only one of over a dozen cases where the Conservative government has been rebuked for failing to follow the law on transferring offenders.
- Attawapiskat First Nation v. Canada – The Federal Court ruled against the Harper Conservatives’ “unreasonable” and unilateral appointment of a third-party manager in Attawapiskat, following the First Nation’s declaration of a state of emergency due to an abysmal housing crisis.
Who posted this?
“…they have rammed through Parliament an irresponsible and ideological agenda, with little regard for the rule of law.”
This is a good argument for a better balance of ideologies that actually represent Canada in Parliament.
I would like to know how to forward this article whithout having to log onto facebook..If b logging onto facebook is the only way to forward information such as this then I believe it should be changed so that one could use their own e-mail program.
Hold it…I can see now that I can…sorry.
Thanks to someone for informative posting. Some cases makes me annoyed, I could go over details though.
I don’t doubt that what has been posted in this blog is accurate. BUT, I think it loses something when there is no way of knowing who posted these court judgments. Can the Admin person please tell us who the author is.
First nations are about to take the Harper clowns to court over lack of consultation, as evidenced by their decision to ram bills C38/45 through Parliament. This may also not go well for our selectively law abiding federal govt.
Hi everyone,
To answer your question, this post was a collaborative effort by researchers in the Party’s office. Therefore, the post is from the Liberal Party. If we have missed any cases, please feel free to let us know!
No need for extra carbon tax forcing us to freeze & stay off the streets-help by eating veggie 3x/week everybody – job done! 60B animals raised & killed every year for “food” has overloaded the planets’ capacity to absorb CO2; won’t we be popular suggesting health food can replace a carbon tax.
Logic-copious amounts of methane gas come out 1 end, CO2 out the other so blame the methane, the 60 billion, not the people. We can keep all our cars, trains, houses warm, etc. just drop the meat & pick up delicious meat replacements like tuna, prawns, beef & “chicken” nuggets! All amazingly similar – no need for all this grief! You & I can do this – nevermind the mindless Cons.!